"I want to be like the four seasons. In Spring I will be fresh, in Summer- passionate, in Fall- refreshing and in Winter- warm." —Sunny
Lee Soon-kyu (born May 15, 1989) better known by her stage name, Sunny, is an American-born South Korean singer, DJ and radio host, she is best known for being a member of K-pop girl group, Girls' Generation, and its second subunit, Oh!GG.
Early Life and Career Beginnings[]
Sunny was born as Lee Soon-kyu in Orange County, California, USA, where she was given the English name of Susan.
Sunny's father is Lee Soo-young, her mother's identity has not been revealed to the public, she has two older sisters, Lee Eun-kyu and Jin-kyu who share her birthday, her uncle is Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment. Sunny and her immediate family moved to Kuwait, when she was an infant, when the Gulf War emerged they relocated to South Korea, where she grew up. Due to a brief experience of living in a war time, Sunny grew a phobia of loud noises. She was influenced to become a singer by her father who was part of a band in college.
In 1998, Sunny entered Starlight Entertainment and became a trainee for five years before transferring to Starworld. She was planned to become a member of a duo girl group named Sugar, however, Starworld became bankrupt and unable to fund Sugar's debut. In 2007, Sunny was recommended by the singer Ayumi to S.M. Entertainment, after a successful audition to the company and several months of training, she took her stage name, feeling that her birth name sounded like an old woman's and made her debut as a member of the girl group, Girls' Generation, later that year.
She is a graduate of Baehwa All Girls High School.
Career[]
Singing career[]
After mere months of training under SM Entertainment, Sunny, became a member of the Korean pop girl group, Girls Generation, as a lead vocalist. The group debuted on August 5, 2007 and became very successful in South Korea and across the world.
Sunny has contributed to a couple of soundtracks as a solo artist, singing the theme song "You Don't Know About Love" for the SBS drama Working Mom, "Finally Now" for IPTV's Story of Wine and "Your Doll" for the SBS's Oh! My Lady. She featured on the Heading to the Ground soundtrack, singing a duet with Taeyeon in the song SarangInGulYo and another song titled Motion performed with the vocal line of the group. She participated in the S.E.O.U.L. song project along with Super Junior's Kyuhyun, Leeteuk, Ryeowook, Sungmin and Donghae and fellow group members Seohyun, Sooyoung, Jessica and Taeyeon. Sunny featured in Brown Eyed Girls's Miryo's track "I Love You, I Love You" from her first solo mini album, Miryo A.K.A JoHoney.
On September 15, 2017, Sunny and her SM Entertainment labelmate, Henry released the single "U&I".
Voice Acting[]
Sunny took part in voice acting for animated film Koala Kid: Birth of A Hero with fellow labelmate Taemin from SHINee.
Theatre[]
Sunny played the lead role of ‘Brenda Strong’ in the Korean production of Broadway musical ‘Catch Me If You Can’, which was opened on 28 March 2012 and with a scheduled run till 10 June 2012. Her performance received positive critical review and was nominated for Best New Actress in the 6th 'The Musical Awards', South Korea's equivalent of Broadway's Tony Award.
TV shows[]
She was a permanent member on the show Star Golden Bell until Girls' Generation's song Oh! came out. Sunny alongside with Yuri was a part of reality show Invincible Youth in which they were a part of G7, consisting of 7 girls from idol groups. Due to Girls' Generation's Japanese debut and other activities, Sunny left the show, along with Hyuna and Yuri, in June 2010. On October 17, it was confirmed that Sunny would be joining for the second season of Invincible Youth 2, a Korean reality show alongside with Hyoyeon. She is the only returning member from original G7. On July 6, a representative from S.M. Entertainment reported to the media, that Sunny will no longer be a regular casting member anymore alongside the members of G6 from Invincible Youth 2. The unexpected leave will mean that the July 7th episode of Invincible Youth 2, will be the last episode that Sunny will be featured as a permanent member. Sunny's leave does not include fellow Girls Generation member 'Hyoyeon' who will continue as a member on the show.
Show Hosting[]
She was a co-DJ of the radio show Chunji until the broadcast ended in July 2008. She also co-hosted a music show called The M with Kim Hyung Jun of SS501 and Im Seulong of 2AM but had to leave the show due to her busy schedules. Her last appearance as an MC for the show was on April 4, 2010. Sunny, along with other notable celebrities, is part of the star-studded cast on SBS MTV's “Music Island”, taking on the role of main MC. The first episode of “Music Island” was aired on February 24, 8PM KST. In 2014, she is now a DJ of the radio show named "Sunny's FM Date".
Facts[]
- Sunny's nicknames are DJ Soon, Ssun, Sunny Bunny, Aegyo Queen, Choi Danshin (the Shortest), Energy Pill and hwalryeokso Sunny (Energy Source Sunny).
- Her ethnicity is Korean.
- Her uncle IS Lee Soo-man, the CEO of S.M. Entertainment.
- Her height is 157cm.
- Her weight is 44.5 kg
- Her natural hair colour is black. Her natural eye color is dark brown.
- She has dyed her hair many colors such as blonde, pink, red, and blue.
- Her blood type is B.
- Sunny's Greek star sign is Taurus.
- Her family have been rumored to work in the oil industry.
- She's a Christian.
- Sunny calls herself the 'non marrying type'.
- She is fluent in her native Korean, and can speak English, Chinese and Japanese.
- In Girls For Rest, she revealed that she also studied French as a second language before living in Korea, but she can't read French.
- Her hobbies are playing sports and video games.
- She considers her specialties as eloquence, playing sports and doing aegyo.
- Her favorite colors are yellow and pink.
- Her favorite food is Japanese Ramen.
- She trained five years in Starlight Entertainment and then trained nine months in SM Entertainment for her K-pop Idol career.
- Sunny is known for her skill and charisma on variety shows.
- Her Korean given name 'Soon-kyu' means 'filial jade' in Korean, her stage name, 'Sunny' is in fact an adjective which is used to describe a bright and cheerful person. Her English given name, Susan means 'Lily' in 'Hebrew'.
- She is the only member that has not made an official solo debut as of 2021, so she was featured as a "Legendary Trainee" series, with Yoona as a vocal trainer, and Hyoyeon as Dance trainer on episode 10. This remains the case in 2022, when all members returned for the 15th anniversary.
- She is bad at guessing dance choreography from other artists outside of S.M Entertainment, yet she can somehow dance to Girl's Generation's song that somehow fit into their songs.
Discography[]
Collaborations[]
- U&I (with Henry) (2017)
- "STATION X 4 LOVEs for Winter Part.1" (with BoA, J-Min, Siwon, Taemin, Suho, Wendy & Doyoung) (2019)
Featured Song[]
Year | Artist | Song | Album |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Miryo | "I Love You, I Love You" | Miryo A.K.A JoHoney |
Soundtrack appearances[]
Year | Title | Song | Duration | Artist |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Working Mom OST | "You Don't Know About Love" | 03:33 | Solo |
2009 | Story of Wine OST | "Finally Now" | 04:11 | |
Heading To The Ground OST | "It's Love" | 04:15 | Duet with Taeyeon | |
2010 | Oh My Lady! OST | "Your Doll" | 03:49 | Solo |
2012 | To The Beautiful You OST | "It's Me" | 03:42 | Duet with Luna (f(x)) |
2013 | The Queen's Classroom OST | "The Second Drawer" | 03:45 | Solo |
2016 | Two Yoo Project - Sugar Man 2 Part 6 | "Odd Imagination" | 03:10 | Duet with Henry |
Solo performances[]
Year | Title | Song | Duration |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Girls' Generation Tour | "3" | 05:13 |
Filmography[]
Movies[]
Year | Title | Role | Note |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Koala Kid: Birth of A Hero | Miranda (voice-over) | Korean version |
2014 | Rio 2 | Jewel (voice-over) |
Drama[]
Year | Title | Channel | Role | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Unstoppable Marriage | KBS2 | BoolGwangDong (seven princess) | cameo |
2009 | Tae-Hee, Hye-Kyo, Ji-Hyun! | MBC | Sunny/Herself | one episode |
2011 | Sazae-san: Special 3 | Fuji TV | Sunny/Herself | cameo |
Television[]
Year | Title | Channel | Role | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009–2010 | The M | MTV Korea | Co-Host | with SS501's Kim Hyung-jun and 2AM's Seulong |
2009–2010 | Invincible Youth | KBS2 | Regular cast | with Yuri |
2011–2012 | Invincible Youth 2 | with Hyoyeon | ||
2012 | Music Island | SBS MTV | Host | |
2012 | "1 vs 100" | KBS2 | Guest Appearance | |
2013 | Strong Heart | SBS | ||
Shinhwa Broadcast | JTBC | |||
Real Men | MBC | Narrator | ||
Grandpa Over Flowers | tvN | Guest Appearance | Ep.2-4 | |
Quiz to Change The World | MBC | Special MC for one episode | ||
Infinite Challenge | Guest Appearance | |||
2014 | Radio Star | |||
2014-2015 | Roommate | SBS | Regular cast | Season 2 |
2015 | Serial Shopping Family | JTBC | Main host | with Park Myung Soo, Lee Young Ja, Park Ji Yoon and Park Won |
2016 | Vocal War: God's Voice | SBS | Celebrity judge | with Heo Youngji, Kangnam, April's Lee Jinsol, Hong Seok Chun, Kim Jimin, and Muzie |
Star Advent | Shandong TV | Main Host | with Hyoyeon and Leeteuk | |
Cheonhajangsa | JTBC | Regular Cast | ||
2017-2018 | To You, From Me | E Channel | ||
2017 | A Man Who Feeds The Dog | Channel A / YouTube | Narrator | |
2018 | Real life Men and Women | MBN | Regular cast | with Chungha |
Can Love Be Translated? | XtvN | with Nayoung, Eric Nam, and Park Na Rae | ||
Video Star | MBC Every 1 | Main Host | with Park So Hyun, Kim Sook, and Park Na Rae |
Music Video[]
Year | Song | Artist | Role |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | "Cooking? Cooking!" | Super Junior-H | Herself |
2009 | "S.E.O.U.L." | Super Junior and Girls' Generation | Kindergarten Teacher |
2010 | "Caribbean Bay" | 2PM and Girls' Generation | Herself |
Radio Program[]
Year | Name | Channel | Role | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Melon Chunji Radio | DJ | ||
2014-2015 | Sunny FM Date | MBC FM4U |
Theatre[]
Year | Title | Role | Note |
---|---|---|---|
2012-2013 | Catch Me If You Can | Brenda Strong | Lead Role |
2014 | Singin' in the Rain | Kathy Selden | |
2016-2017 | Cafe-in ~Mr Sommelier Miss Barista |
Awards[]
- [2014.12.29] MBC Entertainment Awards: Rookie Radio DJ Award - Sunny's FM Date
MV[]
Gallery[]
To view the Sunny gallery, click here. |
[]
Mini Albums | |
Digital Singles |