YUQI

A Chinese singer, songwriter, and producer who made her recording debut as a member of chart-topping K-pop group i-dle, YUQI is known for her strong, warm voice, and effervescent dance-pop as a soloist. She went to number two on the Korean album chart with her debut EP, 2024's YUQ1. While remaining a member of i-dle, she launched a solo career in 2021. Released on Cube, her debut single, that May's "A Page," consisted of two driving dance-pop songs ("Giant" and "Bonnie & Clyde") and helped land her a spot in the Chinese reality competition show Stage Boom. Later that year, she took part in "Salute to the Heroes," the theme song to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. She appeared on a handful of other Chinese reality shows as a soloist and on Korean TV with i-dle as the group prepared their full-length debut. The completed I Never Die arrived in March 2022 and went to number two in Korea. Six months later, their EP I Love returned them to number one. The year 2024 was a big one for YUQI, with i-dle's second album, 2, topping the Korean Circle chart upon its release in January (and number three on World Albums), and her first solo EP, YUQ1, doing nearly as well, reaching number two that April. Featuring collaborations with pH-1, Lexie Liu, and MINNIE, the multilingual EP also cracked the Top 40 in Japan. Meanwhile, YUQI began to rack up endorsement deals, including some for cosmetics, apparel, and sunscreen brands. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi