Who Is Red Velvet’s Irene? Meet the K-Pop Star and Leader of Iconic SM Girl Group: Age, Debut Details

Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage

Red Velvet‘s leader Irene is nearly as legendary as her K-pop group! The singer-rapper debuted in 2013, and is often referred as the most beautiful K-pop star, well, ever. Keep reading to learn more about Irene.

Who Is Irene?

Irene, whose real name is Bae Joo-hyun, was born on on March 29, 1991 (an Aries!), in Daegu, South Korea. She joined SM Entertainment in 2009 and trained for five years before debuting with Red Velvet in 2014 with single “Happiness.”

“When I was young, my very first dream was to become an announcer,” she told GQ Korea in 2016 of her childhood dreams. “In fifth grade, a [friend] I knew in 6th grade was the announcer for the school’s broadcasting club. That [friend]looked so cool. So I told [her] that oh, I wanted to try, and she told me I needed to take a test. There was a writing portion and a performance portion. On the writing, there were common knowledge questions such as what is the date of the presidential election. But I passed. I got to be an announcer for one year.”

She’s also apart of the Red Velvet’s only subunit along with fellow member Seulgi, called simply, Irene & Seulgi. On top of that, the K-pop idol made her acting debut in the web drama Women at a Game Company where she played the female lead.

In November 2024, she made her solo debut with the single “Like a Flower.”

Who Are Red Velvet?

The girl band first came onto the scene with “Happiness,” on August 3, 2014. The group, which is under music label SM Entertainment, originally debuted as a 4-member act including Irene, Seulgi, Wendy and Joy. Yeri joined the group with the track “Ice Cream Cake” on March 15, 2015.

Red Velvet is known for their innovative pop sound, as the band’s music concept lies in their name: “Red” is for their fun and dynamic side and “Velvet” is for their sultry, R&B side. From their sincere R&B tracks like “Bad Boy” and “Psycho” to their fun, all-over-the place (in the best way) tracks like “Zimzalabim” and “Really Bad Boy,” Red Velvet are queens of differing concepts.

“As we gain more years and experience in our careers, the work has become more natural and familiar compared to when we first debuted,” Irene told Billboard in 2022 of the group’s journey from debut. “We can grasp each process faster and our teamwork as a group has gotten so much stronger.

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