Lee Hi (이하이) Real Name: Lee Ha-yi (이하이) — 본명

Quick answer

Lee Hi's real name is Lee Ha-yi (Korean: 이하이). Born September 23, 1996, she is a South Korean singer-songwriter who first came to fame on K-pop Star.

Real name and stage name

Lee Hi (stylized LeeHi) is a romanized form of her real name, Lee Ha-yi (이하이). In Korean, the stage name and real name are written the same way; only the English spelling differs.

She was born on September 23, 1996. Lee first drew attention as the runner-up on the first season of the audition show K-pop Star. She debuted on October 28, 2012, with the single "1, 2, 3, 4," which went to number one with first-week sales of 667,549 downloads.

Her first full-length album, First Love, came out in two parts on March 7 and March 28, 2013. Her second album, Seoulite (April 20, 2016), included the chart-topping "all-kill" single "Breathe," written by the late Kim Jong-hyun of SHINee.

In 2020 she signed with AOMG, a hip-hop and R&B label. There she released the studio album 4 Only (2021), led by the hit single "Only."

As of March 2026 she is co-founder of the label 808 HI RECORDINGS with rapper Dok2, as reported by Yonhap.

Lee Hi is known for a deep, soulful voice that set her apart from typical idol pop. Her real name is Lee Ha-yi.