Younha

**Younha**, born 29 April 1988 in Seoul, Korea, is a Korean pop singer.

Younha made her debut at the age of sixteen. Nicknamed the "Oricon comet" for her success in Japan, she has  released eight singles and one album there with varying degrees of success. Many of her songs have been featured in TV shows.

Younha was signed to Epic Records, a branch of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, from 2004 to 2008.  She then moved to Sistus Records, a Geneon Entertainment label. In South Korea, she is signed to Lion Media and Stam Entertainment.

## Biography 
### Early life 
Born in South Korea to musical parents, Younha began to play the piano at the age of 4. Her mother also discouraged her dream and even locked her bedroom door to prevent Younha from leaving the house. Younha, however, climbed out the window and made it to the audition.  At one audition, she made an overwhelming impression and signed a contract with a Korean company. Soon after, Younha's voice was heard by a company in Japan. In order to make her childhood dream of debuting in Japan come true, Younha did recording while going back and forth between Korea and Japan. Quickly, Younha's Japanese skills advanced so much that she surprised even the staff around her.

After a TV drama producer heard her demo tape, her song *Yubikiri* was chosen as the insert song for the Fuji TV Monday drama show *Tokyo Wankei ~Destiny of Love~*. In October she debuted with her official first single *Yubikiri*.

#### Houkiboshi to Go! Younha Era 
Younha's second single *Houkiboshi* was used as an ending song for the popular anime show *BLEACH*. It became a hit - debuting on the Oricon chart at #18, it peaked at #12. With this single, she became only the second Korean, after BoA, to have broken the Oricon chart's top 20. Between "Touch / Yume no Tsuzuki" and "Houki Boshi", she released "Motto Futari de". It flopped massively, only reaching #117 on the Oricon Charts possibly due to a lack of promotion. Her later single, *Touch / Yume no Tsuzuki*, first charted at the #15, After releasing five singles, Younha released her first album entitled *Go! Younha*.  It reached the #10 spot on the Oricon weekly charts.

### 2006: Later Struggles and Korean Debut 
#### Tewo Tsunaide to Hakanaku Tsuyoku Era 
*My Lover* was a re-cut single from Go! Younha, her debut album, and was re-cut because it was the theme to the *Bleach GC: Tasogare Ni Mamieru Shini Kami*. It was limited to 70,000 copies and flopped, selling only about 2,000 copies, ranking at #58. Because of the limited print, however, it has become valuable and rare. Younha was also chosen to sing the ending theme to the anime *Jyu Oh Sei*. *Tewo Tsunaide* only did slightly better than *My Lover*, peaking at #50.

Younha began to compose her own music.  The song *Kaerimichi* released on *My Lover* is the first song released for which she wrote the lyrics and composed the music for.  In addition, she composed the music for the song *homegirl*, the B-side released on *Te wo Tsunaide*.

*Imaga Daisuki* was released, with more live performances than *Te wo Tsunaide*, and a tie-in. It seemed that Younha has a bigger budget on this single. It did significantly worse, as her second worst ranking single, at #71. *Imaga Daisuki* was also used as an opening song for the animation Jang Geum's Dream while the b-track *Inori* was used for the animation's ending song.

Younha released a digital Korean single titled *Audition*. The single includes *Audition (Time 2 Rock)* and *Waiting*. Although it was released as a digital single, very limited hard copies of the single were available as well. Many performances for this song were shown on Korean TV, unusual for Younha as her last appearance on TV was with her single *Touch.* Much promotion occurred for this single and it helped for a long charting life for *Audition*, lasting well over 3 months in all the Korean charts. She stayed in Korea during this release.

Younha was once again chosen to be an anime theme singer for *Kiba*. The song *Hakanaku Tsuyoku* was used as the second opening for the show. The single was released on 17 January 2007. This single, unlike her other singles, has only 3 tracks. This single appeared on the Top 20 Daily Charts for exactly one day, at #16. The Weekly rank was at an above-average #36, but sales were only slightly better. 

### 2007: Great Success in Korea & A Possible Return to Japan 
#### The Perfect Day to Say I Love You Era 
Exactly two months after "Hakanaku Tsuyoku", Younha went back to her home country to release her first Korean Album entitled Go Baek Ha Gi Jo Eun Nal, translated as "The Perfect Day to Say I Love You" or literally translated "Good Day to Confess"). She recorded a MV for the third track (Bi Mil Bun Ho 486, translated "Password 486") which stars fellow Stam artist Yoon Ji Hoo. The video featured many image changes for Younha which include her first ever kiss. The album also features a collaboration with Wheesung.

Younha released her Korean debut album. The album received excellent success, peaking at #1 on the charts. The first song to be promoted from the album was  "Password 486". She won the SBS Inkigayo Mutizen award twice for Secret Number 486. The second song to be promoted from this album was Yeonae Jogeon, translated "Love Condition".

On July 14th 2007, Younha appeared on the Korean GomTV MSL Grand Finals (Starcraft tournament) and played in the opening ceremony.

Younha has been picked as publicity envoy for the anti-corruption Clean Wave Campaign for her pure and clean image.

At the 2007 MKMF held on November 17th 2007, Younha won the Best New Solo Artist award.

#### Younha Vol. 1.5 Album 
With Younha's success rising, she released a new version of Go! Younha, all re-recorded in Korean. The album, with tracklist changes, is now called Comet), and was released on October 23.

## Collaborations 
Younha sang the song *Boku wa Koko ni Iru* on the tribute album to Masayoshi Yamazaki, *"One More Time, One More Track"*. (12.21.05)

Younha was selected as one of 14 female artists to perform in the omnibus album *"14 Princess ~Princess Princess Children~"*, a collection of the most famous songs by the top girls band Princess Princess of late 80's and early 90's. Younha performed the song *Diamonds*, which was the number 1 seller of the year 1989 in Japan. (03.08.06)

## References 
## Discography 
This is the discography of pop artist '***Younha***'.

### Singles 
#### Japanese Singles 
#### Korean Singles 
### Albums 
#### Japanese Albums 
#### Korean Albums 
## Other websites 
*Younha Official Website in Korea  (Korean language)
*Younha Official Website in Japan  (Japanese language)