Korean pop singer/songwriter Hyolyn is best known as the former leader of K-pop girl group Sistar. After their dissolution in 2017, she shifted focus to her solo career and vocal-centric style, which was inspired in part by
Christina Aguilera. Primarily releasing non-album singles -- including the number one hit "One Way Love" -- she also issued her debut album, Love & Hate, in 2013.
Born Kim Hyo-jung in Incheon, South Korea, Hyolyn trained with JYP Entertainment before joining Starship Entertainment in 2010, just in time for the formation of Sistar. With her bandmates, she remained a strong presence on the Korean, Japanese, and U.S. charts for much of the 2010s. On the side, she began to foster a solo career that also included acting on television drama series and reality competitions. In addition to her early solo songs "Superstar" and "You Make Me Go Crazy," Hyolyn also topped the charts with "One Way Love" from her debut album, 2013's Love & Hate.
Balancing her duties in Sistar and subunit Sistar19, Hyolyn continued to release solo singles and collaborations. Her follow-up solo effort, the It's Me EP, landed in 2016. After Sistar split up the next year, she got right back on the singles trajectory, reaching the Top Three with "Blue Moon" and breaking into the U.S. World singles Top Ten with 2018's "Dally" and "See Sea." In 2019, she joined producer
Melanie Fontana for the electronic dance single "youknowbetter." Weeks later, Hyolyn embarked on her first international solo tour, hitting cities across Europe and Asia. ~ Neil Z. Yeung