Baek Ji-young

Baek Ji-young went through a traumatic phase back in 2000, when her sex video with her then manager Kim Shi-won was leaked on the internet. She filed a complaint accusing her ex manager of blackmailing her after she fired him from the job. The manager then fled to the USA, where he was caught and jailed on the charges of having sex with a minor and videotaping it.

She started dating actor Jung Suk-won in 2011 and after dating for two years, the couple got married in 2013. Shortly after her marriage, she faced a terrible miscarriage and it was later revealed that Baek was four months pregnant at the time.

In May 2017, Baek gave birth to a healthy daughter.

Baek Ji-young was born in Seoul, South Korea, on March 25, 1974. She grew up in a household where music was an integral part of their daily culture. Overtime, she became so influenced with it that she decided to become a musician.

Her varied music taste allowed her to listen to different music genres, and she was influenced by the Latin dance music.

When she was in high school, she got involved in the trot music scene for a short while. At that time, it was more popular than any other music form among the Korean youth. And when the time came to embark on a career in music, she decided to experiment with a crazy mix of music, which was unheard by her target listeners’ base.

She arrived on the Korean music scene with her debut single ‘Choice’ in 1999, which was a peppy dance number. The song featured Latin beats and the music critics praised her for taking such a risk with her debut album.

Her music album ‘Sorrow’ was subsequently released in 1999 and became popular, eventually topping many music charts.

All this success was overwhelming for Baek and she didn’t waste any time in recording and releasing her second album ‘Rogue’, which came out in April 2000 and outgrew the first album in terms of overall success. Selling 3,60,000 copies during the first few months, the album cemented Baek’s place as one of the most talented and popular young musicians in South Korea at that time.

After an average third album, she released her fourth album in 2003, titled ‘Smile’. This was her first album after the career threatening sex tape controversy. It was assumed that her career was over for good and the sales of her album reflected the fact. The overall total sales of her fourth album couldn’t reach a satisfactory number and the critics weren’t particularly pleased either.

For the next three years, Baek reflected on her mistakes and realised that she might not get many chances to redeem her failing career. In 2006, she released her fifth studio album titled ‘Smile again’. A result of three years worth of hard work, the album became a massive success. What further contributed to the success of the album was her daring decision of including a soft ballad in a supposedly dance album.