Fans often only see the most gorgeous and flashy moments of idols but in fact, although
they often appear so rich and luxurious, not all of them have had that "golden spoon" since
birth. Here are six K-pop idols who came from poor backgrounds.
IU IU has achieved incredible success so far,
but she was having a difficult family life. This is highlighted in episode 76 of TMI News.
According to the show, IU’s early years started off happily as she could have whatever
she wanted.
The downhill of the singer’s childhood hardships began after her mother cosigned on a relative’s
loan and after that relative disappeared, her family was in devastating debt. IU's grandmother
raised her and her younger brother in a one-bedroom place filled with cockroaches, and they lived
off of potatoes. During that difficult time, IU walked up a large hill to go to school
because she didn’t have bus fare. IU then briefly lived with her relatives but was met
with intense criticisms and was constantly cursed at. It was then that the singer decided
that she would take matters into her own hands. She began auditioning for agencies, even though
she faced rejection after rejection. When she finally thought she made it, she was hustled
out of her money after falling for a scam entertainment company.
However, IU never gave up on her dreams and eventually found a home with LOEN Entertainment.
While she finally got to debut in 2009 with Lost Child, she was unable to see any success
for a few years. It wasn’t until the mega-success of her 2015 hit song Good Day with 3 legendary
octave singing that IU’s life was completely changed overnight. The song raked in 5.22
million USD. She went on to become the “music chart queen” as she topped chart after chart
with every release.
Following her continuous success, IU began her real estate endeavors with the 2018 purchase
of a building in Gwacheon. The building is currently worth 6.01 million USD, being used
as a free workspace for her junior musicians.
In August of 2018, IU purchased another property but this time, it was for her family. The
total cost of the land and the country home is 2.61 million USD
IU also owns an apartment in Cheongdam-dong, which recently made headlines for its shocking
price tag. The cost of this apartment is 11.3 million USD and the more shocking part was
that she paid for it without taking out a loan.
What an incredible story! IU truly started from rock bottom but look at her now.
EunHyuk EunHyuk is a veteran idol who has been working
in the industry for 16 years. But most people don't know that Eunhyuk grew up in poverty.
During the July 17 broadcast of KBS 2TV’s Star Life Theater, Super Junior’s Eunhyuk
openly shared stories from his past. He revealed that in the past, he lived in a house with
no toilet. If they wanted to use the restroom, they would need to go to a public restroom
station near their home. “It was difficult to live in that house, but we did not complain.
I did not like seeing my parents having to work so hard, I wished I could make it easier
for them at home”, Eunhyuk said as he recalled his past.
Well, say goodbye to his tough times in the past. His love of dancing led Eunhyuk to being
accepted by SM Entertainment, where he debuted as a member of Super Junior. Eunhyuk’s current
net worth is estimated from $3 million to $10 million. Eunhyuk used to buy a new apartment
for his parents after many years of hard work. EunHyuk’s mom even cried that day, her tears
contained both happiness, pride and also her sorrow.
Now, EunHyuk makes lots of money and just recently, he bought not just an apartment
but a whole luxury house for his family. In the program Mr. House Husband 2, Eunhyuk revealed
that he spent a fortune to buy a house with an area of ​​​​over 260 square meters.
Finally, the male idol has made his dream come true after many years of dedication.
BamBam Just by looking at BamBam’s appearance and
charisma, all fans will believe that he was born to a rich family. The shocking truth
is that Bambam came from a poor family in Thailand. When he was just three years old,
his father passed away, leaving his mother to care for four children. To make money and
help provide for the family, his mother owned a small restaurant. Despite his young age,
Bambam had a passion for dance, and his mother allowed him to take dance classes. His innate
ability along with his mother’s “financial investment” to take classes really helped
him win 1st place in a Rain Cover Dance contest in Thailand in 2007.
When Bambam debuted in GOT7, he earned enough money to buy his family a house. After hearing
news of GOT7‘s BamBam purchasing a new house in Thailand for his mother at the age of 19,
fans quickly shared the story, causing it to trend on Twitter. Nobody knew about the
price, but it’s sure not cheap. During the broadcast of "Where is My Friend Home" variety
show on JTBC, BamBam was invited to meet Jackson as a guest and a tour guide to visit Thailand
and they talked about the house also.
BamBam said that owning a house in South Korea was his pride. “Before buying my own house
I had tried to live alone by renting a small house for a year to make sure that I have
enough responsibility to do the cleaning and paying bills myself”, BamBam claimed.
TaeYang Though being one of the biggest K-pop stars
now, Taeyang grew up with many hardships. His family was so poor that they struggled
to gather enough money to even provide them food during the harsh economic crisis that
hit Korea during his childhood. Because TaeYang’s family’s finances and savings were pretty
much depleted, he decided to quit school and move to the city to find a job and earn some
money to help tide things over when he’s only 13 years old.
Later, Taeyang landed a supporting role in a music video, and thankfully, he was pretty
good at it. Filled with his newfound love for hip-hop and determination, he asked the
company’s CEO to be trained as a singer and got accepted.
Fast forward a few years, and with other trainees on board, they create BIGBANG - one of the
most successful K-Pop bands ever. Taeyang obviously overcame harsh circumstances and
underwent grueling training to get where he is today.
Currently, no one knows the exact asset of TaeYang but we all know that his legend went
from having nothing to being on the Forbes List in 2017. He earned over $30 million USD
with BIGBANG in 2016 alone, putting his net worth amongst the world’s top-earning celebrities.
In the show I live alone, everyone was amazed by how beautiful his house was. I don’t
know for sure about its price, but I bet the house itself, not including the furniture,
must be extremely expensive. It’s been 15 years since he debuted, so I think you can
imagine how huge of money he made. Sunggyu
INFINITE’s Sunggyu didn’t have a comfortable life in his early years. His family was financially
struggling, so Sunggyu even had to occasionally live at his friend’s house. Sunggyu didn’t
grow up in the greatest environment, where his parents were against his dreams of becoming
a singer. They rather let him leave the house, which he ultimately did.
This guy really had the guts, didn’t he? Arriving in Seoul all alone with only his
bags, Sunggyu supported his idol dreams by working several part-time jobs during his
trainee years. Can you imagine how hard it was for him, alone, in a strange city? It
also took him many auditions before getting accepted as a trainee, but he eventually got
accepted to Woollim Entertainment. This is where he debuted as the leader of INFINITE
in 2010 with the song Come back again. SeJeong
Kim Sejeong is known for her great talents, fun personality, and bubbly image. Despite
that, Sejeong is an idol that grew up in poverty. The female idol appeared as a guest in JTBC’s
Life Menu and she was served a bowl of jjajangmyeon (a Korean-Chinese noodle dish with blackbean
sauce) and tangsuyuk (another Korean-Chinese dish of sweet, sour, and crispy pork).
Unlike other celebrities who wanted to hide their past as much as possible, Sejeong humbly
imparted to the audience and viewers of the show that her family had financial issues
when she was growing up. They were so poor that they even received support from the government,
and Sejeong would buy meals using the Hungry Child Food Card. During the holidays, when
there would be no school, she would need to use her card as she could not get the free
food her school offered. “I can use up to 3,500 won every day, so I would use it to
buy jjajangmyeon, and if I collected enough coupons, I would be able to order tangsuyuk
too”, she explained. Throughout her whole story, SeJeong continued
to smile warmly, even though her past may have been tough to talk about.
The hosts and other guests of the show gave her a warm round of applause for being so
positive and courageous while telling her story.
Sejeong's perseverance doesn't waver as she is still performing well as part of Gugudan
and as a soloist. Recently, on a show called On and Off, fans get to see Sejeong’s big
and well-designed house, so it’s happy for her that she is now making money and there
will be no more difficult time. She has been pouring lots of effort into both singing and
acting, so I hope for the brighter bloom of Sejeong's career.
These are several K-Pop idols who come from poor families but were able to become the
top stars of the Korean entertainment industry. What do you think about them and the efforts
they made? Are there any other names that I missed out on? Comment down below to share
your thoughts with us. Also, remember to like, share, and subscribe to BeBossTV because we’ll
be back with more interesting content. Thank you for watching!