Lee Chae-yeon of IZ*ONE will go solo next month

Lee Chae-yeon of now-disbanded girl group IZ*ONE will make her solo debut next month, according to WM Entertainment on Thursday. Lee rose to stardom after appearing on Mnet’s hit audition program “Produce 48” (2018).

Lee Chae-yeon, member of now-disbanded girl group IZ*ONE [WM ENTERTAINMENT]

Lee Chae-yeon of now-disbanded girl group IZ*ONE will make her solo debut next month, according to WM Entertainment on Thursday.

Lee rose to stardom after appearing on Mnet’s hit audition program “Produce 48” (2018), the third season of the popular “Produce” franchise. She was praised for her dancing skills and made it into the show’s top twelve finalists who went on to form project girl group IZ*ONE.

IZ*ONE made its official debut in October 2018 and went on to release hits “La Vie en Rose” (2018), “Violeta” (2019), “Fiesta” (2020), “Secret Story of the Swan” (2020) and “Panorama” (2020). It was only active for two and a half years and disbanded in April 2021, as it was a temporary project group.

Known as a talented dancer, Lee also appeared on the popular Mnet dance competition show “Street Woman Fighter” in the summer of 2021.

With Lee soon going solo, all of the 12 former IZ*ONE members excluding Kim Min-joo have gone on to become solo singers or members of a new girl group. Kim has shifted her career to acting.

Former members Kwon Eun-bi, Kang Hye-won, Choi Yena and Jo Yu-ri have either debuted as solo artists or are currently preparing to do so. Jang Won-young and Ahn Yu-jin are seeing success as members of girl group IVE; Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chae-won in girl group Le Sserafim; and Honda Hitomi and Yabuki Nako respectively as members of AKB48 and and HKT48, which they’ve belonged to even before “Produce 48.”

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]