IU meets 'Grandpa Uaena' YouTuber while on tour

YouTuber Zev Rattet, the famed IU fan nicknamed “Grandpa Uaena," finally had his dream of meeting the Korean singer come true.

YouTuber Zev Rattet, right, and his wife, left, posing with singer IU on July 30 in Oakland [SCREEN CAPTURE]

YouTuber Zev Rattet, the famed IU fan nicknamed “Grandpa Uaena," finally had his dream of meeting the Korean singer come true.

"My wife and I meet IU," Rattet wrote on his YouTube community with a picture of himself, his wife and IU posing together. The picture was taken on Tuesday in Oakland, California, where the singer performed as part of her ongoing "Hereh" world tour.

"The concert was amazing, it was fantastic, it was everything I hoped it might be," Rattet said in a 7-minute video uploaded on Wednesday evening explaining his experience as a fan. "The highlight of the concert was that I met IU. We talked for maybe 15 minutes. It wasn't just meeting IU, we talked, we were together."

The YouTuber was "asked to see" IU by the singer herself, according to the video, where she personally gave them a bag of gifts including a hand-written card, an autographed album, a traditional style key chain, a bow tie and a Korean traditional hair accessory binyeo. The bow tie was a personalized item for Rattet, because he often shoots his videos wearing a shirt and a bow tie.

"She is such an amazingly sweet person," Rattet said. "Obviously, everybody knows she's beautiful, but oh my gosh, she was go gracious. She had so many nice things to say. It was the sweetest thing to be thought of this way."

Rattet became famous in Korea after he began a YouTube channel called “Zev Does KDrama” on Feb. 1 this year, with a video titled “Why I love IU."

Singer IU during her ″Hereh″ world tour [EDAM ENTERTAINMENT]

His profound love for IU was even noticed by the singer herself, who personally thanked the grandpa on her Instagram account and invited him to her concert in the United States. His nickname, Grandpa Uaena, comes from the name of IU’s official fan club, Uaena.

IU began the "2024 IU Hereh World Tour" with four concerts in Seoul in March, followed by stops in 17 other cities in 11 countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Berlin.

She began the U.S. leg of the tour on July 15 with a performance in Newark and has since performed in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Chicago and Oakland. The Los Angeles performance will take place on Friday.

IU will finish her tour with two concerts at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Sept. 21 and 22.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]