Sunny

Susan Soonkyu Lee (born May 15, 1989), known professionally as Sunny , is a South Korean and American singer and entertainer based in South Korea. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-Oh!GG) in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one of South Korea's most widely known girl groups worldwide. Apart from her group's activities, Sunny has participated in numerous side projects including original soundtracks, television variety shows, musical acting and radio hosting.

Life and career 1989–2007: Early life and career beginnings Sunny was born on May 15, 1989, in Orange County, California, United States. Her family consists of her parents and two older sisters who are ten and fifteen years older than her. She and her sisters share the same birthday. Sunny's paternal uncle is Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment. After the outbreak of the Gulf War, Sunny and her family returned to South Korea and settled in Jongno-gu, Seoul. She attended Seoul Cheongun Elementary School, Paiwha Girls' Middle School and Paiwha Girls' High School. Sunny was influenced to become a singer by her father, who was in a college band. In early 2007, singer Ayumi Lee convinced Sunny to rejoin SM Entertainment. She continued her training there and made her official debut as a member of Girls' Generation in August 2007. The group gained significant popularity with the release of their hit single "Gee" in 2009.

2008–present: Acting and solo projects

Aside from Girls' Generation's activities, Sunny has participated in a number of side-projects. In early 2008, Sunny worked as a co-host of the Melon Chunji Radio with Super Junior's Sungmin. In August 2008, she contributed a solo song, "You Don't Know About Love" for the SBS's drama Working Mom. In 2009, Sunny released two songs—a solo track "Finally Now" for the interactive movie Story of Wine and a duet "It's Love" for the MBC's drama Heading to the Ground, with Girls' Generation's member Taeyeon.

During 2009 and 2010, Sunny was a co-host for MTV Korea television music program The M with SS501's Kim Hyung-jun and 2AM's Im Seulong. She also joined the KBS2's variety show Invincible Youth along with Girls' Generation member Yuri. The reality program narrated a journey of a group of South Korean celebrities who were brought together to work and experience the agricultural and rural life. In March 2010, Sunny recorded "Your Doll" for the SBS's drama Oh! My Lady soundtrack—it became her first song to enter the Gaon Digital Chart, at number 88.

During 2011 and 2012, she continued on with her participation in KBS2's Invincible Youth 2. She was praised by the director of the show as someone who has "intelligence", "great adaptability" and the ability to make other cast members get along well.

In January 2012, stepping into the field of voice-over for the first time, she was featured in the Korean-dubbed version of animated film The Outback. She voiced a koala character named Miranda. Sunny found the recording process to be initially difficult, stating that because Miranda was such a "charismatic" and "strong" character, it was hard to express "with just [her] voice" as it would have been "a different story if [she] was showing the actions". With the help of the director, however, she was able to finally "grasp the character". In March 2012, Sunny became a host for SBS MTV's television program Music Island. During the year, she also recorded two duets—the first song is titled "I Love You, I Love You", with Brown Eyed Girls' member Miryo while the other one is titled "It's Me", with f(x)'s Luna for the SBS's drama To the Beautiful You. The songs debuted at number 56 and 25 on the Gaon Digital Chart and at number 51 and 16 on Billboards K-pop Hot 100 chart, respectively.

During 2012–2013, Sunny was cast in her first musical, Catch Me If You Can, based on the true story and life of a con man named Frank Abagnale. The story was turned famous by the 2002 movie of the same name. She played a character named Brenda, who is the girlfriend of the male lead. Her performance received favorable reviews. Shin Yeong-seon from The Chosun Ilbo noted on Sunny's ability to understand the character and praised her well-portrayal of Brenda's "exaggerated cuteness and flippant acting". Jang Kyungjin of 10asia enjoyed her singing, "While Sunny wasn't a member in her group who put her vocals forth, she showed her power through Brenda's 'Fly, Fly Away' with her clean, firm voice, showing her potential to the audience." Sunny was nominated for the "Best New Actress" at the 6th Musical Awards. In June 2013, Sunny released the song "The 2nd Drawer" for the MBC's drama The Queen's Classroom. It debuted at number 76 on K-pop Top 100 Chart.

In March 2014, Sunny participated in the Korean-dubbed version of the animated film Rio 2. She voiced Jewel, a female Spix's macaw. The director noted on her ability to not only deliver the lines, but also successfully expressed other sound effects, like breathing. In an interview, Sunny felt that the most appealing part of dubbing is the ability to go back to her childhood. In June 2014, Sunny was cast in her second musical, Singin' in the Rain, based on the 1952 movie of the same name. Sunny played Kathy Selden, an aspiring actress. In November 2014, her solo song, "First Kiss", was released as a part of musician Hwang Sung Je's Project Super Hero series.

Between 2014 and 2015, she became a cast member of the SBS's reality show Roommate. The show featured a group of celebrities living together, sharing the house as well as household tasks. During the same period, Sunny hosted the MBC radio show's FM Date. She contributed her own self-written logo song for the show and also won the "Rookie Radio DJ Award" at the year-end MBC Entertainment Awards. In April 2015, Sunny's voice was featured on indie-band Roof Top House's debut single "Heart Throbbing". The song managed to enter Gaon Digital Chart at number 89. In August-October 2015, she was a co-host for the short-lived JTBC's variety show Serial Shopping Family.

In March 2016, it was revealed that Sunny would be a celebrity judge in the new show, Vocal War: God's Voice. The purpose of the show is to create a one-on-one vocal battle between veteran singers in Korea and talented amateur vocalists. Starting from June 2016, Sunny joined the main cast of the JTBC variety show Cheonhajangsa (천하장사), a show featuring various traditional markets.

In August 2023, Sunny left SM after her exclusive contract with the company ended.

In April 2025, A2O Entertainment announced that Sunny signed a contract, effective from 2024, to serve as a special trainer for its trainees. This new agency was established by her uncle, Lee Soo-man, the former executive producer of SM Entertainment.

Discography

Singles As lead artist Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album KOR "Heart Throbbing" 2015 89 KOR: 21,799 Rooftop Project The 1st Album "U&I" 2017 —

As featured artist Title Year Album "Time" 2018

Promotional singles Title Year Album "First Kiss" 2014 Hwang Soun Je Project Superhero 3rd Line Up

Collaborations Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album KOR "I Love You, I Love You" 2012 56 51 KOR: 102,375 MIRYO aka JOHONEY

Soundtrack appearances

Other appearances Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album KOR 2013 — 2011 Girls Generation Tour (Live) "You Are A Miracle" 32 KOR: 53,496 SBS Gayo Daejun: Friendship Project "Sound of Your Heart" 2016 — S.M. Station Season 1

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2012 The Outback Miranda Voice-over for the Korean-dubbed version I AM. – SM Town Live World Tour in Madison Square Garden Herself Biographical film of SM Town 2014 Rio 2 Jewel Voice-over for the Korean-dubbed version 2015 SMTown The Stage Herself Documentary film of SM Town

Television series Year Title Role Notes 2008 Unstoppable Marriage Bulgwang-dong's Seven Princesses Gang Cameo (episode 64) 2009 Hilarious Housewives Sunny Cameo (episode 126) 2011 Sazae-san: Special 3 Cameo

Television shows Year Title Role Notes 2009–2010 The M Co-host 2009–2012 Invincible YouthRegular cast Season 1 (episodes 1–32, 37, 38, 51)Season 2 (episodes 1–31) 2012 Music Island Main host 2013 Real Men Narrator 2014–2015 Roommate Regular cast Season 2 2015 Shopping Family Main host 2016 Star Advent Strong Man Regular cast 2017 Snowball Project Hyena on the Keyboard: Pilot Main host A Man Who Feeds The Dog Narrator Season 2 2017–2018 To You, From Me Regular cast 2018 Real Life Men and Women Love Translation Supermodel 2018 Survival Performance mentor 2018–2019 Video StarMain host Season 2 (episodes 91–115) 2019 Shall We Chicken? 2021–present Beauty and Luxury 6 Host 2021 Spicy Girls Cast member 2024 No Way Home Main host with Hyoyeon

Web shows Year Title Role Notes 2021 Idea Panda Host with Lee Eun-ji and Kim Poong Legendary Trainee Love Catcher in Seoul

Radio shows Year Title Role Notes 2008 Melon Chunji Radio Co-DJ with Super Junior's Sungmin 2014–2015 MBC FM4U's DJ

Musical theatre Year Title Role Notes 2012–2013 Catch Me If You Can Brenda Strong Lead role 2014 Singin' in the Rain Kathy Selden 2016–2017 Cafe-in ~Mr Sommelier Miss Barista Lead role, Japanese musical

Awards and nominations

+ Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result Korea Musical Awards 2013 Best New Actress Catch Me If You Can MBC Entertainment Awards 2014 Rookie Radio DJ Award Sunny's FM Date