Uhm Jung-hwa

Uhm Jung-hwa (born August 17, 1969) is a South Korean singer, actress and dancer.

Uhm is considered to be one of the most influential women in the Korean entertainment industry, finding success in both music and film.

Her legacy and career reinventions have given her the nickname of "Korean Madonna".

Uhm began her career in 1989 as a chorus member for the broadcasting company MBC.

She starred in the 1993 romance drama film, On a Windy Day, We Must Go to Apgujeong, and released her debut studio album, Sorrowful Secret, that same year.

Though both releases found limited audiences, the album's lead single, "Pupil", helped to establish a sensual image for Uhm.

Uhm Jung-hwa officially debuted as a singer in 1993 with her first studio album Sorrowful Secret.

By the mid-90s she established herself as one of the T.O.P Korean female singers and entertainers, with a series of hit singles: "Sad Expectation", "A Love Only Heaven Permits" , "Rose of Betrayal" , and "Tell Me".

Uhm's fourth studio album, Invitation, introduced a new mature side of the singer.

The music video for its title track caused a lot of controversy due to its suggestive nature.

Invitation quickly became one of the highest selling albums of the year and received positive reviews from critics and fans.

She released two of her most recognizable singles of her career, "Poison" and "Invitation".

She pivoted to dance music with 1996's "Sad Expectation", and found success with "Rose of Betrayal" (배반의 장미) from her third studio album, After Love (1997).

Subsequent releases Invitation (1998) and 005.1999.06 (1999) were bolstered by a string of hit singles: "Poison", "Invitation", "I Don't Know" (몰라), and "Festival", which gained status as her signature songs.

She remained successful the following year, in 1999, with her fifth studio album 005.1999.06

Her 2000s musical output saw declining commercial reception but greater appeal with critics.

During the 2000s, Uhm began to focus more on her acting career and committed herself to taking a variety of acting roles.

She also began to pursue and experiment with different musical genres, in particular electronica.

Starting in 2001, Uhm began to concentrate efforts on her acting career.

Her performance in the 2002 erotic comedy Marriage Is a Crazy Thing won Best Actress at the 39th Baeksang Arts Awards, a category she received another nomination for in 2006 with Princess Aurora and won again in 2012 with Dancing Queen.

Uhm began experimenting with electronica on Self Control (2004), and funk on Prestige (2006), the latter of which won Best Dance and Electronic Album at the 4th Korean Music Awards.

In 2004, she released her double album Self Control, which featured songs composed by Jung Jae-hyung, Fractal and Roller Coaster.

Music critics praised Uhm for her ability to reinvent her image and sound.

After a two-year break from the music scene, she released her ninth studio album Prestige.

Throughout the year she released two singles, "Come 2 Me" and "Song of the Wind", each enjoyed positive critical reception.

In early 2007, she won a Korean Music Award for Best Electronic Dance Record.

In 2008, she experienced a commercial resurgence with the single "D.I.S.C.O".

In the summer of 2008, she released her first EP titled D.I.S.C.O with help from her longtime friend Yang Hyun-suk of YG Entertainment.

The lead single "D.I.S.C.O" featured T.O.P, a member from the popular boy band Big Bang.

The EP was one of the best-selling albums by a female artist in 2008, and was further promoted by the digital single "D.I.S.C.O Part 2" which was a remix version of "D.I.S.C.O" and featured G-Dragon, the leader of BigBang.

After an eight-year-long hiatus Uhm announced that she would be releasing her first new album since D.I.S.C.O in 2008, the album title would be The Cloud Dream of the Nine.

Following a nearly decade-long hiatus from music, she released her tenth studio album The Cloud Dream of the Nine in 2017.

Uhm was born in Jecheon, North Chungcheong, South Korea.

She is the second child of Yoo Gyeong-sook and Uhm Jin-ok, a music teacher who died in a motorcycle accident when she was six.

Her younger and only brother Uhm Tae-woong is an actor.

Following their father's death, their family struggled financially.

She revealed that she would be releasing the album in two parts, the first part would be released on December 27, 2017, and the second part at a later date.

Uhm performed the title tracks "Watch Me Move" and "Dreamer" on Gayo Daejeon along with "D.I.S.C.O", she would also perform the two tracks on MCountdown on the January 5.

One year after the release of Part 1, Uhm revealed through her Instagram account that she was in the preparation stage of her comeback with part 2 of The Cloud Dream of the Nine.

As of 2020 she currently released ten studio albums, two compilation albums and one extended play.