Singer Hye-eun recalled the difficult moments of her past and conveyed the happiness she found as a singer later in life.
On the 17th, singer Hye-eun, who celebrated her 50th anniversary, appeared as a guest on KBS1's 'Morning Forum.'
On that day, Hye-eun opened the show with the stage of her new song 'Water Scale.' He explained about the new song, 'Water Scale means that the surface reflects the sunlight and sparkles. It turns out to be a coma state composer,' and shared that 'at some program there were two people performing, and they were so good. But I glanced at it briefly, and told my manager to find out who those friends were appearing on that program. It turned out to be a coma state, and I thought, 'Then let's go,' so I went. I had no prior relationship.'
When he was asked about the reaction of the coma state at that time, he joked, 'I went into a coma state,' and said, 'They were so glad and so thankful. While playing a few songs, I thought I wanted to do something lyrical, and within less than a month, a song was brought back. The moment I heard that song, my heart started to race. It had been a long time since I felt that emotion. So I also thought it was very interesting.'
In response to the question, 'How long did it take to complete the recording?' he explained, 'I practiced about three times and then went to the recording studio directly. I sang it about three to four times. We record songs in the old way, even now. The reason is that when you cut the song repeatedly, the emotions break. Therefore, even if the song doesn't come out perfectly, we just push it with that feeling. These days, they seem to cut and do it. It feels awkward to suggest how to do it, so I just asked them to sing it a few times.'
He mentioned, 'There's no change in my voice from then to now,' and when asked whether he tried to lower his voice from that time, Hye-eun replied, 'That's not the case. It's an ironic song. I didn't intend to produce that sound; I just went into the recording studio and sang, and it was lowered by about a note compared to my singing. So for those following along because my song is a bit high, they lowered it to make it easier. That made the song pleasing to my heart, and unconsciously, that voice came out. I didn't touch it; it was the sound as it is.'
Now celebrating her 50th anniversary, Hye-eun said, 'My heart has always been in my 20s. So the concern is that my heart doesn't get old. I need to keep up with time, but while my body follows, my heart does not.' This statement drew laughter. He then identified four signature songs that made him who he is and shared stories about them.
He captivated attention by choosing 'Rain' from 1989 as his last song. Hye-eun said, 'This song was also sung by someone else. I just sang it as a guide, but I liked it after listening, so I ended up singing this song. In fact, at that time, I separated when my eldest child was 6 years old. So while singing this song, which is about love between two people, my emotions turned towards my child, causing me never to have sung that song properly. As it brought tears, I couldn't express my feelings completely.'
At that time, she had gotten married to an older businessman following a premarital pregnancy, welcoming her first daughter but had to divorce in 1988, which made her separate from her daughter. Announcer Kim Jae-won expressed concern, saying, 'You must have thought about your daughter each time you sang that song,' and Hye-eun replied, 'But my daughter came to me 30 years later. So now I sing with 100% emotion because she has come back. It's my favorite song.'
Afterward, Hye-eun's life graph was discussed. Born as the third in a troupe director's family, he said, 'My father is the director of the troupe. I have two older brothers, I am the third, and there is a younger sister. There are two sons and two daughters. I am the only one who got into music out of them. I sang when I was five years old with my father's troupe. At that time, I sang pop songs. If I sung, I would listen and memorize.'
However, at the age of 19, he became the breadwinner due to his father's failure to guarantee a loan and had to sing to earn money. Lee Kwang-ki expressed surprise, asking, 'There were four siblings at that time, right?' and Hye-eun stated, 'There were families, and it was difficult back then. But our grandfather and grandmother were very wealthy. However, the descendants could not protect it well, resulting in this situation. Since the guarantee failed, what could we do? I had to pay off the debt by singing. I became a young head of the household. In the early evening, I performed at theaters, restaurants, and nightclubs, staying inside until 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. when they closed the nightclub for the night. I moved around four to five places each day. I went through a lot of hardship.'
He mentioned that during that time, he did not feel the joy of singing. 'At that time, I was introverted. I was so introverted that I couldn't even have a good school life. So I distanced myself from friends and didn't meet anyone. Singing at night was really embarrassing for me. While other friends were going to college, I was singing in bars. So I was very ashamed.'
He continued, 'Somehow, I became famous, and even while singing for nearly 30 years, I was doing it out of necessity to earn money, so I didn't know appreciation or joy about singing. But after 30 years, I wondered, 'Is this my vocation?' Hye-eun, who later realized the happiness of being a singer, commented, 'It's very foolish. If I had known a little earlier, I would have sung happily, but I squeezed myself to sing. But even now, it's not too late. I am working hard.'
He said, 'I wanted to show myself in front of my fans through the screen, so I also started a broadcast station. I'm doing personal broadcasts. 'Anyway, Hye-eun' is on YouTube. I thought I needed to celebrate my 50th anniversary, so from July 19 to August 17, I will hold performances for one month at Hanseong Art Hall in Daehakro,' and he added, 'Fans who liked me since childhood are now all around 70 years old, and they are aging with me. They participate in all the important events of my family. They even check things I don't know. So they are fans, but they are like family.'
Meanwhile, Hye-eun also talked about the rumors surrounding her. When asked, 'Did you almost give up on being a singer because of scandals?' she replied, 'Yes. I heard so many unfair things. No matter how much I had to make a living, I wondered whether I should be a celebrity or a singer while going through all this unfairness.' She added, 'They say I'm dating someone. There aren't any men in Korea who I haven't dated.'
In particular, Hye-eun said, 'I feel so sorry for the late teacher Gil Ok-yoon due to the scandal. When 'I Love Only You' won grand prize at the Seoul Music Awards, I was so happy, and the teacher, who was originally foreign, hugged me, and we were delighted together. That's how it turned out that we were dating. I feel very sorry for that teacher. I don't know how to handle it. Going through so many scandals taught me how to manage my own anger. Yes, I have popularity, so I have gossip and scandals; if I were not popular, who would raise scandals about me? I learned to manage it.'
Um Ji-in commented on the scandal articles of the time, saying, 'Isn't this how fake news is these days? People are dying and all that. There are all sorts of news.' Hye-eun added, 'I was reported dead many times,' recalling, 'When I was filming 'Let's Live Together with Park Won-sook,' they were apparently holding my funeral in front of the KBS headquarters.'
He stated that he actually paused his singing career for a while, saying, 'I managed a clothing store for about two to three years in Myeongdong. I did not sing. I ran a custom house. There were no difficulties, and since I handled it, many people came to see. The clothing design was good, so the business did well. The marketing was just Hye-eun. So at night, I would sit in a chair in front of the shop window. People gathered there at night. The police came out from the Myeongdong police station and created a line for us. The business went well.'
Additionally, when rumors surfaced that she had a younger boyfriend, Hye-eun said, 'Yes. I have a young friend who makes me so happy and feels great,' but added with a twist under the probing of the panelists, 'He is our son-in-law.' He smiled happily while recalling, 'I met him in February of this year. He's very kind, and I think he is handsome. I thought it would be great to marry someone like him (to my daughter), and they ended up together.'
He said, 'I am very excited as the performance is approaching. It's been a long time since I performed before COVID-19. It's really been a long time. I've done many small performances, and of course, small theaters are also small performances, but I want to test myself with the big performance first,' and added, 'I will be performing from July 19 to August 17, excluding Mondays, in Daehakro. Please come a lot and give me a lot of strength. Thank you.'
[Photo] KBS1
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