JO YURI

Emerging as the lead vocalist within the twelve-member girl group Iz*One, South Korean performer Jo Yuri—also credited as Jo Yu-ri or Yuri—lent her voice to the ensemble’s pair of studio albums Bloom*Iz and Twelve plus seven mini-albums. Once the collective ended its run in April 2021, she stepped forward as a solo act via the single album Glassy and followed that with her first mini-album, Op. 22 Y-Waltz: In Major, in June 2022.

Intent on establishing herself inside the K-pop landscape, vocalist Jo Yu-ri initially competed on Mnet’s Idol School, a program designed to assemble the nine-piece fromis_9 from its roster of 41 participants. Finishing fifteenth, the aspiring artist did not advance, yet she quickly secured her breakthrough on Produce 48, where she represented Stone Music and placed third among 96 hopefuls, thereby earning membership in Iz*One. The resulting lineup—comprising Yuri, Sakura, Eunbi, Hyewon, Yena, Chaeyeon, Chaewon, Minju, Nako, Hitomi, Yujin, and Wonyoung—launched in 2018 and released its opening mini-album Color*Iz that October. The release achieved immediate commercial impact, moving more than 225,000 units, reaching number two on the Gaon Album Charts, securing trophies at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and Seoul Music Awards, and ultimately receiving platinum accreditation from the KMCA.

Throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s, Jo Yuri sustained her prominence alongside Iz*One. Japanese singles such as “Suki to Iwasetai” and “Buenos Aires” strengthened the act’s platinum status in additional markets, while the Korean mini-album Heart*Iz delivered the group’s first number-one album. A pair of 2020 milestones—the Korean debut studio album Bloom*Iz and the Japanese studio album Twelve—marked the height of the group’s sales, with Bloom*Iz surpassing 500,000 copies globally. Additional mini-albums rounded out the year, after which the members concluded their contract and disbanded in April 2021 to pursue individual paths.

Capitalizing on her visibility as one of the outfit’s most recognized voices, Yuri issued her debut single album Glassy that October, entering the Gaon charts at number five. While expanding into acting and soundtrack contributions—and collecting nominations at the Asia Artist Awards, Mnet Asian Music Awards, and Seoul Music Awards—she introduced the lead single “Love Shhh!” ahead of her first mini-album. Titled Op. 22 Y-Waltz: In Major, the project appeared in June 2022, peaking at number five on the Gaon tally after moving over 90,000 copies.