IU is from a poor background (“She and her younger brother lived apart from their parents in a studio room with their grandmother and cousin for over one year in conditions of great poverty.”, “She attended 20 auditions but failed to succeed in any of them, and was also scammed by fake entertainment companies.”, “Due to her poor living conditions at the time, IU stated that she “loved being at the studio”, where she could eat as much as she wanted and had a place to sleep.”). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IU_(entertainer)
Debuting at 15 as an ordinary K-Pop idol, she found success quickly before breaking free of industry restraints to become a proper singer-songwriter who writes, produces, and composes her own music. She broke the idol mold and became beloved by all demographics; she is a rare example of a soloist who is more popular than most boy and girl groups.
Furthermore, she successfully moved into acting and shattered the stereotype of idol-turned-actors being poor performers (she is the lead in one of the best Korean series of all time, When Life Gives You Tangerines). She was even awarded by the National Tax Service as an Exemplary Taxpayer. Finally, she is a prolific donor, having contributed $650k in 2025 alone and donating nearly $1 million every year. https://www.soompi.com/article/1386237wpp/lee-seo-jin-iu-and-gray-receive-awards-for-being-exemplary-taxpayers
Taylor Swift is a woman from a wealthy family that spent a significant amount of money getting Taylor’s career to take off. Yet, she’s a reasonably talented singer-songwriter who has been very active at defining the taste of her music and keeping herself in the limelight for almost two decades.
Any idea why you’re getting downvoted? I don’t know anything about celebrities.
A) she’s a successful woman
B) she’s a billionaire
C) she takes private jets everywhere
D) her music isn’t very good
E) her fans are often fanatical, and this offputting
Any of these can lead to down votes.
And as for D, I think it is more that Lemmy isn’t filled with the kind of people who would love her as an artist. You’ve got a lot of people who may not have music tastes which would align with Taylor, but because she is so popular you hear about her all the time and why don’t people shut up about her!
Agreed.
I bumped into a former colleague a while back, and in chatting the one exciting thing (from her point of view) that she’d done in the last year was to go and see Taylor Swift … out came the phone, and I was subjected to a great many photos of the event in question.
I’m glad she enjoyed herself, but to me it just felt a bit sad for her - having that much emotionally invested in a marketed commercial product.
My personal opinion is that the best of her music is pretty mid.