EJAE

In 2011 she appeared on KBS2’s Yeoyu Manman with her grandfather Shin Young-kyun. The scene drew attention again later. She spent 12 years as an SM Entertainment trainee, until 2015, without debuting, and then studied music business and psychology at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

The year she turned 25, she debuted as a songwriter by composing EXID Hani’s solo “Hello.” In 2017 she co-wrote “Milk” for the indie act Eclipse. In 2018 she took part in writing Suzy’s “SObeR.”

In 2019 she co-wrote Red Velvet’s “Psycho.” In 2020 she worked on Taeyeon’s “Sorrow.” In 2021 she co-wrote “Rebirth” for League of Legends and TWICE’s “Pieces of Love.” In 2022 “Rebirth” earned a nomination at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

In 2023 she co-wrote aespa’s “Drama.” In 2024 she co-wrote aespa’s “Armageddon” and Red Velvet Irene’s “Like a Flower.”

The breakthrough yearIn March 2025 she worked on Le Sserafim’s “So Cynical (Badum).” In June, Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters was released. Ejae, who had joined as a songwriter, was cast by director Maggie Kang to sing the lead character Rumi’s songs, and the year she turned 34 she became known worldwide through “Golden,” which she co-wrote. A month later it became known that she is the granddaughter of the veteran actor Shin Young-kyun. In August “Golden” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, the first K-pop song sung by a female singer to do so. In October she signed with the U.S. agency WME and released the solo single “In Another World.”

In January 2026 she won a Golden Globe and in February a Grammy Award for “Golden.” In March “Golden” won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. KPop Demon Hunters also won Best Animated Feature. In May “Golden” was named Song of the Year at the American Music Awards, and in June she sang at the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Cup. In September she walked her first runway at the fashion show Vogue World.

Ejae (born Dec 6, 1991) debuted on Jun 1, 2016, the year she turned 25, by composing EXID Hani’s solo “Hello,” and became known worldwide in 2025, the year she turned 34, when she co-wrote and sang “Golden” from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters. In 2026 she won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.