Ava is the stage name of K-pop singer Lee Jung-hyun, who was born on February 7, 1980, in Gimje, South Korea. Before becoming known for her genre-jumping combination of techno, pop, and Eurodance, she earned acclaim as an actress. Her but appearance in the 1996 film A Petal earned Jung-hyun a number of awards, including "Best New Actress" at the Grand Bell Awards. Three years later, she launched her music career with 1999's Let's Go to My Star, which reached number 6 in South Korea and featured the back-to-back Number 1 singles "Wa" and "Change." "You," a single from 2000's Lee Jung Hyun II also went to Number 1, as did the album itself. Although Ava ever topped the South Korean charts again, she remained in the Top 10 with releases like Magic to Go to My Star (which reached number 6 in 2001), I ♡ Natural (which hit number 2 in 2002, as did its first single, "Ari Ari"), and Passion (which peaked at number 7 in 2004). Although she devoted most of her focus to her acting career during the 2010s and 2020s, her music remained popular in Asian-speaking countries, with the track "와" reaching number 194 on China's Top 200 Shazam chart in 2023.
