Pippi band’s Lee Yun-joung reflects on 30 years: “Adults didn’t like us”

Lee Yun-joung, whose band Pippi band brought a radical style to South Korea’s popular music scene in the 1990s, has shared an update after 30 years, recalling the resistance the group faced from adults and the personal decisions behind her career.

In a video released on the YouTube channel Mipji Aneun Gwanjong Eonni, Lee Yun-joung spoke candidly about the ordinary experiences of growing up behind her flamboyant stage image, her musical struggles and her path from ballet student to singer, stylist and working mother.

“Adults didn’t like us,” Lee Yun-joung recalled. Discussing an earlier interview, she remembered being asked about adults disliking Pippi band and responding, “I don’t like adults either.”

The group’s style, ahead of its time, brought frequent clashes with conservative older generations. In an era dominated by uniform standards, its unconventional approach sometimes drew controversy and shock rather than widespread affection.

From ballet student to Pippi band vocalist

Lee Yun-joung’s route to music began with ballet at Seoul Arts High School. A back injury during her final year of high school became a turning point. Her decision to apply to a theater department instead of a dance department led to conflict with her father. She eventually bleached her hair and ran away from home, setting out on her path as an artist.

While spending time around Apgujeong, Lee Yun-joung developed an interest in fashion, taking hand-me-down clothes from an older female friend and altering them to fit.

Her interests in fashion and music eventually led to a chance encounter with Pippi band members. Lee Yun-joung was expressing her musical style near a rehearsal space used by Kim Jin-yeol, then a manager for Seo Taiji and Boys, and others. A casual suggestion from the band members to sing at their studio developed into a song, leading to her debut as Pippi band’s vocalist.

Pippi band embraced a freewheeling punk concept, departing from conventional singers with neither choreography nor fixed rules. The atmosphere onstage encouraged her to “do whatever you want.”

Unrestrained performances and a move into electronic music

Lee Yun-joung’s unpredictable stage behavior also attracted attention. She threw a microphone when it failed to work properly, and incidents involving her uninhibited conduct led to a broadcast suspension. Recalling her approach, she said, “Doing what I wanted mattered more than the pressure of performing live.”

She later sought to expand into electronic music rather than remain confined to punk. Around 1997, Lee Yun-joung released Orbit, an electronic music album of a kind rarely seen in South Korea at the time, broadening her musical range.

A fashion career and life as a working mother

Lee Yun-joung’s subsequent career also followed an unconventional course. She continued to pursue changes, including studying in the United States to find her preferred musical direction rather than chase mainstream success.

She later studied fashion design in London, developing skills that supported her work as a stylist. Those studies helped lay the foundation for a distinctive fashion career that included becoming the first person from South Korea to participate in Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Her styling work included stars such as Lee Hyo-ri, Girls' Generation and Gummy.

Now a mother of one and a working mother, Lee Yun-joung spends her everyday life with her family. Thirty years after shaking up the stage as a punk queen, she is moving into the next chapter of her life at her own pace.

Source: original video (YouTube)