Kei (singer)

Kim Ji-yeon (born March 20, 1995), known professionally as Kei, is a South Korean singer and musical actress. She rose to fame as a member of South Korean girl group Lovelyz in November 2014. Kei officially made her solo debut with released EP on October 8, 2019, titled Over and Over. On November 16, 2021, she left Woollim Entertainment, although she remains as a member of Lovelyz. She joined Palm Tree Island in January 2022 to focus on her musical career, before moving to A2Z Entertainment later that year. In 2023, Kei participated in Mnet reality competition show Queendom Puzzle, debuting with the resulting project supergroup El7z Up in September of that year.

Biography
Kei was born Kim Ji-yeon on March 20, 1995, in Incheon, South Korea. She graduated from Incheon Youngsun High School.

2014–2015: Debut with Lovelyz
In November 2014, Kei debuted as the main vocalist of girl group Lovelyz with the release of the debut studio album, Girls' Invasion. In December 2015, she recorded the song Love Is Like That for the drama Oh My Venus.

2016–2018: Solo activities
She was a contestant for JTBC's main vocal competition Girls Spirit in 2016, and was cast for a lead role in the web drama ''Matching! Boys Archery Club'' in the same year. On September 1, she released the collaborative song "Y". On October 26, she released a collaboration with The Solutions titled Beautiful as a part of HIGHGRND label project PLAYGRND.

In 2017, she made appearances on a variety of shows. She appeared on King of Mask Singer as the contestant "Agiley Mouse Jerry" for episodes 107–108. She also went on Duet Song Festival covering Kim Tae-yeon's song "I". Other shows she guested on was Running Man and Idol National Singing Competition.

On June 8, 2018, it was announced that Kei would be the new MC for Music Bank alongside actor Choi Won-myeong, starting from June 15.

2019–present: Solo debut, departure from Woollim, musical project and EL7ZUP
In 2019, she released the extended play (EP) Over and Over, under her real name Kim Ji-yeon. The album and the lead single "I Go" music video were released on October 8.

On November 1, 2021, Woollim Entertainment announced that Kei would not renew her contract and she left the company on November 16, 2021.

On January 10, 2022, it was confirmed that Kei signed with Palm Tree Island, signaling her debut as a full time musical actress.

In May 2022, Kei released a ballad, R&B project's 11th single 'Star Road' featuring KozyPop, which will be released on May 29, 2022.

In July 2022 it was announced that Kei would hold a fan meeting Kei from Kei on August 20, 2022, it marks her first solo fan meeting since debut and as well as her first in-person fan meeting after debuting as a full time musical actress.

In December 2022, Kei signed with A2Z Entertainment (Pop Music), with the intention of releasing a solo music album.

On May 26, 2023, Kei was confirmed to have joined the Mnet competition show Queendom Puzzle. She consistently ranked in the Top 7 as the show progressed and ultimately finished in 4th place, allowing her to debut with the winning group El7z Up.