Lee Sang-eun (Korean:이상은; born March 12, 1970),[3] also known by the stage name Lee Tzsche (Korean:리채), is a South Korean singer-songwriter. She debuted in 1988 and released 15 full-length albums.[4] She won the Rookie Artist Award at the 1988 Golden Disc Awards and Female Musician of the Year at the 2004 and 2006 Korean Music Awards.[5][6][7]
She debuted at the MBC Riverside Music Festival in 1988, singing another composer's song. At the time, she maintained a unisex look and she became popular, but she grew disenchanted with the entertainment business and, taking a sabbatical,[8] went to Japan and the US to study art.
Her second career as a musician began with 'Slow day' (1991), a short but impressive album with adolescent girl's feel to it. 'Begin' (1992) was a transitional album - it had an R&B or house sound with the producer Kim Hong-soon, but few fans appreciated the change.
The 5th and self-titled album 'Lee Sang-eun' (1993) showed more musical maturity. Soon she went to Japan and worked with Japanese musicians, most notably Takeda Hajimu (竹田元). Her 6th album 'GongMuDoHaGa(公無渡河歌)' (1995) has been called 'an introspective reflection.'[8] It has been suggested that she did 'far better' in Japan than her native country,[9] and she received wide name recognition and was regarded as an artist rather than a pop idol. The rich and overlapped sound production showed her ambition as a music director. She returned to simple sounds in the 7th album 'OiRobGo UtGin GaGe' (1997). With her back-band, the Penguins (with Takeda Hajimu) she became a troubadour with a serene mood.
From the 8th and self-titled 'Lee Tszche' (1997), she released albums aimed at the worldwide market with Toshiba EMI. She recorded in America with American session musicians.[10] Half of the tracks were English versions of her older songs, and the other half were new tracks in English. It led to a second English album 'Asian Prescription' (1999). In 2001 she featured on a song on CB Mass's album Massmatics, titled 흔적.
