Lee Mi-ja (
Hangul: 이미자; born October 30, 1941)[1] is a South Korean singer. She is widely considered the most influential
trot singer in Korean music history.[2] Lee debuted in 1959 and rose to stardom with her 1964 best-selling song, "Camellia Girl."[3] She has released over 500 albums during her career and is known as the "Queen of Elegy," after one of her most popular songs.[4] In 2002, she became one of the first South Korean singers to perform in
North Korea.[5]
^Lee, Ha-na (October 20, 2023).
"이미자, 대중음악인 최초 금관문화훈장 수훈‥황정민·신동엽 대통령 표창" [Lee Mi-ja becomes the first popular musician to be awarded the Gold Medal of Culture by Presidents Hwang Jung-min and Shin Dong-yup]. Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved November 1, 2023 – via Naver.