Hannah Bahng is a South Korean-Australian singer and social media star who, after several futile attempts to become a K-pop idol, began sharing her life on YouTube and TikTok in late 2021. The younger sister of Bang Chan, the leader of K-pop group Stray Kids, she had always worried about living in his shadow. However, she pursued her longtime goal of becoming an idol by writing, producing and directing her debut single, perfect blues, which was released from her own company, Bahng Entertainment.
Early Life
Hannah Bahng played the flute in primary school, but hated it when her mother made her take piano lessons, only to rediscover her passion for it in high school. She also practices ballet and contemporary dance. She had known iconic groups like Miss A and BIGBANG as a child, but developed a deeper interest in music as a teenager. She was drawn to the idea of being on the center stage and in order to become a K-pop idol, started taking singing and dancing lessons and sent filmed audition tapes to Korean agencies. She auditioned twice for the Newtown High School of Performing Arts, which both her brothers attended, but didn’t make it. She also auditioned for JYP three times.
Career
When the coronavirus pandemic happened, Hannah Bahng got the opportunity to rethink her goals. She was confident that she was not bad at any of the things she was doing and decided to try a different approach. Aware of the fact that she needed an online presence, she started making videos of herself with a camera, learnt to edit, and joined YouTube and TikTok in August 2021. She began uploading videos on her channel a month later. YouTube quickly became a creative outlet for her and she allowed her fans to see her goofy, unserious, and relatably cool self. She initially made vlogs, Q&A videos, videos about makeup, shopping hauls, cooking and other regular YouTube stuff.
She also made song covers, and while making YouTube videos, she continued to work on her own music. Although she didn’t have the luxury of a team of publicists and agents and stylists, she worked with her young manager and created Bahng Entertainment. Together, they found a videographer on TikTok and reached out to LA-based producer Andrew Luce to chalk out the distribution plan for her debut project, the single perfect blues, which was released from her company on July 14, 2023. Hannah, who had already amassed millions of fans on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, made ripples throughout international media with her debut.
Family Life
Hannah Bahng, born and raised in Australia, is of Korean descent. Her Korean name “Hena” means sunshine. Apart from English and Korean, she can speak little bit Spanish and Japanese. She comes from a musically gifted family; her elder brother Christopher, also known as Bang Chan, is the leader of K-pop group Stray Kids, while her younger brother is also into arts. She has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Berry.
