Ahn Hee-yeon, professionally known as Hani, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is known as a member of the South Korean girl groupEXID and its subgroup, SoljiHani. She has appeared on television as a host on Weekly Idol and a cast member on Off to School, Crime Scene and A Style for You.
Early life
Ahn Hee-yeon was born on May 1, 1992, in Seoul, South Korea, but her family and friends all called her Hani from a young age. She competed in triathlons from elementary until middle school, and was also an avid swimmer. Prior to her debut with EXID, she was originally set to debut as a member of a girl group under JYP Entertainment, along with Sistar's Hyolyn, Secret's Song Ji-eun and Bestie's Uji. However, she was cut from JYP after a year. Hani stated that the company did not see potential in her. Following this, she went to study abroad in China for a year.
Career
2012–13: Debut with EXID and rise to popularity
EXID officially debuted on February 15, 2012 with the release of their debut single, "Whoz That Girl". In February 2013, Hani and EXID member Heo Sol-ji formed the duo Dasoni and released their debut single "Goodbye" on February 15, 2013. It also included the B-side, "Said So Often". In August 2014, EXID released their single "Up & Down". Initially, the song charted poorly, failing to make it on the top 100 of the Gaon Chart. However, the song slowly gained popularity in late November after a fan-taken video of her performing the song went viral. As of 2019, the video has been viewed more than 30 million times on YouTube.
2014–present: Solo career
In 2014, she entered the main cast of tvN's Always Cantare. In 2015, she appeared in Mad Clown's music video for "Fire", and entered the main cast of JTBC's Off to School and Crime Scene. Hani was also chosen to present a new KBS beauty show, A Style For You along with Kim Heechul, Goo Ha-ra and Yoon Bora. In spring, she appeared on Soulmates Returns. Later on, she made a cameo appearance in The Producers as herself. On June 24, she and Ken of VIXX released a duet song titled "Gap". In September, she was made a cast member in TV seriesLaw of the Jungle. In 2016, Hani became the co-host of Baek Jong-won's Three Great Emperors. In February 2016, she appeared on King ofMask Singer as "Little Match Girl", a get-up completed with a mask and costumes to hide her identity. Hani surprised the panel of judges and an audience with her rich and husky voice. Hani defeated Kim Feel and Jo Hang-jo but she was subsequently defeated by the Mask King at the time, Ha Hyun-woo of Guckkasten. Nevertheless, Hani's performances attracted attention and recognition for her unique vocal and passion for singing. On January 12, 2017, it was announced that f's Luna, Hani, and Mamamoo's Solar would release a collaborative dance song on January 19, produced by Park Geun-tae, who also wrote EXO's Baekhyun and Miss A's Suzy's duet "Dream". It was later revealed that the song's title is "Honey Bee", and is of the pop soul genre, incorporating 808 bass and saxophone. On January 19, the song "Honey Bee" was officially released at Mystic Entertainment's YouTube channel. In May 2019, Banana Culture announced that Hani and Jeonghwa would not be renewing their contracts, and EXID would go on hiatus after finishing their tour in Japan. In October 2019 it was announced that Hani has signed with Sublime Artist Agency and that she would be making her film debut with her given name Ahn Hee-yeon. On January 21, Hani was announced to star in the web drama XX. The drama's first episode aired on January 24 and will run for 10 episodes.
