E:U (이유) was born on May 19, 1998 as Park Ji Won (박지윈), in Hanam, South Korea. She is a rapper, dancer, singer, songwriter, and member of the K-pop girl group EVERGLOW.
Before debut, Jiwon was a cheerleader in a South Korean “stunt cheerleading” team called Impact. She was revealed as a Yuehua Entertainment trainee in March 2017 on Jiwon’s Vlog via the agency’s Twitter account. Then, she was a guest host in SBS' TV show, Delicious Cooking Class. In 2018, she began modeling for Stare, a Korean shoemaker, alongside fellow trainee Ahn Hyeongseop (current member of Yuehua’s boy group TEMPEST).
In February 2019, she was the fifth member of EVERGLOW to be revealed in the Crack in Film series. She was introduced as E:U, the group’s main rapper, main dancer (alongside Mia), and leader. Her stage name stands for “Especially for You.” Three years after the group’s debut, she passed the leadership role on to member Sihyeon.
E:U has songwriting credits in three of EVERGLOW’s songs. She co-wrote the lyrics for “달아 (Moon)” from their debut single album ARRIVAL OF EVERGLOW, and their 2020 hit “LA DI DA”. In August 2023, she was credited for the first time as a primary lyricist in their B-side track “Oh Ma Ma God.”
