ITZY's Chaeryeong makes solo debut with mini-album 'Lovesick,' 7 years after group debut
Chaeryeong dropped her first solo mini-album 'Lovesick' on November 9, becoming the third ITZY member to go solo after Yeji and Yuna.
Seven years, then Lovesick
Chaeryeong of ITZY released her first solo mini-album, Lovesick, on November 9, 2026 — seven years after the group's debut. She is the third ITZY member to go solo, following Yeji and Yuna.
At her debut press conference, she described the record's sound: the album contains "a song that expresses the feeling of falling in love in a lovely way." On what she wanted to bring to the project, she said she "worked hard to show charms different from the members" — pointing to ITZY's group identity of five members each having distinct colors as the bar she was trying to clear individually.
Asked whether she felt anxious about debuting solo later than some peers, she was direct: "I never thought my solo activities were late, so I didn't feel anxious. I feel now is an appropriate time to show my solo activities."
On the Salim-nam couch
On November 14, Chaeryeong appeared as a guest on KBS2's Salim-haneun Namjadeul Season 2 (airs every Saturday at 10:35 PM), promoting the release. Cast member Eun Ji-won asked whether she felt lonely doing activities without her members for the first time. "I'm actually not someone who gets lonely easily," she said, laughing.
She laid out the solo experience in pros and cons. The upside: her naturally impatient personality means she can move fast when she's ready without waiting on anyone else. The downside? She went quiet. (Some answers answer themselves.) She did add that activities are "more fun" when the members are involved.
Cast member Park Seo-jin told her the seat she was sitting in was one where guests go on to win music show first places, predicting her album would be a big hit. Chaeryeong's response: "Really? Thank you."
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