'Golden' Singer EJAE Is the Granddaughter of Film Legend Shin Young-kyun

Singer-songwriter EJAE, who found global fame with the song "Golden" from Netflix's animated film "KPop Demon Hunters," comes from one of South Korea's best-known artistic families. She is the maternal granddaughter of veteran actor Shin Young-kyun.

EJAE attended the 16th Beautiful Artist Awards on Oct. 15 at Stage28 in Seoul's Gangdong district, accompanied by her fiancé, music producer Sam Kim.

The event also featured a baeksuyeon, a traditional Korean celebration marking a person's 99th birthday, in honor of Shin Young-kyun. He founded the arts and culture foundation that bears his name. With her own wedding coming up, EJAE brought her future husband to celebrate her grandfather's big day. She arrived in a black dress and walked around the venue arm in arm with Sam Kim and shared warm moments with her grandfather.

"Does it even make sense that I'm already 100?" Shin Young-kyun said with a laugh. "I did everything I wanted to do, so I have no regrets. I hope the younger generation will lead Korean film back to its golden age."

EJAE's family stands out even within the entertainment world. Her grandfather graduated from Seoul National University's School of Dentistry and worked as a dentist before turning to acting. He made his debut in 1960 with the film "The Widow" (Gwabu). He went on to appear in more than 300 works, including "The Red Scarf" (Ppalgan Mahura) and "Love Me Once Again" (Miwodo Dasi Hanbeon).

After his success on screen, he also worked in business and politics. In 1977, he bought the Myungbo Theater in Seoul's Myeongdong area. In 2010, he made headlines when he pledged to donate personal assets worth 50 billion won to support film and the arts. A year later, in 2011, he received the Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards.

Her mother, Shin Hye-jin, is known to be vice chairman and CEO of Seyoung Enterprise. She runs a golf course in Los Angeles. EJAE and Sam Kim will reportedly marry there on Oct. 17.

An old television appearance featuring EJAE and her grandfather is also drawing renewed attention. In 2011, on the KBS2 program “Relaxed and Carefree” (Yeoyu Manman), EJAE introduced Shin Young-kyun as “a perfect, 100-point grandfather who is stylish and does everything I need.”

Her own music career did not start smoothly. As a child, she spent about 10 years as a trainee at SM Entertainment, but it never led to a debut. She later moved her focus to the U.S., where she balanced school with music and built a career as a songwriter. She has worked on songs for many K-POP acts, including Red Velvet's "Psycho" and aespa's "Armageddon," as well as tracks for TWICE and NMIXX.

Last year, she reached a worldwide audience with "Golden" from the Netflix animated film "KPop Demon Hunters." She helped write the lyrics and music, and she sang the track as the singing voice of Rumi, the film's main character. At the 68th Grammy Awards this year, she won in the Best Song Written for Visual Media category.

Her grandfather became one of the defining actors of Korean cinema. Now his granddaughter has put her own name on the world stage as a K-POP songwriter and singer. With her wedding set for November, interest in her family and her future husband keeps growing.