Tiffany Young
Tiffany Young, real name Stephanie Young Hwang, was a member of the Girls’ Generation, a former K-pop sensation. Tiffany was born and raised in California. Since she was a young girl, she had her heart set on a singing career, but her father disapproved. However, Tiffany did not give up and continued to work hard to reach her dream. After succeeding in the SM Auditions in Los Angeles in 2004, she boarded a flight to Korea at age 15.
Tiffany had to teach herself Korean because, as a result of her upbringing in America, not only did she not know anyone in Korea, but her ability to speak the language was not as strong as that of native speakers. She later received training from SM Entertainment before making her debut with Girls’ Generation. Girls’ Generation was once a famous K-Pop group under SM Entertainment, and Tiffany was so close to the other members that they saw each other as a family. The health scare she experienced when she was told she had vocal nodules in 2008 only made her stronger as the main singer of the K-pop girl group.
Tiffany made headlines in December 2018 when her father was accused of fraud for an outstanding debt of 35 million won (about $29,354). The singer at the time delivered a statement in which she discussed her terrible childhood brought on by her father’s problems and that she had already paid back his loan several times. She further disclosed that because of these persistent problems, she had severed her relationship with him.
In an interview with MBC’s “Human Documentary: People Are Great”, Tiffany also opened up about her mental health. She said that she has an obsession with being girly automatically on camera, speaking in a high tone, and having to give off good energy, especially when she first debuted. Tiffany sought counseling to reevaluate herself and let some of this go. She underwent extensive counseling on how to express herself, whether she is angry, depressed, or going through a difficult moment.
Tiffany didn’t mention her mother’s passing until after she made her acting debut. Tiffany’s real name is Stephanie, but she adopted Tiffany as her stage name because her mother had always desired it.
Aside from still being in the girl group, she’s now starting her solo career, where she’s already released six music videos, completed some tours, and in 2019, she was collaborating with Disney and was the first K-Pop artist to be featured in the ‘True Original Summer of Music,’ a new music endeavor where musicians can honor Mickey Mouse and everything Disney.
https://www.mtv.com/news/dzl8ar/tiffany-young-disney-interview
Really interesting how she grew up in the US and taught herself Korean, that’s admirable.