IU Revealed Why She Secretly Attends TWICE's Concerts

IU is one of the biggest names in Korean music, a performer who can sell out arenas and draw celebrity audiences to her own shows. But when it comes to watching her fellow artists perform, she goes the same way anyone else does: she buys a ticket and sits in the crowd.

The singer-actress shared this detail on the April 14 episode of the YouTube variety show TEO, where she appeared alongside the cast of the MBC drama 21세기 대군부인, including actors Byun Woo Seok, Noh Sang Hyun, and Gong Seung Yeon. What began as a lighthearted conversation about the drama quickly turned into a revealing glimpse into IU's relationship with live performance — and with the artists she genuinely admires.

The story of her TWICE concert visit, which emerged during the conversation, is already making the rounds online — and it's the kind of detail that makes fans love her even more than they already did.

The TWICE Concert: A Fan Who Happens to Be IU

Host Jang Do Yeon set the stage when she mentioned to the panel that IU buys her own concert tickets rather than accepting the invitation passes she could easily receive as a fellow celebrity. IU confirmed it plainly: as someone who performs herself, watching a live show from beginning to end is a form of study, and she treats it that way.

"As someone who also performs, watching shows is a way to learn," IU said. "I try to go quietly, watch from start to finish, and truly enjoy it."

The TWICE visit came up specifically because of who else was in the conversation. Gong Seung Yeon is the older sister of TWICE member Jeongyeon — a fact that connected IU's concert habit to a small but charming behind-the-scenes story.

According to Gong Seung Yeon, Jeongyeon had actually sent IU a direct message about the concert — presumably an invitation or at least a heads-up. IU, however, didn't see it in time. She had already gone on her own. The missed DM only came to her attention the next day, on a drama set, when Gong Seung Yeon passed on the message in person.

"She told me, 'I wanted to invite you, but wasn't sure if you'd see it — can you tell her directly?'" Gong Seung Yeon recalled. "And I said, 'Do you really think she reads your DMs?'" The exchange drew laughter from the panel, and the warmth of the story was hard to miss: IU had already gone to the concert independently, because she genuinely wanted to be there.

Beyond TWICE: EXO's D.O. and a Broader Concert Habit

The TWICE story wasn't the only example IU shared. She mentioned that she also attended a performance by EXO member D.O. (Do Kyungsoo), continuing a pattern that speaks to something deeper than occasional fan behavior.

"I try to see as many performances as I can," IU said. "It relieves stress and is genuinely healing for me."

For IU, watching live performances serves multiple purposes at once. There's the professional dimension — observing how other artists construct and inhabit a stage, noticing what works and what doesn't, absorbing ideas that might eventually filter back into her own work. But there's also something more personal: she's a music fan, and she's made peace with treating that as a part of who she is rather than something to set aside because of her fame.

The combination of those two motivations — artistic curiosity and genuine fandom — is what gives the habit its particular character. IU isn't attending out of obligation, industry networking, or PR instinct. She's going because she likes music and the people who make it.

Why This Story Resonates So Widely

The detail about IU buying her own tickets instead of accepting free passes might seem minor, but it's connected to a larger perception that fans have built of her over many years: that she is, at bottom, an unusually authentic person in an industry where authenticity is often performed rather than lived.

IU has consistently maintained close relationships with fellow artists — she and TWICE have shared stages, supported each other's work, and demonstrated the kind of genuine mutual regard that doesn't always survive the competitive pressures of the entertainment industry. Her decision to purchase tickets rather than use her industry connections reflects a particular kind of respect: she wants to be an audience member, not a VIP guest. She wants to see the show the way the fans see it.

That philosophy — treating the audience experience as valuable enough to seek out, even when you could easily bypass it — is the kind of thing that resonates far beyond any single concert visit. It says something about how IU understands the relationship between performers and their audiences, and how she situates herself within that relationship.

IU's Ongoing Year: Drama, Music, and What Comes Next

The TEO appearance that surfaced this story also touched on IU's current projects. Her involvement with the drama 21세기 대군부인 and its cast reflects the ongoing interplay between her acting and music careers — a dual track that she has navigated with notable success over the years.

The drama's cast also includes a notable connection: Gong Seung Yeon's sister Jeongyeon of TWICE, who has described herself as a genuine fan of IU who "watches everything" she appears in. That kind of cross-artist support, made visible through casual variety show conversation, reinforces the picture of an industry where at least some of the mutual admiration is genuine.

For IU's own fanbase, the concert stories are another entry in a long list of moments that feel characteristic: small, unpretentious, and deeply human. She went to a TWICE concert because she likes TWICE. She sat in the crowd and watched until the end. And when the DM finally reached her — through a slightly chaotic chain of personal delivery — she was grateful and a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

That's the version of IU that millions of fans have followed for over a decade. And by all appearances, it's the real one.