Korean Soprano Singer Lee Sang-eun passes away at 46

South Korean singer-songwriter Lee Sang-Eun was found dead in the bathroom minutes before her concert performance. She was 46.

Koreaboo, a South Korean entertainment website, reported on July 6 at around 8:23 p.m. that a concert staff member discovered the singer's lifeless body in the third-floor women's restroom of the concert venue and immediately alerted the police.

"It was time for Lee Sang Eun to come on stage, but she wasn’t backstage. When I looked in the bathroom, I found her lying on the floor." said the staff, as translated by Koreaboo.

The singer was rushed to the nearest hospital, but reportedly already dead before arriving at the medical facility.

She was set to perform at the 33rd Regular Concert of the Gimcheon Municipal Choir at the Grand Hall of Gimcheon Culture and Art Center in South Korea before the incident happened. 

Reports by Yonhap News also claim that police don't suspect foul play in the matter.

An investigation is currently underway. 

Lee Sang Eun, whose stage name is Lee Tzsche, is among the popular singers in the Korean entertainment industry. She graduated from Seoul National University and went to Mannes School Of Music in New York for her Master's degree.

She won the Rookie Artist Award at the 1988 Golden Disc Awards. She also won Female Musician of the Year at the 2004 and 2006 Korean Music Awards. 

In 1988, she made her debut at the MBC Riverside Music Festival, a prestigious young music competition in South Korea. Since then, she has dropped 15 full-length albums. She released her most recent album, fLoW in 2019.