--- title: What to Know About CL, the K-Pop Star from the Olympics description: Who is CL, the K-pop star who performed at the Olympics closing ceremony? Here's what to know about the rapper CL. canonical: https://time.com/5174992/cl-rapper-k-pop-olympics-closing-ceremony/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-26T03:31:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:49.285Z og:title: 5 Things to Know About the Rapper CL og:description: She performed at the Olympics closing ceremony og:url: https://time.com/5174992/cl-rapper-k-pop-olympics-closing-ceremony/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt628204be37dee4c8/698928d38fd2ee41e435ad16/cl-closing-ceremony.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2018 Winter Olympic Games - Closing Ceremony og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Things to Know About the Rapper CL twitter:description: She performed at the Olympics closing ceremony twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt628204be37dee4c8/698928d38fd2ee41e435ad16/cl-closing-ceremony.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Things to Know About CL, the Rapper Who Slayed the Olympics Closing Ceremony ## Video: K-Pop's Next Act [Watch (HLS stream): K-Pop's Next Act](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2ukAz9Fl.m3u8) (6:04)  _Published 2016-10-31. Riding off the success of Korean pop, artists CL, Dean and Eric Nam have their eyes set on the U.S. music industry_  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 26, 2018 3:31 AM UTC  South Korean K-Pop singer CL performs during the Closing Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. South Korean K-Pop singer CL performs during the Closing Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.Dan Istitene—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 26, 2018 3:31 AM UTC Rapper CL is already a bonafide star in her native South Korea and around the world, but many American viewers learned about her music for the first time when [she performed at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics closing ceremony](http://time.com/5174898/olympics-closing-ceremonies-k-pop-performers/) on Sunday, wowing the crowd with hits like “The Baddest Female.” Here’s what to know about CL, one of the biggest [K-pop stars](http://time.com/5124176/best-k-pop-artists/) in the business. ## She was part of the girl group 2NE1 The group broke out in 2009, [according to _Billboard_](https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/7588838/2ne1-disbands-yg-entertainment), and remained dominant until it officially disbanded in 2016\. The band’s last album, _Crush_, was the top-ranking K-pop album on the Billboard 200 chart for two years. The group broke up so its members could pursue their solo careers, YG Entertainment said at the time. ## Her real name is Lee Chae-rin Though she goes by the stage name CL, the rapper was born Lee Chae-rin. The singer, who was born in Seoul, recently celebrated her 27th birthday. ## She’s a muse to designer Jeremy Scott and an actress While CL may not be a household name in the U.S. yet, she has caught the eye of American fashion designer Jeremy Scott, who even designed 2NE1’s costumes for their 2012 global tour, [according to ](https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a15248/cl-2ne1-jeremy-scott-muse/)_Elle._ He has described CL as his “muse,” and CL told _Elle_ in 2013 that Scott was her “best friend” and like her “big brother.” CL is also on the cast list for a 2018 Peter Berg movie called _Mile 22,_ [according to IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4560436/fullcredits?ref%5F=tt%5Fcl%5Fsm#cast). Mark Wahlberg, Lauren Cohan, John Malkovich and Ronda Rousey are also involved in the project, according to IMDB. ## The closing ceremony was also a homecoming for CL Prior to Sunday, CL had not performed in South Korea for several years. “It’s so special to me,” [she told _Billboard_](https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8219131/cl-kpop-pyeongchang-2018-winter-olympics-closing-ceremony) of the closing ceremony gig. “I haven’t done a \[performance\] in Korea in a while so it was very meaningful. Just coming back home is real great.” ## She’s coming for the U.S. next She may already be a star in Korea, but CL has her sights set on American listeners. “I feel like I put so much energy and time into \[reaching a U.S. audience\] that I, I’m going to, I have to do it,” [she told CNN](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/cl-music-documentary-breaking-america/index.html). “I think it’s also about how you do it and what the message is and who I represent and who I am. So I want to do it right, and that’s why it’s taking so long.” What to Know About CL, the K-Pop Star from the Olympics ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5174992/cl-rapper-k-pop-olympics-closing-ceremony/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5174992/cl-rapper-k-pop-olympics-closing-ceremony/"},"headline":"5 Things to Know About CL, the Rapper Who Slayed the Olympics Closing Ceremony","datePublished":"2018-02-26T03:31:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:02:49.285Z","description":"You should know her name","url":"https://time.com/5174992/cl-rapper-k-pop-olympics-closing-ceremony/","keywords":["Newsfeed","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt628204be37dee4c8/698928d38fd2ee41e435ad16/cl-closing-ceremony.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt628204be37dee4c8/698928d38fd2ee41e435ad16/cl-closing-ceremony.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2018 Winter Olympic Games - Closing Ceremony","caption":"2018 Winter Olympic Games - Closing Ceremony","creditText":"Dan Istitene—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5174992/cl-rapper-k-pop-olympics-closing-ceremony/","name":"5 Things to Know About CL, the Rapper Who Slayed the Olympics Closing Ceremony"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"K-Pop's Next Act","description":"Riding off the success of Korean pop, artists CL, Dean and Eric Nam have their eyes set on the U.S. music industry","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2ukAz9Fl/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-31T13:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2ukAz9Fl.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5174992/cl-rapper-k-pop-olympics-closing-ceremony/","duration":"PT6M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5174992/cl-rapper-k-pop-olympics-closing-ceremony/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```