SINGER & AUTHOR MICHELLE ZAUNER FINDING STRENGTH IN GRIEF

THE JAPANESE BREAKFAST FRONTWOMAN MOURNED HER MOM IN THE BESTSELLER CRYING IN H MART. NOW SHE'S ROCKING ON

- By ILANA KAPLAN

A Daughter's Heartbreak "It makes me feel close to her when I miss her and when I cry for her," Zauner says of her late mother (above, in 1990), who inspired Crying in H Mart (inset).

Back in Brooklyn after living in South Korea for a year, Michelle Zauner is still processing the transition. “I cried for four days leaving Korea,” she recalls over Zoom from her New York City apartment. After catapulting to success with her band Japanese Breakfast and as the author of the bestselling memoir Crying in H Mart, the artist sought respite abroad. “Even when I really enjoy parts of New York, I feel like I’m cheating on my love for Korea,” Zauner, 36, says of the country where she was born. “I was living such a slow life compared to the one that I live here.”

It’s understandable that Zauner needed to take her foot off the gas for a little while. Her career ignited in 2021: That year she released Japanese Breakfast’s critically acclaimed album Jubilee, which earned two Grammy nominations, including for best new artist. She also earned rave reviews for