Exo (group)

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Exo

Exo in June 2016

From left to right,

standing: Baekhyun, Chen, Lay, Sehun, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai

From left to right, kneeling: Suho, Xiumin

Background information

Origin Seoul, South Korea

 K-pop
Genres
 R&B

 hip hop

 EDM

 electropop

 dance-pop

Years active 2012–present

Labels  SM

 Avex

Associated acts  SM Town

 Exo-CBX

 Exo-SC

 SuperM
 Website exo.smtown.com

Members  Xiumin

 Suho

 Lay

 Baekhyun

 Chen

 Chanyeol

 D.O.

 Kai

 Sehun

Past members  Luhan

 Kris

 Tao

Exo (Korean: 엑소; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based

in Seoul, consisting of nine
members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai and Sehun. The
band was formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. Their music—
released and performed in Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese—primarily
incorporates pop, hip-hop, and R&B, including elements of electronic dance
music genres such as house and trap. The band ranked as one of the top five most
influential celebrities on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list from 2014 to 2018 and
have been labeled "Kings of K-pop" and the "Biggest boyband in the world" by various
media outlets.
The band debuted with twelve members separated into two sub-groups: Exo-K (Suho,
Baekhyun, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, and Sehun) and Exo-M (Xiumin, Lay, Chen, and former
members Kris, Luhan, and Tao). Kris, Luhan, and Tao departed the group individually
amid legal battles in 2014 and 2015. Exo-K and Exo-M performed music in Korean and
Mandarin, respectively, until the release of their third EP Overdose in 2014. Since 2015,
Exo have exclusively performed as one group while continuing to release and perform
music in multiple languages. Members Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin debuted as the
sub-unit Exo-CBX in 2016, and members Sehun and Chanyeol began promoting as the
sub-unit Exo-SC in 2019. Each member also maintains solo careers in music, film and
television.
Exo's first album XOXO (2013), released alongside breakthrough single "Growl", was a
critical and commercial success; it sold over one million copies, which made Exo the
first Korean artist to do so in twelve years. Their later works also had strong sales, with
their Korean studio albums each selling over one million copies. Exo's sixth
album, Don't Mess Up My Tempo (2018), became their highest-charting album on the
US Billboard 200, debuting at number 23, and their best selling album in South Korea,
where it sold over 1.9 million copies.
Exo have won numerous awards throughout their career, including five
consecutive Album of the Year awards at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and two
consecutive Artist of the Year awards at the Melon Music Awards, and have performed
over 100 concerts across four headlining tours and multiple joint tours. Outside of
music, the band members have endorsement deals with brands such as Nature
Republic and Samsung and participate in philanthropic efforts such as Smile For U, an
ongoing project by SM Entertainment and UNICEF that began in 2015.

Contents

 1Background
 2History
o 2.12006–2012: Formation and early years
o 2.22013–2014: Commercial success
o 2.32015: Critical acclaim
o 2.42016–2017: Worldwide success
o 2.52018–2019: International recognition
o 2.62020–present: Focus on solo activities
 3Members
o 3.1Timeline
 4Sub-units
o 4.1Exo-CBX
o 4.2Exo-SC
 5Artistry
o 5.1Musicality
o 5.2Songwriting
o 5.3Stage
 6Awards and achievements
 7Impact and influence
 8Other ventures
o 8.1Endorsements
o 8.2Philanthropy
 9Discography
o 9.1Korean and Chinese albums
o 9.2Korean exclusive albums
o 9.3Japanese albums
 10Tours
 11Filmography
 12Footnotes
 13References
 14External links

Background
In 2011, SM Entertainment CEO, Lee Soo-man, revealed plans to debut a new boy
band that would be divided into two sub-groups, promoting the same music
simultaneously in South Korea and China by performing songs in both Korean and
Mandarin.[1][2] After several member changes in December 2011, the group finalized its
name as Exo, taken from the word "exoplanet".[3] The news of an upcoming debut from
SM Entertainment attracted substantial media attention from within South Korea and
internationally, with many comparing Exo to fellow SM boy band TVXQ.[2][4] It was also
reported that Exo would compete with a new girl group from rival YG Entertainment.[5]

History
2006–2012: Formation and early years

Exo at SM Town Live World Tour III in Singapore in November 2012

Exo-K's leader, Suho, was the first member to join SM Entertainment, after a successful
audition through the company's casting system in 2006. The following year, Kai, with
encouragement from his father, auditioned at the SM Youth Best Contest; he won and
received a contract.[6] Chanyeol, who took second place in a Smart Model Contest,
and Sehun, who went through four auditions in two years,[7] were the next members to
become trainees in 2008. In 2010, Exo-K's D.O. sang for his audition and was
eventually offered a contract.[8] The last member of Exo-K to become a trainee
was Baekhyun, who joined in 2011 through SM Entertainment's casting system and
trained for approximately one year before debut. In Exo-M, Kris auditioned in 2008 at a
global SM Entertainment audition in Canada, before moving to South Korea for training.
That same year, Lay auditioned in Changsha, China, and subsequently moved to South
Korea, while Xiumin attended an audition with his friend and won second place. [9] In
2010, Luhan was scouted by an SM Entertainment representative in Seoul and passed
his audition, while Tao was scouted at a talent show. The last member to join Exo-M
was Chen, who took part in the casting system in 2011. The band's first televised
performance was at the annual SBS Gayo Daejeon event on December 29, 2011.[10]
Exo-K and Exo-M debuted with the single "Mama" on April 8, 2012, followed by the
EP Mama on April 9.[11] The two sub-groups promoted the album separately; Exo-K
performed on South Korean music program The Music Trend while Exo-M performed on
the Top Chinese Music Awards in Shenzhen on the same day.[12] The Korean version of
the EP peaked at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart[13] and at number
eight on the Billboard World Albums Chart,[14] while the Mandarin version reached
number two on China's Sina Album Chart and number one on various Chinese
streaming platforms. Prior its debut, Exo released two singles, titled "What Is Love" and
"History", which peaked at number 88 on and number 68 respectively on the Gaon
Digital Chart and at number six on the Sina Music Chart. [15] Exo was awarded Best New
Asian Group at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards and the Newcomer Award at
the Golden Disc Awards.
2013–2014: Commercial success

Exo with South Korean President Park Geun-hye in China on June 28, 2013

The group's first studio album, XOXO, was released on June 3, 2013, in two versions:
one in Korean and one in Mandarin. [16] Unlike the EP Mama, for which Exo-K and Exo-M
had separate promotions, XOXO was jointly promoted, mainly in South Korea.[17] Exo
recorded the album's lead single "Wolf" together, but the rest of the album tracks were
recorded separately.[18] A repackaged version of the album, titled Growl, was released on
August 5, 2013, with three additional tracks. New single "Growl" peaked at number
three on the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100[19] and at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. All
versions of XOXO collectively sold over one million copies, making Exo the first South
Korean artists to reach that milestone in 12 years. [20] That December, Exo released a
second EP, Miracles in December, as a special winter album containing the single of
the same name.[21] Prior to the release, the group promoted the album through their first
reality show, Exo's Showtime, which premiered on November 28, 2013 on the cable
channel MBC Every 1.[22] Following their 2013 releases, Exo won Song of the Year at
the Melon Music Awards for "Growl",[23] Disc Daesang at the Golden Disc Awards[24] and
Album of the Year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards[25] for XOXO, and the Daesang at
the Seoul Music Awards.[26] In addition, Exo-M received the Most Popular Group Award
at the 2013 Top Chinese Music Awards.[27]
Exo's third EP, Overdose, was released on May 7, 2014.[28] Originally scheduled to be
released on April 21, the album was delayed due to the Sewol Ferry accident on April
16. Overdose was promoted similarly to Mama, with Exo-K in South Korea and Exo-M
promoting primarily in China. The album had over 660,000 pre-orders, making it the
most pre-ordered Korean EP in history. [29] The Korean edition also peaked at number
two on Billboard's World Albums Chart, and at number 129 on the Billboard 200, making
Exo the highest-ever charting male Korean group at that time. [30][31] Overdose became the
best selling release of 2014 in South Korea, and was the first EP to top the yearly charts
and win the Album of the Year Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards.[32] On December
22, Exo released their first live album, Exology Chapter 1: The Lost Planet[33] The
album's single, "December, 2014 (The Winter's Tale)", peaked at number one on the
Gaon Digital Chart, making it Exo's first number one single. [34] By the end of 2014, Exo
was Japan's best-selling K-pop artist of the year.[35]
On May 15, 2014, Kris filed a lawsuit against Sm Entertainment to terminate his contract
and alleged that SM: disregarded his health; maintained unfair profit distributions;
restricted his freedom; and treated him like a product rather than a person. [36] On May
24, the group began its first headlining tour, "Exo from Exoplanet 1 – The Lost Planet",
at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena.[37] Tickets for the concert sold out in 1.47 seconds,
breaking the record for the quickest concert sell-out by a Korean artist. [37] On October 10,
Luhan also filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment to terminate his contract. [38][39] He
cited health problems and alleged he was treated differently than the band's Korean
members.[40]
2015: Critical acclaim

From left to right: D.O, Lay, and Kai at the 24th Seoul Music Awards in January 2015

On March 7, 2015, Exo began their second headlining world tour, "Exoplanet 2 – The
Exo'luxion", with 70,000 attendees across five nights at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena
in Seoul.[41] The group released its second studio album Exodus on March 30, 2015, in
both Korean and Mandarin versions.[42] Domestic pre-orders for the album surpassed
500,000 copies within 24 hours, setting a new record for pre-orders. [43] Lead single "Call
Me Baby" was released ahead of schedule, on March 27, because versions of the song
had been leaked online.[44] The music videos were released four days later; the Korean
version later became the most-watched K-pop music video of the first half of 2015.
[45]
 The album spent a record four consecutive weeks at number one on the Gaon Album
Chart[46] and sold over a million copies, making it Exo's second album to do so,
after XOXO.[47] Exodus won Album of the Year at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards,
giving Exo their third consecutive win. In April 2015, Exodus peaked at number 95 on
the US Billboard 200, making the group the highest charting Korean artist. [48][49] Exo also
entered Billboard's Canadian Hot 100 chart at number 98, making them the first K-pop
group and second Korean artist to chart there. [50]
Tao was absent during promotions for Exodus due to injuries and, on August 24,
became the third member to file a lawsuit against SM Entertainment to terminate his
contract.[51][52] This followed social media posts earlier in the year from Tao's father on
Chinese social network Weibo, expressing his wish for his son to withdraw from the
group and return to China due to health issues and a lack of support for individual
career development.[51] SM responded to his legal action with a statement: "Our
company plans to use everything in our power including both Korean and Chinese legal
professionals and partners to respond legally both in Korea and China in a multi-faceted
manner. We also plan to take legal steps to respond to Tao's illegal promotions and
actions."[53] Exo released a repackaged version of Exodus, titled Love Me Right, on June
3, 2015. This edition added four new songs, including the single "Love Me Right".[54] Due
to Tao's absence, the group promoted the song as nine members. That October, Exo
became the first artists to hold a dome concert in South Korea; it was called "Exo –
Love Concert in Dome", and took place at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.[55]
On November 4, 2015, Exo released their Japanese debut single Love Me Right
~romantic universe~, which contains the Japanese version of "Love Me Right" and an
original Japanese song titled "Drop That". On the day of its release, the album sold
147,000 copies and reached the top of the Oricon chart, becoming the all-time best-
selling debut single in Japan by a Korean artist. [56] Five days later, Exo released a
special single titled "Lightsaber" to promote the movie Star Wars: The Force
Awakens ahead of its release in South Korea, as part of a collaboration between SM
Entertainment and Walt Disney. On December 10, Exo released its second winter
special release and fourth EP, Sing for You, containing the singles "Sing for You" and
"Unfair". The album sold 267,900 copies in its first week, breaking the record for the
highest first-week sales by a Korean artist. "Unfair" also became the first K-pop song to
be featured in the "Best of the Week" playlist by Apple Music, and Exo became the first
Korean artists to appear on the platform's homepage. [57] Part of the profits from the
album were donated to UNICEF's Smile For U campaign, to support the music
education for children in Asia.[58] In December 2015, South Korean entertainment
industry leaders ranked Exo at number seven in the top ten pop culture leaders of 2015,
the highest rank held by a K-pop artist. [59]
2016–2017: Worldwide success

Exo at Ex'act release press conference in June 2016

On January 5, 2016, SM Entertainment won one of its countersuits against Tao

following the ruling of the Intermediate People's Court in Qingdao, China. The company
sued Tao over his failure to repay the company after his departure; it released an official
statement that said: "SM has ongoing lawsuits against Exo members Wu Yifan (Kris),
Luhan, and Tao for violating their exclusive contracts and partaking in illegal promotions
in China. Among these lawsuits, SM filed a lawsuit against Tao for failing to repay SM
on October 13, 2015. An intermediate court in Qingdao, China made the verdict that
Tao is to repay SM Entertainment as well as interest for the delayed payment." [60][61]
Exo's third studio album Ex'Act and its singles, "Lucky One" and "Monster", were
released on June 9, 2016, in both Korean and Mandarin versions. [62] Domestic pre-
orders for the album exceeded 660,000 copies, making it the most pre-ordered K-pop
album ever at that time.[63] The album broke the record for the highest first-week sales of
a Korean album, previously set by the band's own fourth EP Sing For You.[64] "Monster"
became Exo's first number one on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, and "Lucky
One" debuted at number three.[65] On August 18, 2016, a repackaged edition of the
album, titled Lotto, was released; it added four new songs, including the single of the
same name.[66] "Lotto" became Exo's second number one on the Billboard World Digital
Songs Chart, and peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. [67] The repackaged
edition's Korean and Mandarin versions reached number one and two on the Gaon
Album Chart, respectively[68][69] Within two months of its original release, Ex'Act had sold
over 1.17 million copies, becoming Exo's third album to sell over one million copies,
earning them the title of "triple million sellers" from the media. [70]
On July 21, contractual disputes between Kris and Luhan and SM Entertainment were
settled.[71][72] The two sides settled during their third court-mandated arbitration; the
previous two were held in September 2015 and June 2016, when the court settled the
case with a recommendation for reconciliation. [72][73] The singers will maintain their
contracts with SM until 2022.[72] SM would contract out their work outside of Korea and
Japan; i.e., Kris and Luhan's Chinese agencies will "share related revenues" with SM for
activities anywhere but Korea and Japan (where SM has exclusive rights per their
contract) because SM is technically "contract[ing] out management" for its non-
Korean/Japanese activities until 2022, when their contracts with SM expire. [72]
On July 22, Exo embarked on its third headlining tour, "Exoplanet 3 – The Exo'rdium",
with a record six consecutive concerts at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena. [74] On May 28,
2017, the tour ended with the second of two consecutive concerts at the Seoul Olympic
Stadium, the largest stadium in South Korea, with an estimated maximum seating
capacity of 100,000.[75] Tickets for the first date went on sale on April 12 and were sold
out within 20 minutes.[76] The tour brought the band's total number of concerts to over
100.[77] In June, Lay announced he would not take part in the band's next album, and
would instead focus on his acting career. Since then, he has been absent from Exo
albums and public appearances.[78] On December 7, Exo released their second
Japanese single, "Coming Over".[79] Selling over 158,000 copies, it reached number two
on the weekly Oricon Chart and became the band's second Japanese single to receive
a Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan.[80] Exo's third
winter release and fifth EP For Life was released on December 19.[81] The band did not
publicly promote the album, which sold over 442,000 copies in less than two weeks. [82]

Exo-CBX at their debut showcase in Seoul on October 31, 2016

Also in 2016, the group's members spent time advancing their solo careers. On January
7, Baekhyun released "Dream", a collaboration with popular South Korean singer Suzy.
The single proved very popular, and won Best Collaboration at the 18th Mnet Asian
Music Awards among other awards.[83] On October 31, Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin
debuted as the group's first sub-unit, Exo-CBX,[84] which is a combination of the first
letter from each member's stage name. Exo-CBX released their debut EP Hey
Mama! and the music video for the single of the same name on October 31. [85] The EP
was a success, selling over 293,897 copies.[86] As of 2018, they have released two EPs
in Korean and two EPs in Japanese.[84] Lay's debuted as a solo artist in May 2016 with
the release of "Monodrama" through the project SM Station. The song was a success in
China, ranking number one on Billboard China V Chart for four consecutive weeks.[87] On
October 28, Lay released his debut EP, Lose Control. It was a commercial success,
breaking several Guinness World Records[88] and debuted at number one on South
Korea's Gaon Album Chart.[89] In 2016 he also acted in The Mystic Nine, a television
show in China that drew over 12 billion views online. [90] All of the other members also
pursued solo activities in various industries, including music, film, television, and
theater. Exo-CBX debuted in Japan on May 24, 2017, with the release of an EP
titled Girls,[91] which followed the release of a short version of the music video for the lead
single "Ka-CHING!" in late April.[92] The EP sold over 60,000 copies in Japan within a
month of its release.[93]

Exo at the Dream Concert in June 2017

Exo's fourth studio album The War was released on July 18, 2017.[94] The album had
received 807,235 pre-orders, surpassing the band's own record of 660,000 for Ex'Act.
[95]
 Lead single "Ko Ko Bop" debuted at number one on the Melon Digital Chart, making
Exo the first K-pop group to enter at number one after chart changes were implemented
on February 27, 2017.[96] Upon release, the album recorded the highest first week sales
of any K-pop album.[97] It debuted at number 87 on the Billboard 200, number one on
the Billboard World Albums Chart, and on many other charts around the world – a first
for Exo.[98][99][100] On August 29, the 2018 edition of the Guinness World Records named
Exo as having won the "Most Daesang" (grand prize) awards at the Mnet Asian Music
Awards.[101] On September 5, the group released a repackaged edition of The War,
titled The War: The Power of Music. It added three new songs to the tracklist, including
the single "Power".[102] On September 14, "Power" recorded the all-time highest score
on M Countdown with 11,000 points, which made Exo the first artists to achieve a
perfect score after the show's calculation system changes were implemented in June
2015. The win also marked the group's 100th win on a music show. [103]
Exo began their third world tour, "Exo Planet #4 – The Elyxion", with three consecutive
nights at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome, beginning on November 24. [104] As of November
30, Korean sales of The War had reportedly reached nearly 1.6 million copies, making it
Exo's best selling album at the time and earning the group the title of "quadruple million
sellers" from the media.[105][106] In early December, Exo announced its fourth special winter
release and sixth EP, Universe. It was originally due for release on December 21, but
was delayed until December 26 because of the death of labelmate Jonghyun.[107]