Exo ( Korean : 엑소; stylized as EXO ) is a South Korean-Chinese boy group based in Seoul . Formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2011, the group debuted in 2012 with twelve members separated into two subgroups, Exo-K ( Suho ,
Baekhyun , Chanyeol , D.O. , Kai, and Sehun ) and Exo-M ( Xiumin, Lay , Chen and former members Kris, Luhan and Tao
[fn 2] ), performing music in Korean and Mandarin respectively. Exo's first album XOXO (2013), which contained the breakthrough hit "Growl", was a critical and commercial success, winning both Disk Daesang at the 28th Golden Disk Awards and Album of the Year at the 15th Mnet Asian Music Awards . It sold over one million copies, making Exo the best-selling Korean artist in twelve years. [1] Subsequent albums and EPs continued with strong sales, and Exo were ranked the most influential celebrity by Forbes Korea Power Celebrity for the years 2014 [2] and 2015. [3] They have been named "the biggest boyband in the world" by media outlets. [4]
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
Genres
K-pop • electronica • Hip hop •
R&B • Ballad
Years active
2012–present
Labels
S.M. Entertainment Avex Trax
Associated acts
EXO-CBX • SM Town
Website
Members
Xiumin
Suho
Lay
Baekhyun
Chen
Chanyeol
D.O.
Kai
Sehun
Past members
Luhan
Kris
Tao [fn 1]
History
2011: Formation
In May 2011, at a Hallyu business seminar held at Stanford University , Lee Soo-man spoke about a strategy of debuting a new boyband, in which they would be divided into 2 subgroups, promoting the same music simultaneously in
South Korea and China by performing songs in both Korean and Mandarin . [5] After several member changes, [6] in December 2011, the group finalized their name to Exo, taken from the word exoplanet . They are divided into two subgroups, Exo-K ('K' for Korean) for South Korea and Exo-M ('M' for Mandarin) for China. They debuted their first televised performance at SBS 's annual Gayo Daejun event on December 29, 2011. [7]
2012: Debut and Mama
Exo at SM Town Live World Tour III in Singapore in November 2012
Exo-K and Exo-M's prologue single " What Is Love " was released on January 30, 2012, in mainland China and South Korea. [8] The single peaked at number 88 on South Korea's
Gaon Single Chart. On March 9, the group released their second prologue single " History", [9] which was written and produced by Thomas Troelsen and Remee . The single peaked at number 68 on the Gaon Single Chart and number six on China's Sina Music Chart. [10]
A concert for the group was held in Seoul's Olympic Stadium on March 31. [11] Approximately 3,000 fans from 8,000 applicants were selected to attend. [12] A second concert was held in the Great Hall of the Beijing University of International Business and Economics on April 1. [13]
Exo-K and Exo-M released their debut single, " Mama ", on April 8[14] followed by an EP Mama , on April 9. The two sub-groups would be promoting the album separately in two countries. On April 8, Exo-K performed on South Korea's music program The Music Trend , while Exo-M made their debut in China's Top Chinese Music Awards on the same day. [15] The mandarin version of Mama reached number two on China's Sina Album Chart, while the Korean album peaked at number one on the Gaon Album Chart[16] and number eight on the Billboard World Albums Chart. [17] The mandarin version of "Mama" music video reached number one on Chinese streaming websites, while the Korean version reached number seven on YouTube's Global Chart. [18] In late April, Exo-M performed as a guest act for Super Junior 's
Super Show 4 concert tour in Jakarta , Indonesia.
In November, Exo won Best New Asian Artist Group at the
2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards . Exo-K received three nominations at the 27th Golden Disk Awards, winning the Newcomer Award. Exo-M received the Most Popular Group Award at the 2013 Top Chinese Music Awards . [19]
2013: XOXO, commercial success, and Miracles in December
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 with two versions, a Korean-language and a Mandarin-language edition. [20] Unlike Mama era when Exo-K and Exo-M had separate promotions, XOXO was jointly promoted; mainly in South Korea. [21] Exo recorded together for the album's lead single , " Wolf ", but the rest of the album tracks were recorded separately. [22] The t
