About Exo 2011: Formation In January 2011, producer Lee Soo-man of S.M. Entertainment announced his plans to debut a new boy band in March or April 2011.[11] Temporarily named M1, the group appeared to have consisted of only seven members when a photo of them in a dance studio was leaked online.[12] In May 2011, Lee spoke about the group in a Hallyu business seminar held in Stanford University. In the presentation, he explained his strategy of separating the group into two subgroups, M1 and M2, and have them promote the same music in South Korea and China, performing the songs in both Korean and Mandarin.[13] Lee planned to launch the group in May 2011, but their debut was delayed due to member changes and other planning. News concerning the group did not surface until October 2011, when Lee briefly discussed about the groups concept plans again in an interview with The Chosun Ilbo.[14] Once the members and plans were finalized, the group began to prepare for their official debut. In December 2011, the group finalized their name to Exo, with the names Exo-K for the South Korean subgroup and Exo-M for the Chinese subgroup. The twelve members were introduced individually through 23 different trailers released from December 2011 to February 2012.[1][15] Kai, Lu Han, Tao, and Chen were the first four members introduced, and they debuted their first televised performance at SBSs annual Gayo Daejun event on December 29, 2011.[16] 2012: Debut and Mama Exo-M at the KCON 2012 in Irvine, California Exo-K and Exo-Ms prologue single What Is Love was released on January 30, 2012 through iTunes and various online retailers in mainland China and South Korea.[17] The single peaked at number 88 on South Koreas Gaon Single Chart. On March 9, the group released their second prologue single History,[18] 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 Chinas Sina Music Chart.[19] A concert for the group was held in Seouls Olympic Stadium on March 31.[20] Approximately 3,000 fans from 8,000 applicants were selected to attend.[21] A second concert was held in the Great Hall of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing on April 1.[22] Exo-K and Exo-M released their debut single, Mama on April 8[23] followed by an EP, Mama, on April 9. On April 8, Exo-K made their debut performance on South Koreas music program The Music Trend, while Exo-M made their debut in Chinas Top Chinese Music Awards on the same day.[24][25] A day after release, Mama reached number one on various Chinese online retailers and music charts.[26] Exo-Ms album reached number two on Chinas Sina Album Chart, number five on South Koreas Gaon Album Chart, and number twelve on the Billboard World Albums Chart.[27] Exo-Ks album peaked at number one on the Gaon Album Chart[28] and at number eight on the Billboard World Albums Chart.[27] Exo-Ms Mama music video reached number one on Chinese streaming websites, while Exo-Ks version reached to number seven on YouTubes Global Chart.[4] In late April 2012, Exo-M performed as a guest act for Super Juniors Super Show 4 concert tour in Jakarta, Indonesia. In November 2012, 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.[29] 2013–present: XOXO and commercial success In May 2013, S.M. Entertainment revealed teaser photos for Exos comeback album, the first studio album XOXO.[30] Unlike during the Mama era, when Exo-K and Exo-M had separate promotions, XOXO was jointly promoted.[31] The subgroups collaborated for the albums lead single, Wolf, but the rest of the album was recorded separately. XOXO was released in June 2013 to two versions, a Korean-language Kiss edition and a Mandarin-language Hug edition. A few days after its release, the songs in XOXO topped almost every real-time chart from online music websites of South Korea and mainland China.[32][33] The two versions collectively peaked at number one on the Billboard World Album Chart a week after release.[34] Lead single Wolf peaked at number one on three of South Koreas music programs, earning the name triple win.[9] Wolf also won a trophy on MBC Musics Show Champion,[35] but the song fared worse on music download charts, reaching to only top thirty spots in recorded charts from both South Korea and China. A repackaged version of XOXO, with three additional tracks, was released on August 5, 2013.[36] The reissues lead single, Growl, was unveiled via YouTube on August 1, 2013, in the format of a music video.[37] On August 18, Growl achieved 10,554 points on The Music Trend charts, setting a new number one record on the show.[38] Growl reached number one on all four of Koreas major music programs, winning a total of ten trophies in three consecutive weeks.[39] The single peaked at number three on Billboards Korea K-Pop Hot 100[10] and number two on the Gaons Singles chart. As of October 2013, all versions of XOXO have collectively sold over 910,000 copies,[40] breaking the record for being fastest-selling K-pop artist in twelve years.[8][41] XOXO was named Album of the Year at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards, making Exo the youngest ever boy band to win the award.[7] The albums single Growl was also honored Song of the Year at the 2013 MelOn Music Awards.[42] Exo began working on their comeback EP Miracles in December shortly after completing the promotional cycle for XOXO. In October 2013, Exo-M confirmed in an interview for IQIYI that the members are currently working on new material and told fans to not believe in rumors regarding their comeback.[43] The EP, consisting of six tracks, had pre-sale orders amassing over 400,000, hitting a new record.[44] Miracles in December was officially released December 9, 2013 through South Korean commercial outlets and online music stores.[45] Exo jump-started album promotions through their reality show EXOs Showtime, which premiered on November 28, 2013 on the cable channel MBC Every 1.[46] Baekhyun, Chen, and D.O. performed the EPs lead single, Miracles in December, at M! Countdown on December 5.[47] Members Main article: List of Exo members Exo-K Stage name[48] Date of Birth [48] Nationality Name Hangul Suho 수호 May 22, 1991 (age 22) South Korea Baekhyun 백현 May 6, 1992 (age 21) Chanyeol 찬열 November 27, 1992 (age 21) D.O. 디오 January 12, 1993 (age 21) Kai 카이 January 14, 1994 (age 20) Sehun 세훈 April 12, 1994 (age 19) Exo-M Stage name[49] Date of Birth [49] Nationality Name Hangul Xiumin 시우민 March 26, 1990 (age 23) South Korea Luhan 루한 April 20, 1990 (age 23) China Kris 크리스 November 6, 1990 (age 23) Canada Lay 레이 October 7, 1991 (age 22) China Chen 첸 September 21, 1992 (age 21) South Korea Tao 타오 May 2, 1993 (age 20) China Nationality states where members currently hold citizenship Discography Main article: Exo discography Studio albums XOXO (2013) Extended plays Mama (2012) Miracles in December (2013) Filmography Main article: EXO videography Prior to Exos debut, Suho was cast as an extra in the Super Junior film Attack on the Pin-Up Boys, released in 2007. In 2008, Suho, Chanyeol, and Kai made brief appearances as trainees on TVXQs music video, HaHaHa Song. In 2010, Chanyeol starred in the music video for Genie, Girls Generations Japanese single. That same year, Tao made a quick appearance as an extra on the ninth episode of the mainland Chinese drama That Love Comes (欢迎爱光临). After debut, Chanyeol and Sehun made cameo appearances on the second episode of the 2013 South Korean sitcom, Royal Villa (시트콩 로얄빌라). Xiumin starred alongside actress Kim Yoo-jung in Jins 2013 music video, Gone,[50] and Chanyeol starred in K.Wills You Dont Know Love music video.[51] In 2014, D.O. will make his feature film debut on the movie Cart, starring as the son of Yeom Jeong-ahs character.[52] Tours Joint tours SM Town Live World Tour III (2012–13) Supporting act Super Show 4 (2012) – Exo-M Residency shows SM Town Week: Christmas Wonderland (2013) Other ventures Endorsements After only a month of debut, Exo-K covered South Koreas High Cut magazine and was featured in a spread for Calvin Klein Jeans.[53] Exo-K was also chosen to be the new ambassador for the 2013 Fall/Winter collection of school uniforms for South Koreas Ivy Club, and endorsed the brand simultaneously with actress Kim Yoo-jung.[54] Exo-K further endorsed the Chia seed skincare cream for South Koreas The Face Shop[55] and Sunny 10, a new brand of drinks from Coca Cola that is exclusive to South Korea.[56] In November 2012, Exo-K shot a commercial ad for the Samsung Ativ PC.[57] Exo-Ks Kai and Exo-Ms Lu Han also worked with the Hyundai Motor Company, and formed a temporary band, the Younique Unit, with four other S.M. Entertainment label mates in order to promote the motor companys PYL campaign. Their promotional music video, Maxstep, was released on October 30, 2012.[58] While promoting their first album XOXO, the twelve members of Exo modeled for the August 2013 edition of the male fashion magazine, Lofficiel Hommes.[59] In August, the band launched a clothing range Boy Who Cried Wolf (BWCW), partnering up with various Korean street brands. The collaboration store is located at OUTLAB in Garosu-gil, Sinsa-dong.[60] Exo also has a 2-year endorsement deal with cosmetics brand, Nature Republic.[61] Philanthropy The members of Exo-K became goodwill ambassadors for South Koreas Red Cross Youth in December 2012.[62] Awards and nominations Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Exo Exo have been recipients of 38 awards from South Korea and mainland China. On June 14, 2013, a year after their official debut, the band received their first number-one win on South Korean music program Music Bank with the single Wolf. The following weekend, the song achieved number-one wins on Show! Music Core and The Music Trend, becoming a triple win hit.[9] It also won a champion trophy on music program Show Champion.[63] References
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