2011: The Rise of EXO
On 2011, Lee Soo Man spoke a stratagy about debuting a new boyband which would be divided into 2 sub groups, each group singing either in Mandarin or Korean. On December, the group finalised their name as EXO, taken from exoplanet, and their 2 sub groups: EXO M (M standing for Mandarin) and EXO K (K standing for Korean). They debuted their first televised performance at SBS's annual Gayo Daejun on December 29, 2011.
2012: The Day of Debut
EXO released 'What is Love' in China and South Korea. The song instantly became a big hit. Then, on March 9, EXO released 'History, which was written by Thomas Troelson and Remee. A concert was held in Seoul's Olympic Stadium on March 31 and a second one in Beijing's University of International Business and Economics on April 1. On April 8, EXO M attended 'The Music Trend' While EXO M made their debut to 'China's Top Music Awards'.Then EXO released their debut single, Mama, on April 9. After that, in the late April 2012, EXO M performed as a guest act for Super Junior's Super Show 4 in Jakarta, Indonesia. On November 2012, EXO won the Best New Asian Artist Group in the 2012 MNET Asian Music Awards. EXO K got nominated for the 27th Golden Disk Awards, being rewarded the Newcomer Award while EXO M received Most Popular Group Award at the Top Chinese Music Awards.
2013: XOXO and Miracles in December
XOXO was released in June 2013, in 2 versions which was named Kiss (Korean Version) and Hug (Mandarin Version). Unlike the Mama era, which the groups promoted separately, XOXO was jointly promoted, mainly in South Korea. The 2 subgroups collaborated in making their lead single,'Wolf' but the rest of the songs were recorded separately. Both versions peaked on the Billboard World Album Chart in a week after release. The lead single, 'Wolf' earned number 1 on 3 of South Korea's music programs, earning a name,'Triple Win'. 'Wolf' also won a trophy in MBC Music's Show Champion. The repackaged version of XOXO, named 'Growl', was released on August 1, 2013. 'Growl' earned 10,554 points on The Music Trend charts, setting a new record on the show. 'Growl' reached one on all four of Korea's major music programs, winning ten trophies in three weeks in a row. It peaked number 3 on Billboard's Korea K-Pop Hot 100 and number 2 on Gaon's single chart. By October 2013, 910,000 copies of all versions of XOXO had been sold, breaking the record for the fastest-selling K-pop artist in 12 years. XOXO was named album of the year at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards, making EXO the youngest boyband to win the award. XOXO became the best selling album in South Korea on 2013. EXO's second EP, entitled 'Miracles in December, was officially released on December 9, 2013 as a special winter album. They started their album promotions through their show called 'EXO's Showtime', which premiered on November 28, 2013 on the cable channel MBC Every 1. Baekhyun, Chen and D.O. performed the lead single, 'Miracles in December' at M! Countdown on December 5.
2014: Overdose and Lawsuits
EXO's third Ep, Overdose, was released on may 7, 2014. It was originally suppoused to be released on April 21, but due tothe Sewol Ferry Accident which happened on April 16, the album was delayed. 'Overdose' was promoted the same way as 'Mama' was. EXO M was left to promote in China while EXO K promoted in South Korea. It reached 660,000 preorders before release, making it the most preordered mini album in history The Korean edition got number 2 on Billboard's World Albums Chart and 129th on the Billboard 200. Overdose was the best selling album in South Korea on 2014 and was the first EP to top the yearly charts. By the end of the year, EXO was Japan's biggest-selling K-pop artist of the year. On May 15, 2014, S.M. Entertainment confirmed that EXO M's leader, Kris, had filed a lawsuit against the agency to terminate his contract because he was being treated like an object and violating basic human rights, leaving the band with 11 members. On October 10, Luhan from EXO M also filed a lawsuit against S.M. Entertainment to nullify his contract because of health issues and because he was being treated differently than it's Korean members. EXO stayed strong and continued to promote with 10 members. EXO held their first concert, EXOPLANET #1-THE LOST PLANET starting May 24 at the Seoul Olympic Gymnasium. THE TICKETS GOT SOLD OUT IN 1.47 SECONDS
2015: Exodus and One More Lawsuit
EXO's second solo concert was announced on January 2015 entitled EXOPLANET #2- The EXO'luXion. 5 concerts were held in Seoul at the Olympic Park Stadium starting March 7. 1.2 million fans attempted to buy tickets online. On February 4, 2015, S.M. Entertainment filed a counter-suit against Kris and Luhan for illegally continuing their promotions in China. The lawsuit was to stop them from acting and advertising under the use of the S.M. trademark. EXO's second studio album, Exodus, was released on March 30, 2015 in both Korean and Mandarin versions. Pre-sales for the album passed 500,000, setting a new record for pre-sales. The group released their title track,'Call Me Baby' was released early on March 27, due to the leaked versions of the song. On March 29, a special gift for the EXO Ls was released. Their track ,'First Love' ,which was the gift to the EXO Ls, was only available for 10 hours. On March 31, EXO released their MV for 'Call Me Baby' , the Korean Version reaching 4,000,000+ views and the Mandarin version reaching 2,000,000+ views in less than 24 hours. 'Call Me Baby' proved to be successful by winning 18 times on music shows, making it the second most awarded song in history. Exodus (Korean version) broke records after staying number one in the album charts for four consecutive weeks. On April 22, Tao's father posted a letter through weibo, asking that his son return to China due to concern of health and individual career developments. Tao had sustained several injuries, such as being pricked by coral reef, causing him to be seriously poisoned, a torn ligament which made him fall on the stage and others. Due to that, he became absent during the group's promotions for 'Exodus'. On April 23 2015, S.M. Entertainment stated that they would negotiate with Tao and his father. On August 10, Tao confirmed that he had left S.M. Entertainment. On August 24, it was confirmed that Tao filed a lawsuit to terminate his contract. On June 3, Exodus's repackaged album, 'Love Me Right' was released and accompanied with a MV with the same name. It contained the tracks of Exodus and four new songs. Due to the absence of Tao, the group promoted with it's remaining nine members.
That's what EXO had to go through. The absence of 3 members, lots of awards and help from fans. Us, as EXO L, will support EXO down to the last member, if you're not going to, don't consider yourself a fan.
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