2006–2012: Formation and early years Exo-K's eventual leader,
Suho, was the first member to join SM Entertainment in 2006. The following year,
Kai, with encouragement from his father, auditioned at the SM Youth Best Contest; he won and received a contract. In 2008,
Chanyeol, who had been studying at an acting academy, and
Sehun, who was first scouted by SM Entertainment at the age of thirteen and then went through four auditions in two years, were the next members to become trainees. In 2010,
D.O. sang for his audition and was offered a contract. Exo-M leader
Kris auditioned in 2008 at a global SM Entertainment audition in Canada, later moving to South Korea for training. That same year,
Lay was discovered through a global audition and subsequently moved to South Korea, while
Xiumin attended an audition with his friend and placed second. In 2010,
Luhan was scouted by an SM Entertainment representative in Seoul and passed his audition, while
Tao was cast through the SM auditions in China at
Qingdao. The last member to join Exo-M was
Chen in 2011. Exo-K and Exo-M debuted with the single "
Mama" on April 8, 2012, followed by the EP
Mama on April 9. The two sub-groups promoted the album separately; Exo-K performed on South Korean music program
Inkigayo, while Exo-M performed on the
Top Chinese Music Awards in Shenzhen on the same day. The Korean version of the EP peaked at number one on South Korea's
Gaon Album Chart and at number eight on the
Billboard World Albums Chart, while the Mandarin version reached number two on China's
Sina Album Chart and number one on various Chinese streaming platforms. Prior their debut, Exo released two singles, "What Is Love" and "History", which peaked at numbers 88 and 68, respectively, on the
Gaon Digital Chart and at number six on the Sina Music Chart. 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: Domestic breakthrough 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.
XOXO was jointly promoted by both sub-units. Exo recorded the album's lead single "
Wolf" together, although the rest of the album tracks were recorded separately. A
repackaged version of the album,
Growl, was released on August 5, 2013, with three additional tracks. All versions of
XOXO collectively sold over one million copies, making Exo the first South Korean artists to reach that milestone in 12 years. That December, Exo released a second EP,
Miracles in December, as a special winter album containing the
single of the same name. Prior to the release, the group promoted the album through their first reality show, ''
Exo's Showtime, which premiered on November 28, 2013. Following their 2013 releases, Exo won several awards, including Song of the Year at the Melon Music Awards for "Growl" and Album of the Year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards for XOXO''. Exo's third EP,
Overdose, was released on May 7, 2014. Originally scheduled to be released on April 21, the album was delayed due to the
Sewol Ferry accident on April 16. The Korean edition peaked at number 129 on the
Billboard 200, making Exo the highest-ever charting male Korean group at the time.
Overdose became the best selling release of 2014 in South Korea and was the first EP to top the yearly charts. On December 22, Exo released their first live album,
Exology Chapter 1: The Lost Planet. 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. By the end of 2014, Exo was Japan's best-selling K-pop artist of the year. On May 15, 2014, Kris filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment to terminate his contract. He alleged that the company disregarded his health and maintained unfair profit distributions. On May 24, the group embarked on their first headlining tour,
Exo from Exoplanet 1 – The Lost Planet, at the
Olympic Gymnastics Arena. Tickets for the concert sold out in 1.47 seconds, breaking the record for the quickest concert sell-out by a Korean artist. citing health problems and different treatment than the group's Korean members.
2015: Continued popularity and Japanese debut ,
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, at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. The group released their second studio album
Exodus on March 30, 2015, with both Korean and Mandarin versions. Lead single "
Call Me Baby" was released ahead of schedule, on March 27, after versions of the song leaked online, while the music videos were released four days later. Exo entered
Billboard's
Canadian Hot 100 chart at number 98, making them the first K-pop group and second Korean artist to chart there. 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. Exo released a repackaged version of
Exodus, titled
Love Me Right, on June 3, 2015. The album with its repackage sold over one million copies, making it Exo's second album to do so after
XOXO. The re-issue added four new songs, including the single "
Love Me Right". Due to Tao's absence, the group promoted the song as nine members. That October, Exo became the first artist to hold a dome concert in South Korea, called Exo – Love Concert in Dome, at the
Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. On November 4, 2015, Exo released their Japanese debut single album
Love Me Right ~romantic universe~, which contained the Japanese version of "Love Me Right" and an original Japanese song titled "Drop That". On the day of 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. 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 their second winter special release and fourth EP,
Sing for You, containing the singles "
Sing for You" and "
Unfair". 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. 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.
2016–2017: Further success and initial solo activities Exo's third studio album ''
Ex'Act'' and its singles "
Lucky One" and "
Monster" were released on June 9, 2016, with both Korean and Mandarin versions. 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. "Monster" became Exo's first number one on the
Billboard World Digital Songs chart. On August 18, a repackaged edition of the album, titled
Lotto, was released; it added four new songs, including
the single of the same name. Within two months of its original release, the two editions combined sold over 1.17 million copies, making ''Ex'Act'' Exo's third million seller album and earning the group the title of "triple million sellers". On July 21, 2016, contractual disputes between Kris and Luhan and SM Entertainment were settled and both members left the group. 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. at their debut showcase in Seoul on October 31, 2016 In late 2016, the group members spent time advancing their solo careers. On October 28, Lay released his debut EP,
Lose Control. Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin debuted in the group's first sub-unit,
Exo-CBX, releasing their first EP
Hey Mama! on October 31. On December 7, 2016, Exo released their second Japanese single, "
Coming Over". Selling over 158,000 copies, it reached number two on the Oricon weekly chart and became the band's second Japanese single to receive a platinum certification from the
Recording Industry Association of Japan. Exo's third winter release and fifth EP
For Life was released on December 19. 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. The tour brought the band's total number of concerts to over 100. In June 2017, Lay announced he would not take part in the band's next album and would instead focus on his acting career. Exo's fourth studio album
The War was released on July 18, 2017. The album received 807,235 pre-orders, surpassing the band's own record of 660,000 for ''Ex'Act
. On August 29, the 2018 edition of the Guinness World Records named Exo as having won the "Most Daesang" awards at the Mnet Asian Music Awards. On September 5, the group released a repackaged edition of The War
, titled The War: The Power of Music.'' The re-issue added three new songs to the tracklist, including the single "
Power". 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. As of November 30, Korean sales of
The War 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. In early December, Exo announced their fourth special winter release and sixth EP,
Universe. It was originally due for release on December 21 but was delayed until December 26 after the death of labelmate,
Jonghyun.
2018–2019: International recognition and first Japanese studio album ,
Ivanka Trump and
CL at the 2018 Winter Olympics in February 2018 On January 16, 2018, "Power" became the first K-pop song to play at
The Dubai Fountain at Burj Khalifa Lake, Dubai; seven members of the group traveled to Dubai to view the first showing. The song's initial run was extended from January to March; it was also brought back from September until November of the same year. On January 31, Exo released their first Japanese studio album,
Countdown. The album debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly chart, selling approximately 89,000 copies. The achievement made Exo the first non-Japanese band whose debut single and debut studio albums both reached number one on the Oricon weekly chart. Exo performed at the
closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on February 25, serving as representatives of K-pop along with
CL. Prior to the performance, Baekhyun sang the national anthem at the opening ceremony of the
International Olympic Committee general assembly on February 5, and Exo performed at the official D-100 Concert in late 2017, which marked 100 days until the start of the Winter Olympics. The band's performance drew widespread global media attention and praise. The Russian two time Olympic silver medalist and
figure skating world champion Evgenia Medvedeva also drew media attention for her support of Exo. In April 2018, the
Korean Mint Corporation released official commemorative medals for Exo, honoring the group for their contribution to the global spread of Korean culture. The nine medals, each commemorating one of the group's members, were unveiled at a ceremony in Seoul. Exo's fifth studio album, ''
Don't Mess Up My Tempo, was released on November 2, 2018. Don't Mess Up My Tempo'' featured all nine Exo members—the group's first release to do so since
Lotto in 2016. With the release of ''Don't Mess Up My Tempo'', Exo became the first artist to surpass 10 million total album sales in South Korea. The lead single, also titled "
Love Shot", became Exo's third number one single on the
Billboard World Digital Songs chart and held the position for three consecutive weeks. Chen became the second Exo member to debut as a soloist with the EP
April, and a Flower, which was released in April 2019. Baekhyun debuted as the group's third soloist with the release of his EP,
City Lights, on July 10. Chanyeol and Sehun debuted as Exo's second official sub-unit,
Exo-SC, and released their first EP,
What a Life, in July. Baekhyun and Kai represented Exo in SM Entertainment's
supergroup SuperM. Exo embarked on their fifth headlining tour,
Exo Planet 5 – Exploration, with six dates in Seoul from July 19 to 28, totaling to thirty-one shows. Exo's sixth studio album,
Obsession, was released on November 27, 2019. The group debuted several songs from the album live through Exo Planet 5 – Exploration encore concerts in December 2019, which also served as the tour's concluding shows.
2020–2021: Focus on solo activities and group's special album In February 2020, SM Entertainment revealed that Exo would prioritize solo and sub-unit activities in 2020 due to multiple members being on hiatus to fulfill their mandatory military service. Suho became the fourth member to debut as a soloist with his EP
Self-Portrait, released on March 30, 2020. Baekhyun and Kai returned to activities with SuperM for the group's first studio album,
Super One. Kai debuted as the group's fifth soloist with his
self-titled EP on November 30, 2020. Prior to the enlistments of Chanyeol and Baekhyun, the active members recorded Exo's next album in secret. In a video celebrating their ninth anniversary on April 8, 2021, the group showcased the filming of their upcoming music video and announced that they were preparing for the album to be released in the first half of the year, which would mark Xiumin and D.O.'s return to the group. Lay also participated in the album, marking his first activities with Exo since ''
Don't Mess Up My Tempo''. D.O. debuted as the group's sixth soloist with his EP
Empathy on July 26, 2021.
2022–present: Debut anniversary Exo celebrated their tenth anniversary on April 8, 2022, through the premiere of a new season of their reality show ''Exo's Ladder
, released through the streaming service Wavve, as well as a special fan meeting, titled 2022 Debut Anniversary Fan Event, on April 9, 2022, at the Jamsil Arena, which marked their first show with a live audience since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the completion of his contract with SM Entertainment, Lay announced his departure from the company. He clarified that he would remain active as a member of Exo. Xiumin became the seventh member to debut as a soloist with his extended play Brand New'' on September 26, 2022. On January 5, 2023, Suho announced that the group is set to release new music after spring. Exo celebrated their 11th debut anniversary with a fan meeting, titled "2023 Exo Fanmeeting 'Exo' Clock", at the
KSPO Dome from April 8 to 9, 2023. On June 1, 2023, it was announced that Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin were terminating their contracts with SM and filed a joint lawsuit against SM in regards to transparency of earnings. Despite this, SM confirmed that the group would continue filming their comeback MV, while also including Kai despite his military service. In response to SM, it was confirmed that Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin were exploring ways to continue promoting as Exo members following the results of the lawsuit. On June 19, SM Entertainment and Exo members Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin jointly announced that both parties had resolved the contract dispute, and the members had decided to stay with the company. Exo's seventh studio album,
Exist, was released on July 10, 2023.
Exist is the group's first album to be promoted as a seven-member group, as member Kai had been undergoing
mandatory military service, and member Lay is promoting his solo activities in China. D.O. departed SM Entertainment following the expiration of his contract in November, though he would still be continuing his activities with Exo. He then signed with Company Soosoo for his solo activities. In January 2024, Baekhyun announced to have started his own company, INB100, and recruited Xiumin and Chen to join his label. SM announced later on that while Xiumin, Baekhyun, and Chen are still contracted under the label for group activities, they can proceed with solo activities under their new company. On October 27, 2025, SM Entertainment announced that Exo's eighth studio album would be released within the first quarter of 2026. Member Lay would return, while members Xiumin, Baekhyun, and Chen would be excluded from the release. Hours before the group's first fanmeet for the album, it was announced that Lay would not be taking part due to "unavoidable circumstances". On January 19, 2026, Exo released their eighth full album
Reverxe, their first release in 2 years and 6 months. Due to ongoing contract disputes with the members of Exo-CBX, only Suho, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun, and Lay participated in this album's activities, though Lay has been absent from promotions due to "unavoidable circumstances."
Reverxe is nine tracks long, including its lead single "
Crown". == Members ==