Exile

Exile Eguzairu) is a 14-member Japanese pop music band. On artwork and promotional material, the band name is typeset in all capitals as "EXILE".

The current leader Hiro was originally in the band Zoo before they split up in the mid-1990s. In 1999, he started a new group called J Soul Brothers, which later changed its name to Exile in 2001. (But the name of J Soul Brothers was later revived by Hiro again in 2007 when he helped to form another 7-member group under the new J Soul Brothers monicker.)

Exile has released their singles and albums under Avex Group's label Rhythm Zone. Hiro and Avex's president Max Matsuura came from the same high school.

In November 2003, Exile remade Zoo's hit single "Choo Choo Train", which became a strong promotional single for their third studio album Exile Entertainment. The album sold over a million copies.

Their latest studio album, Exile Love, became the highest selling album of Japan in 2008, selling nearly 1.5 million copies. Their compilation album Exile Ballad Best sold nearly 1 million copies in its first week, making it the highest first week sales for an album of Japan in 2008. Their song "Ti Amo" won the grand prix award at the 50th Japan Record Awards in 2008.

In 2009, Exile's song "The Next Door -Indestructible-" (The Japanese version is called "The Next Door") was featured as the theme of Street Fighter IV.

On March 1, 2009, Exile and J Soul Brothers announced to merge as a 14-member group.

In total, they have sold over 17 million records just in Japan.

Members

Performers
Hiro, real name Hiroyuki Igarashi Igarashi Hiroyuki) , 1969 ? leader of the group
Makidai, real name Daisuke Maki Maki Daisuke) , 1975
Matsu, real name Toshio Matsumoto Matsumoto Toshio), born , 1975.
Usa, real name Yoshihiro Usami Usami Yoshishiro), born , 1977.
Akira, real name Ry?hei Kurosawa Kurosawa Ry?hei), born , 1981 ? was a member of Rather Unique and joined the group 2006 summer.
Kenchi, real name Ken'ichir? Teratsuji Teratsuji Kenichirou), born , 1979.
Keiji, real name Keiji Kuroki Kuroki Keiji), born , 1980.
Tetsuya, real name Tetsuya Tsuchida Tsuchida Tetsuya), born , 1981.
Naoto, real name Naoto Kataoka Kataoka Naoto), born , 1983.
Naoki, real name Naoki Kobayashi Kobayashi Naoki), born , 1984.
Vocalists
Atsushi, real name Atsushi Sat? Sat? Atsushi), born , 1980.
Takahiro, real name Takahiro Tazaki Tazaki Takahiro), born , 1984 ? the new vocalist chosen to replace Shun during the "Exile Vocal Battle Audition 2006: Asian Dream" summer audition.
Vocalists & Performers
Nesmith, real name Nesmith Ryuta Karimu Nesumisu Ryuta Karimu), born , 1983.
Shokichi, real name Shokichi Yagi Yagi Shokichi), born , 1985.
Former member
Shun, real name Shunsuke Kiyokiba Kiyokiba Shunsuke), born , 1980 ? currently a solo artist under his real name.

Awards & Nominations

2003

MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best Live Performance

2004

MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Album of the Year - Exile Entertainment

2005

MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best Group Video - Carry On
MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best Pop Video - Carry On
MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best buzzASIA Japan - Real World

2006

MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best Collaboration - Glay x Exile - Scream

2007

MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best Group Video - Lovers Again (Winner)

2008

MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Video of the Year - I Believe (Winner)
MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Album of the Year - Exile Love (Winner)
MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best Karaoke Song - Toki no Kakera

2009

MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Video of the Year - Ti Amo (Chapter 2) (Winner)
MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best Group Video - Ti Amo (Chapter 2) (Winner)
MTV Video Music Awards Japan - MTV Best Choreography Award (Winner)

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Exile; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.

Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exile