EXO celebrated their 10th debut anniversary today (April 8th).
EXO, which debuted on April 8th, 2012, has been showing differentiated music and performances over the past decade. In addition to their debut song “MAMA“, they released numerous hits including “Wolf”, “Growl”, “Overdose”, “CALL ME BABY”, “LOVE ME RIGHT”, “Monster”, “Lotto”, “Ko Ko Bop”, “Power”, “Tempo”, “Love Shot” and “Obsession”.
# Worldview hit -> Become million-seller… A new paradigm in the music industry
Right from their debut, EXO attracted attention by introducing differentiated identities and contents based on their unique worldview in which members have different superpowers. EXO continued their worldview storytelling through various contents such as music, music videos and performances. EXO‘s success left a strong impact that the artist’s worldview was universalized in the music industry.
In addition, EXO is the main character who renewed the era of 1 million album sales by becoming the first million-seller with their first full album “XOXO (Kiss&Hug)” released in 2013. With the splendid feat achieved after 12 years in the music industry, which was stagnant due to the recession of the record industry at that time, the birth of a new million-seller became a catalyst to revitalize the industry. Starting with their first full album, EXO sold more than 1 million copies with 5 albums in a row, including the second full album “EXODUS“, the third full album “EX’ACT“, the fourth full album “THE WAR” and the fifth full album “DON’T MESS UP MY TEMPO“. They also set a record as the first among debut singers since 2000 to reach 10 million album sales in Korea.
# Grand Prize (Daesang) for 5 consecutive years -> Winter Olympics closing stage… K-pop’s representative
EXO won the Rookie of the Year award at various year-end music awards in the first year of their debut, followed by “Song of the Year” at the 2013 Melon Music Awards (MMA) and “Album of the Year” at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA). In particular, EXO was the first Korean singer to win Daesang for 5 consecutive years at MAMA from 2013 to 2017, and was featured in the Guinness Book Of World Records for the most MAMA Daesangs won.
In addition, EXO attended the closing ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as Korea’s representative singer. EXO‘s hit song “Power” was not only used as ground music in the semifinals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, but also proved the group’s global status by being selected as the first Korean song to be played at the Dubai Fountain Show, one of the world’s three largest fountain shows.
# Group -> Solo… Unlimited activity spectrum
EXO is loved for showing a variety of music colors not only through group but also through unit and solo activities. Aside from unit activities of EXO-CBX (Chen, Baekhyun, Xiumin) and EXO-SC (Sehun, Chanyeol), Lay, Chen, Baekhyun, Suho, Kai and D.O. released solo albums with their own emotions, gaining popularity. In particular, Baekhyun surpassed 1 million copies with his mini album “Delight” in 2020, setting a milestone of both group and solo sales in 20 years after Seo Tai-ji. He has established himself as a top soloist by winning Best Male Artist at MAMA for three consecutive years.
In addition, EXO members have expanded their activities beyond the music industry to various fields such as acting, entertainment shows and musicals, showing off their versatile skills and charms. They are expected to show a wide spectrum of activities in the future.
Meanwhile, EXO will hold “2022 Debut Anniversary Fan Event: EXO” at Jamsil Arena in Seoul at 7 PM on April 9th to commemorate their 10th debut anniversary. The event is expected to get warm responses from global fans as it is scheduled to be broadcast live online through Beyond LIVE.
