If you thought One Direction were popular, you obviously dont know the first thing about South Korean-Chinese pop sensation Exo.
The K-pop boy band have been around since 2012 and are rivalled in popularity only by the likes of fellow Asian group BTS.
Their massive appeal may or may not be down the fact they have 2.25 times the number of members 1D has.
Initially the group had 12 members, but the number went down to 9 amid legal battles a few years ago.
So who is in the band, and what do they do in their solo careers? Lets have a look.
They current members of Exo are:
- Xiumin (also a member of subunit band Exo-CBX)
- Baekhyun (also a member of subunit band Exo-CBX)
- Chen (also a member of subunit band Exo-CBX)
- Suho
- Lay
- Chanyeol
- D.O.
- Kai
- Sehun
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Lay is Chinese, while the rest are South Korean.
All of them have had solo careers, involving a combination of musicals, films and TV, as well as releasing their own songs.
Chen and Baekhyun have had the most extensive solo music careers to date, while Lay, D.O. and Chanyeol have won the most acting awards.
The original 12-piece line-up was divided into two subgroups, Exo-K and Exo-M, who sang in Korean and Mandarin respectively.
But three out of the six members of Exo-M (Kris, Luhan and Tao) ended up leaving the entire project, run by S.M. Entertainment, in 2014 and 2015.
All three of the members that left sought damages for violations to their human rights and claimed their health issues had not been dealt with correctly.
The current band has its three-piece subunit Exo-CBX, with the second half of the name being made up of its members initials.
The band has released four studio albums that combine Korean and Mandarin songs, called XOXO (2013), Exodus (2015), ExAct (2016) and The War (2017).
They released their first Japanese album Countdown in 2018.
While the group has limited input in songwriting and creative decisions, a rich band mythology was invented when they arrived on the scene.
Each of the twelve members is thought to possess an individual elemental superpower ranging from fire, water and wind to time-control and teleportation.
The groups elaborate debut concept has been referenced in several music videos years after their debut, including Lucky One and Power.
They all performed at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on February 25 2018 as representatives of K-pop, along with CL.
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