Exile (Japanese band)

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Exile
Also known as Egu
Origin Tokyo, Japan
Genres Japanese pop, urban contemporary
Years active 2001–present
Labels Rhythm Zone
Website Official website
Members
Hiro
Makidai
Matsu
Usa
Akira
Kenchi
Keiji
Tetsuya
Naoto
Naoki
Nesmith
Shokichi
Atsushi
Takahiro
Former members
Shun

Exile (エグザイル 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.[1]

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 2007 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. The song "Ti Amo" was also certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for 1,000,000 full-track ringtone digital music downloads (Chaku Uta Full).[2]

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.

Contents

[edit] Members

[edit] Performers

  • Hiro, real name Hiroyuki Igarashi (五十嵐 広行 Igarashi Hiroyuki?) June 1, 1969 – leader of the group
  • Makidai, real name Daisuke Maki (眞木 大輔 Maki Daisuke?) October 27, 1975
  • Matsu, real name Toshio Matsumoto (松本 利夫 Matsumoto Toshio?), born May 27, 1975.
  • Usa, real name Yoshihiro Usami (宇佐美 吉啓 Usami Yoshishiro?), born February 2, 1977.
  • Akira, real name Ryōhei Kurosawa (黒沢 良平 Kurosawa Ryōhei?), born August 23, 1981 – was a member of Rather Unique and joined the group 2006 summer.
  • Kenchi, real name Ken'ichirō Teratsuji (寺辻 健一郎 Teratsuji Kenichirou?), born September 28, 1979.
  • Keiji, real name Keiji Kuroki (黒木 啓司 Kuroki Keiji?), born January 21, 1980.
  • Tetsuya, real name Tetsuya Tsuchida (土田 哲也 Tsuchida Tetsuya?), born February 18, 1981.
  • Naoto, real name Naoto Kataoka (片岡 直人 Kataoka Naoto?), born August 30, 1983.
  • Naoki, real name Naoki Kobayashi (小林 直己 Kobayashi Naoki?), born November 10, 1984.

[edit] Vocalists

  • Atsushi, real name Atsushi Satō (佐藤 篤志 Satō Atsushi?), born April 30, 1980.
  • Takahiro, real name Takahiro Tasaki (田崎 敬浩 Tasaki Takahiro?), born December 8, 1984 – the new vocalist chosen to replace Shun during the "Exile Vocal Battle Audition 2006: Asian Dream" summer audition.

[edit] Vocalists & Performers

  • Nesmith, real name Nesmith Ryuta Karimu (ネスミス・竜太・カリム Nesumisu Ryuta Karimu?), born August 1, 1983.
  • Shokichi, real name Shokichi Yagi (八木 将吉 Yagi Shokichi?), born October 3, 1985.

[edit] Former member

  • Shun, real name Shunsuke Kiyokiba (清木場 俊介 Kiyokiba Shunsuke?), born January 11, 1980 – currently a solo artist under his real name.

[edit] Awards & Nominations

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

# Title Release Date Peak Position Sales
1 Your Eyes Only: Aimai na Boku no Katachi (Your Eyes Only 曖昧なぼくの輪郭 Your Eyes Only: My Ambiguous Outline?) 2001-09-27 #4 249,880
2 Style 2001-12-12 #11 112,760
3 Fly Away 2002-02-20 #18 31,880
4 Song for You 2002-04-17 #6 91,750
5 Cross: Never Say Die 2002-08-07 #13 38,410
6 Ex-style: Kiss You 2002-11-13 #6 92,769
7 We Will: Ano Basho de (We Will あの場所で We Will: At That Place?) 2003-02-05 #16 32,703
8 Breezin': Together 2003-05-28 #2 366,804
9 Let Me Luv U Down feat. Zebra & Maccho 2003-07-09 #3 64,854
10 Choo Choo Train [3] 2003-11-06 #2 286,812
11 Eternal... 2003-11-12 #7 46,762
12 Kizuna 2003-11-19 #5 40,468
13 O'ver 2003-11-27 #7 33,822
14 Carry On 2004-05-12 #2 233,120
15 Real World 2004-06-30 #1 125,809
16 Heart of Gold 2004-08-18 #4 93,873
17 Hero 2004-12-01 #2 181,997
18 Exit 2005-08-24 #2 195,004
19 Tada...Aitakute (ただ…逢いたくて) 2005-12-14 #1 562,196
20 Yes! 2006-03-01 #1 92,622
21 Everything 2006-12-06 #2 153,065
22 Lovers Again 2007-01-17 #2 257,393
23 Michi 2007-02-14 #1 112,106
24 Summer Time Love 2007-05-16 #3 132,824
25 Toki no Kakera / 24 karats: type EX (時の描片 ～トキノカケラ～) 2007-08-29 #2 141,161
26 I Believe 2007-11-21 #3 142,228
27 Pure / You're my sunshine 2008-02-27 #2 160,605
28 The Birthday: Ti Amo 2008-09-24 #1 301,856
29 Last Christmas 2008-11-26 #1 200,255
30 The Monster ~Someday~ 2009-04-15 #1 269,105
31 The Hurricane ~Fireworks~ 2009-07-22 #1 273,898
32 The Generation ~Futatsu no Kuchibiru~ (The Generation ~ふたつの唇~ The Generation ~Two Lips~?) 2009-11-11 TBA TBA

[edit] Collaborations

# Collaborated with Title Release Date Peak Position Sales
1 Glay Scream 2005-07-20 #1 545,095
2 Kumi Koda Won't Be Long 2006-11-22 #2 235,476

[edit] Others

# Title Release Date
1 Song Soldier: Ashita no Senshi (ソングソルジャー～明日の戦士～ Song Soldier: Tomorrow's Soldier?)[4] 2007-03-07

[edit] Albums

[edit] Studio albums

# Title Release Date Peak Position First Week Sales Sales
1 Our Style 2002-03-06 #5 110,010 291,000
2 Styles of Beyond 2003-02-13 #1 145,102 430,000
3 Exile Entertainment 2003-12-03 #1 395,257 1,170,600
4 Asia 2006-03-29 #1 280,371 519,757
5 Exile Evolution 2007-03-07 #1 300,323 738,466
6 Exile Love1 2007-12-12 #1 670,478 1,470,959
7 Ai Subeki Mirai e 2009-12-02 TBA TBA TBA
  • 1= Best selling album of 2008

[edit] Best of albums

# Title Release Date Peak Position First Week Sales Sales
1 Single Best[1] 2005-01-01 #1
2 Select Best[1] 2005-01-01 #1
3 Perfect Best[1] 2005-01-01 #1 970,126 1,438,889
4 Exile Catchy Best 2008-03-26 #1 680,162 1,232,066
5 Exile Entertainment Best 2008-07-23 #1 400,038 609,536
6 Exile Ballad Best[2] 2008-12-03 #1 943,901 1,772,973
7 Exile Perfect Year 2008 Ultimate Best Box 2009-03-25 #27 6,115 7,300
[1] Perfect Best is the best album release by Exile. Perfect Best is a special 2CD+DVD version which included Single Best and Select Best plus 21 songs promotional video clips DVD.
[2] Highest debut sales of any album in 2008.

[edit] Other albums

# Title Release Date Peak Position Sales
1 The Other Side of Ex Vol. 1 2003-09-10 #5 -
2 Appreciation to the Million Breakthrough (祝ミリオン・初回アルバム ３枚組 Box Set: Appreciation to the Million Breakthrough?) 2004-03-31 #55 -
3 Heart of Gold: Street Future Opera Beat Pops 2004-09-29 #1 460,000

[edit] References and footnotes

  1. ^ (Japanese) "『第4回渡辺晋賞』エイベックス松浦社長が受賞 プロデュース手腕高評価". Oricon. 2009-03-02. http://career.oricon.co.jp/news/63670/full/. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
  2. ^ (Japanese) "レコード協会調べ　1月度有料音楽配信認定". Recording Industry Association of Japan. http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/chart/w090220_3.html. Retrieved 2009-10-24. 
  3. ^ Like Zoo's version of the song, Exile's "Choo Choo Train" also features a voice sample of D. Train's dance hit "Keep On".
  4. ^ A single made up of the five 2006 summer audition finalists (under the name "Dreamers: Exile Vocal Battle Audition Finalist".

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exile_(Japanese_band)"