E-girls

E-girls
E-girls at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards Japan (left-to-right; Yuzuna Takebe, Kaede, Sayaka, Anna Ishii, Erie Abe, Harumi Sato, Karen Fujii, Ami Nakashima and Reina Washio)
Background information
Genres	J-pop
Years active	2011–present
Labels	Rhythm Zone
Associated acts	Exile Dream Happiness Flower Dance Earth Party Dream Ami
Website	e-girls-ldh.jp
Members	see Members
Past members	see Former members

E-girls (sometimes stylized as E-Girls or e-girls; stands for Exile Girls) is a Japanese collective girl group who are signed to music label Rhythm Zone, and managed by LDH and Avex Trax. As of 2017, the band consists of 19 members; 16 of which feature all current members from the groups Dream, Happiness and Flower. Additionally, three original members were scouted in Japan and added as part of the group. Created as a sister act to boy band Exile, E-girls debuted in 2011 with their single "Celebration". After a string of promotional recordings, E-girls released their debut record Lesson 1 two years later. In 2013, their single "Gomennasai no Kissing You" catapulted the girls into commercial success, selling over 100,000 units, and its parent album Colorful Pop (2014), was met with positive reviews and high performance on the Oricon Albums Chart.

With several members departing from the group, E-girls released their third album E.G. Time (2015), which saw a change in their music and vocal deliveries. That same year, LDH announced changes to their line-up, which resulted in absence with some members for their singles "Anniversary!!" and "Dance Dance Dance". Beginning the year with their greatest hits album E.G. Smile: E-girls Best (2016), the group announced their E.G. Pop and E.G. Cool themes with the singles "E.G. Summer Rider", "Pink Champagne" and "Go! Go! Let's Go!". Their fourth album, E.G. Crazy, was released in January 2017.

In 2011, Japanese boy band Exile held a nationwide audition event for young female artists. Originally, the event was to find members for the dance group named Flower, which was conducted by LDH and already featured four members, but they decided to also scope for a new dance and vocal group titled Bunny. After recruiting dancer Nozomi Bando, and three vocalists Reina Washio, Kyoka Ichiki, and Chiharu Muto, Exile's Hiro—the head producer and CEO of LDH—announced the "Girls Entertainment Project", which was later changed to E-Girls; he confirmed that it would consist of all members from Dream, Happiness, and Flower. Bunny were not originally formed as part of E-Girls, and were to debut separately in 2013, but they never carried out any activities. Following their formation, E-girls consisted of 21 members. On December 28, 2011, the group premiered with their single "Celebration", which peaked inside the top ten on the Oricon Singles Chart. Sayaka Yamamoto became the first member of E-girls to leave the group, and subsequently her band Dream; her promise commenced in March 2012.