Exile (Japanese band)

Exile
Members of Exile at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards Japan
Background information
Also known as	Egu J Soul Brothers (1999-2001)
Origin	Tokyo, Japan
Genres	J-pop R&B dance house
Years active	2001–present (1999-2001 as J Soul Brothers)
Labels	Rhythm Zone
Associated acts	J Soul Brothers Exile Tribe Boyz II Men Zoo Glay Koda Kumi Flo Rida
Website	exile.jp
Members	Exile Hiro (Active as Leader / Retired) Toshio Matsumoto (Retired) Exile Makidai (Retired) Exile Üsa (Retired) Exile Atsushi Exile Akira Exile Takahiro Kenchi Tachibana Keiji Kuroki Exile Tetsuya Exile Nesmith Exile Shokichi Exile Naoto Naoki Kobayashi Takanori Iwata Alan Shirahama Mandy Sekiguchi Sekai Taiki Sato
Past members	Shun (Left)

Exile is a 19-member Japanese boy group. The leader of the group is Hiro, who debuted as a member of Zoo under For Life Music, but 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 total, they have sold over 20 million records in Japan alone.

The current leader, Hiro, was originally in the pop group Zoo before they split up in 1995. 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 moniker.)

Atsushi and Shun became the lead vocalists of the group. Atsushi is a fan of American R&B group Boyz II Men. 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. They took part in the NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen of the year, singing "Choo Choo Train". At first, their music style was influenced by R&B, but their style later became more pop-oriented form. Their 2004 single "Real World" became their first number-one single on Oricon weekly charts. They released the collaboration "Scream" with Japanese rock band Glay in July 2005, peaking at No. 1 and selling over 500,000 copies on Oricon charts.

The group released "Tada...Aitakute" in December 2005 and "Yes!" in March 2006. Both singles topped the Oricon weekly charts. However, Shun left the group in March 2006 and became a solo singer. After the group sought a new vocalist from the public, Takahiro joined the group in September 2006. Takahiro originally tried to become a hairdresser in his school days, but eventually joined the group as a vocalist.