page_title: Exo (band)
section_title: 2016–2017: Worldwide success
hierarchical_section_title: Exo (band) / History / 2016–2017: Worldwide success
caption_attribution_description: English: EXO at Dream Concert on June 3, 2017.
context_page_description: Exo is a South Korean–Chinese boy band based in Seoul, with nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai and Sehun. The band was formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. Their music incorporates genres like pop, hip-hop, and R&B, alongside electronic dance music genres like house, trap, and synth-pop. Exo releases and performs music in Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese. The band ranked as one of the top five most influential celebrities on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list each year from 2014 to 2018, and have been named "the biggest boy band in the world" and the "kings of K-pop" by media outlets.
  Since 2014, Exo has exclusively performed as one group, while continuing to release and perform music in multiple languages. Previously, the band debuted with twelve members separated into two sub-groups: Exo-K and Exo-M. Exo-K and Exo-M performed music in Korean and Mandarin, respectively, until the release of their third EP Overdose in 2014. After the departures of Kris, Luhan, and Tao amid legal battles in 2014 and 2015, the band continued with the remaining nine members.
context_section_description: On January 5, 2016, SM Entertainment won one of its countersuits against Tao following the ruling of the Intermediate People's Court in Qingdao, China. The company sued Tao over his failure to repay the company after his departure; it released an official statement that said: "SM has ongoing lawsuits against Exo members Wu Yifan (Kris), Luhan, and Tao for violating their exclusive contracts and partaking in illegal promotions in China. Among these lawsuits, SM filed a lawsuit against Tao for failing to repay SM on October 13, 2015. An intermediate court in Qingdao, China made the verdict that Tao is to repay SM Entertainment as well as interest for the delayed payment."
  Exo's third studio album Ex'Act and its singles, "Lucky One" and "Monster", were released on June 9, 2016, in both Korean and Mandarin versions. Domestic pre-orders for the album exceeded 660,000 copies, making it the most pre-ordered K-pop album ever at that time. The album broke the record for the highest first-week sales of a Korean album, previously set by the band's own fourth EP Sing For You. "Monster" became Exo's first number one on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, and "Lucky One" debuted at number three. On August 18, 2016, a repackaged edition of the album, titled Lotto, was released; it added four new songs, including the single of the same name. "Lotto" became Exo's second number one on the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart, and peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. The repackaged edition's Korean and Mandarin versions reached number one and two on the Gaon Album Chart, respectively  Within two months of its original release, Ex'Act had sold over 1.17 million copies, becoming Exo's third album to sell over one million copies, earning them the title of "triple million sellers" from the media.
  On July 21, contractual disputes between Kris and Luhan and SM Entertainment were settled. The two sides settled during their third court-mandated arbitration; the previous two were held in September 2015 and June 2016, when the court settled the case with a recommendation for reconciliation. The singers will maintain their contracts with SM until 2022. SM would contract out their work outside of Korea and Japan; i.e., Kris and Luhan's Chinese agencies will "share related revenues" with SM for activities anywhere but Korea and Japan (where SM has exclusive rights per their contract) because SM is technically "contract[ing] out management" for its non-Korean/Japanese activities until 2022, when their contracts with SM expire.
  
  On July 22, Exo embarked on its third headlining tour, "Exoplanet 3 – The Exo'rdium", with a record six consecutive concerts at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena. On May 28, 2017, the tour ended with the second of two consecutive concerts at the Seoul Olympic Stadium, the largest stadium in South Korea, with an estimated maximum seating capacity of 100,000. Tickets for the first date went on sale on April 12 and were sold out within 20 minutes. The tour brought the band's total number of concerts to over 100. In June, Lay announced he would not take part in the band's next album, and would instead focus on his acting career. Since then, he has been absent from Exo albums and public appearances. On December 7, Exo released their second Japanese single, "Coming Over". Selling over 158,000 copies, it reached number two on the weekly Oricon Chart and became the band's second Japanese single to receive a Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Exo's third winter release and fifth EP For Life was released on December 19. The band did not publicly promote the album, which sold over 442,000 copies in less than two weeks.
  Also in 2016, the group's members spent time advancing their solo careers. On January 7, Baekhyun released "Dream", a collaboration with popular South Korean singer Suzy. The single proved very popular, and won Best Collaboration at the 18th Mnet Asian Music Awards among other awards. On October 31, Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin debuted as the group's first sub-unit, Exo-CBX, which
caption: Exo at the Dream Concert in June 2017
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