New EXILE members

With one of the vocalists (SHUN) leaving the R&B group EXILE in March, the remaining five members have once again begun Stage Two of their journey. The group has made an annoucement on 06/06/06 to hold an audition in search for a new partner for their current remaining vocalist, ATSUSHI. Starting from 07/09, auditions will be held in six cities: Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka.

Three finalists will be selected to compete in the event "EXILE Vocal Battle Audtion 2006 ~ASIAN DREAM~", to be held on 09/09 in Nippon Budokan. The three candidates will be joined by professional vocalists, Nesmith and TAKA (from R&B group, COLOR, headed by ATSUSHI), in the final audition. Both Nesmith and COLOR are members of EXILES, which is the extended family of EXILE members and their solo projects.

Also on 06/06/06, EXILE also welcomed a new member to their performer team. AKIRA, from RATHER UNIQUE, a hip-hop group in which EXILE's USA and MAKIDAI are also part of, now joins the group as their fifth performer. The new EXILE will consist of seven members.