It’s been seven years, but pop group EXO is finally returning to the Philippines.
As part of their first tour as a group since 2019, EXO will be bringing its Asia tour, “EXO Planet #6 – ExhOrizon,” to the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and more.
The group is set to perform at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila on July 4 and 5.
The group is currently composed of Suho, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun, and Lay. Members Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin are noticeably absent from the tour’s roster, as the three are engaged in a legal dispute with their label, SM Entertainment, over contract fulfillment and payment issues. Although the dispute has been resolved since last October, with the three members losing to SM Entertainment, the label has yet to announce whether or not the trio will be allowed to rejoin EXO’s group activities, which include touring.
“We clearly stated to the trio in the past that reaching an agreement to end our legal dispute and [EXO’s] group activities were two separate matters,” SM Entertainment said in an official statement.
This also isn’t the first time that EXO has experienced a downsizing. The group originally debuted in 2012 with 12 members, who were split into two sub-units, EXO-K and EXO-M, but debuted simultaneously in South Korea and China. But in 2014 and 2015, members Kris, Luhan, and Tao left EXO-M after they, too, filed lawsuits against SM Entertainment.
EXO’s tour announcement comes after the group dropped its eighth studio album, REVERXE, earlier this January.
