2023 marks Exile’s 60th year as America’s longest running band.
On September 30, 1978, the
award-winning band who had initially set out to play small clubs in
Richmond, Kentucky back in 1963, skyrocketed to world-wide fame with their
multi-week chart-topper “Kiss You All Over.” In fact, it made Billboard’s Year End Hot 100 Singles of 1978 (Top 5).
The iconic song has been showcased in feature films such as “Happy
Gilmore,” “Employee of the Month,”
“Zookeeper, “Wildhogs,” and is played in it’s entirety at the end of the 7th
episode of “Mindhunter” currently available as a Netflix original.
In the
early 1980’s, Exile began to focus on country music. During their run on the
country charts Exile had 10 number one singles including “I Don’t Want To Be A
Memory,” “Give Me One More Chance” and “She’s A Miracle.” The band wrote their own songs, played on all their
recordings and also proved to be prolific songwriters composing hits for other
artists such as Alabama, Restless Heart, Engelbert Humperdinck, Huey
Lewis, Diamond Rio, Janie Fricke and many more. During this country phase of their
career, Exile received 11 nominations including Vocal Group of The Year and Best
Instrumental Performance for the Country Music Association and Academy of
Country Music awards.
The 5
original Exile members re-formed in 2008 with J.P. Pennington, Les Taylor,
Sonny LeMaire, Marlon Hargis and Steve Goetzman. The Kentucky Music Hall of
Fame members continue to perform for legions of fans on the 2018 No Limit Tour
and have appeared over 100 times on the Grand Ole Opry. Exile recently released their latest project Hits and the
album contains 11 number one songs spanning three decades, along with four
additional top ten's. The ultimate,
cross-over band has sold
over 8 million records worldwide, with three Gold albums. Exile has lasted longer than most marriages.