Exile (American band)

Exile, formerly the Exiles, is an American band founded in Richmond, Kentucky, in 1963. The band consists of J.P. Pennington and Les Taylor, both of whom are guitarists and vocalists, along with Sonny LeMaire (bass guitar, vocals), Marlon Hargis (keyboards), and Steve Goetzman (drums). With a founding membership including original lead singer Jimmy Stokley, the band played cover songs and local events in the state of Kentucky for a number of years before becoming a backing band on the touring revue Caravan of Stars. After a series of failed singles on various labels, Exile achieved mainstream success in 1978 with "Kiss You All Over", a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. This iteration of the band mostly played soft rock and pop music.

After Stokley was let go due to tensions with producer Mike Chapman, his role as lead vocalist was concurrently assumed by Mark Gray and Taylor. However, Gray departed after three years to begin a solo career. Exile began a transition to country music at the beginning of the 1980s, with Pennington and Taylor as vocalists alongside LeMaire, Hargis, and Goetzman. This lineup was featured on their 1983 album Exile, their first as a country band and their first on Epic Records. Between then and 1987, Exile had ten number-one singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, as well as a number-one country album with Kentucky Hearts in 1984.

Hargis, Pennington, and Taylor left the band between 1987 and 1989, with LeMaire and multi-instrumentalist Paul Martin alternating on lead vocals for two albums on Arista Nashville between 1990 and 1991. During the early 1990s, both Pennington and Taylor recorded as solo artists. Exile disbanded in 1995, after which LeMaire recorded one album in the group Burnin' Daylight. Individual members of Exile played a number of informal shows between the late 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, but the early-1980s lineup did not re-establish until 2008. Exile has continued to tour and record under this lineup ever since, having released a number of independent albums in the 2010s and 2020s.

Exile's sound is defined by vocal harmony with rock and pop influences. Most of their country music releases were co-written by Pennington and LeMaire, and most of their country albums feature the band playing all the instruments by themselves instead of using session musicians. Songs of theirs have also been covered by Alabama, Huey Lewis and the News, Dave & Sugar, and the Forester Sisters. Additionally, LeMaire has written songs for Restless Heart, Diamond Rio, and Clay Walker.