Lay Zhang seems to have just updated fans on his status with EXO!
EXO’s Lay | SM Entertainment
EXO began as a 12-membered group in 2012, but through the years, as ex-members Kris, Luhan, and Tao began legal wars with SM Entertainment for contract termination, decreased from that original number.
EXO at debut | SM Entertainment EXO as 9 | SM Entertainment
One thing that has confused netizens is Lay’s status with the group. Lay has not appeared in a music video since “Monster” in 2016 but has participated in album productions, including the 2021 release Don’t Fight The Feeling, where he was edited in.
In 2022, Lay officially left SM Entertainment but promised to be available whenever his members needed him.
| Lay Zhang
Still, with updates to the SM Entertainment website, many were left confused about exactly where Lay stood as a group member.
Netizens Confused About Lay’s Status With EXO And SM Entertainment
A recent update seems to have put some worries from fans to rest!
With the change in the weather as Christmas approaches, EXO’s “First Snow” has risen, hitting a new peak of #11 on the Melon Daily Chart.
‘The First Snow’ by EXO achieved a new ALL-TIME peak of 131,319 Unique Listeners on MelOn!
— The song remains at its peak #11 on MelOn Daily Chart. pic.twitter.com/KszIP6hanO
— EXO Charts (@exochartstats) December 6, 2023
With this surge in streaming, it is no surprise a TikTok challenge involving the song was created using an altered version of the track.
@ = 눈 올때 찍을 사람? #fypシ #dance #04 #첫눈 #dancechallenge
So far, no members of EXO had participated in the challenge…until Lay shared his version! On his personal TikTok account, Lay updated fans on his location, doing the dance challenge in the video clip.
#malaysia I’m here^_^
To make things even more special, Lay slightly changed the challenge, doing the signature E-X-O spelling with his hands.
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Fans have taken this as an update that nothing has changed and were so excited that “E-X-O,” “EXO Lay,” and “First Snow” all trended on X.com.
ZHANG YIXING DID THE FIRST SNOW CHALLENGE
THE E-X-O HAND IN THE END TO SHUT Y’ALL UP! HE WILL ALWAYS BE EXO’s LAY!!! pic.twitter.com/kv57I1FCNN
— sai ♡⃕ (@saiyeols) December 6, 2023
OT9 IS REAL!!!!!! OT9 STANS OWN🫂#EXO #LAY #FIRSTSNOW pic.twitter.com/pTyp1qX7zx
— ᴛʀᴜʟʏ ᴇxᴏ ✶ (@trulychanyeol) December 6, 2023
exo ot9 stans keep on winning pic.twitter.com/qtsNO1EF7Y
— 𝐄𝐗✵𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐃 (@Kyoongs_Luv) December 6, 2023