Exile Honored By The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame With Special Recognition Award Celebrating 55 Years

Kentucky Music Hall of Fame members, Steve Goetzman, MARLON Hargis, J.P. Pennington, Sonny LeMaire and Les Taylor - better known as the crossover hit-making band, Exile, are celebrating a distinguished career and anniversary of 55 years as a self-contained vocal band. On Friday, May 11, the band was surprised with a special honor at the 2018 Kentucky Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for reaching the unprecedented milestone. The band previously had received the highest honor bestowed by the organization in 2013, when they were inducted as members of the prestigious hall. Watch 2018 KMHOF inductee, Jason Crabb, present the surprise Award to Exile here.

"We'd like to thank Avery Bradshaw and the KMHOF, for surprising us with this wonderful Award and honoring Exile's 55th Anniversary," said MARLON Hargis of Exile. "A very special thank you to Jason Crabb, for giving an eloquent and sincere introduction. Jason is a great friend, and wonderful artist! It is always nice to be recognized, especially by our peers. Congratulations to all the 2018 inductees - it was a great evening, and a great event."

"We are so proud of all our inductees at the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame! The committee was honored to present this Milestone Award to Exile for their contributions to the music industry and for their great achievements in their career," said Avery Bradshaw, Director of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum. "We hope they will continue on for many years and keep making Kentucky proud!"

The longest running American self-contained vocal group kicked off 2018 with their "No Limits Tour" and is also celebrating 40 years of their hit song Kiss You All Over which hit No. 1 in 1978 and stayed No. 1 for four weeks and charted for 23 weeks. The group has sold over 8 million records, including three Gold records and eleven number one hit songs, along with numerous hits on the pop and country charts. They are known for many major hits including "Give Me One More Chance," and "I Don't Want to Be a Memory." Exile's music is available on all digital platforms here.

About Exile
Exile formed in 1963 looking to play small clubs in Richmond, Kentucky, but managed to top both the pop and country charts during their over 55 year-long career. Their most successful hit, "Kiss You All Over" spent four weeks at the top of Billboard's pop chart in 1978. In the early 1980's Exile started to focus on country music. During their run on the country charts Exile has successfully had ten No. 1 singles including "I Don't Want To Be A Memory" and "Give Me One More Chance." The hit song "Kiss You All Over" was used in the 1996 Adam Sandler movie "Happy Gilmore" and in the 2006 film "Employee of the Month." They have toured with acts including Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, The Oak Ridge Boys, Kenny Rogers and The Judds. The 5 original Exile members re-formed in 2008 and continue to tour today. Current members of the band include J.P. Pennington, Les Taylor, Sonny LeMaire, MARLON Hargis and Steve Goetzman. 2018 celebrates 55 years for the band and 40th anniversary of the hit song "Kiss You All Over." For more information, visit www.exile.biz.

Photo Credit: Aaron Crisler

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