Pentatonix

Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements with vocal harmonies, scat singing, riffing, vocal percussion, and beatboxings of modern pop works or Christmas songs, sometimes in the form of medleys, along with original material. Pentatonix was formed in 2011 and subsequently won the third season of NBC's ''The Sing-Off,'' receiving $200,000 and a recording contract with Sony Music. When Sony's Epic Records dropped the group after ''The Sing-Off'', the group launched its YouTube channel, distributing its music through Madison Gate Records, a label owned by Sony Pictures.

Their debut EP '' PTX, Volume 1'' was released in 2012, followed by their holiday release '' PTXmas'' the same year, with Pentatonix's third release, '' PTX, Vol. II'', debuting at number 1 on ''Billboard''s Independent Albums chart and number 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in 2013. In May 2014, Pentatonix signed with RCA Records. That same year, the group released their fourth EP, '' PTX, Vol. III'', two full-length studio albums; '' PTX, Vols. 1 & 2'', a compilation album released in Japan, Korea and Australia, and their second holiday release, '' That's Christmas to Me''. ''That's Christmas to Me'' was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), platinum on December 24, 2014, and double platinum on February 11, 2016, becoming the highest-charting holiday album by a group since 1962, and the fourth-best-selling album in the United States in 2014. The following year, Pentatonix released their eponymous album, their first consisting mostly of original material, which debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart for the first time in their career, followed by a third Christmas album, '' A Pentatonix Christmas'', in 2016, and a new EP, '' PTX, Vol. IV – Classics'', the year after.

In September 2017, Avi Kaplan, the group’s original bass, left the group and was replaced by Sallee, who was included on their album Pentatonix Christmas Deluxe and featured on their next album '' PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. I''. Sallee graduated from Berklee College of Music, where he had been a member of the a cappella group Pitch Slapped.

Pentatonix has won three Grammy Awards: they were the first a cappella act to win Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, doing so in 2015 and 2016, and Best Country Duo/Group Performance in 2017. On February 21, 2023, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Career

Background

Pentatonix began with Kirstin Maldonado (born May 16, 1992), Mitch Grassi (born July 24, 1992), and Scott Hoying (born September 17, 1991), who grew up together and were schoolmates at Martin High School in Arlington, Texas. For a local radio show competition to meet the cast of ''Glee'', they arranged and submitted a trio version of "Telephone," the hit song by Lady Gaga and featuring Beyoncé. Despite losing the competition, their singing sparked attention at their school, and they began performing. Their version of "Telephone" subsequently gained attention on YouTube.

Hoying and Maldonado both graduated from Martin High School in 2010, Grassi in 2011. Hoying went off to the University of Southern California (USC) to pursue a degree in popular music performance, while Maldonado pursued a degree in musical theatre at the University of Oklahoma. While at USC, Scott Hoying joined group called SoCal VoCals. He found out about ''The Sing-Off'' from another member of the group, Ben Bram (also their arranger, producer, and sound engineer), and was encouraged to audition for the show. He persuaded Maldonado and Grassi to join him, but Bram suggested having a bass and beatboxer as well to support the group. Through a mutual friend, Hoying met Avi Kaplan, a highly recognized vocal bass in the a cappella community. Then, the trio found Kevin Olusola on YouTube through one of his videos which had gone viral. Olusola was shown simultaneously beatboxing and playing the cello. Olusola was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, and graduated pre-med from Yale University.

The group met the day before the auditions for the third season of ''The Sing-Off'' began. The group successfully auditioned for the show and eventually went on to win the title for 2011 (season three).

Pentatonix, as suggested by Scott Hoying, is named after the pentatonic scale, a musical scale or mode with five notes per octave, representing the five members of the group. They replaced the last letter with an "x" to make it more appealing. The quintet derives its influences from pop, dubstep, electro, reggae, hip hop, and classical music.

''The Sing-Off'' (2011)

Pentatonix performed the following songs on ''The Sing Off''. The group did not perform in Episode 1 or 3.

''PTX Vol. 1'' and ''PTXMas'' (2011–13)

Scott Hoying and Kirstie Maldonado dropped out of college in hopes of winning ''The Sing-Off'', while Mitch Grassi skipped his high school graduation to audition for the show. After they won, all of the members relocated to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career as recording artists. The main goal of the group was to become the first mainstream a cappella group in recent times.

In January 2012, having signed with Sony Pictures-owned label Madison Gate Records, the group began working on their first album with producer Ben Bram. During that six-month period of picking covers and writing originals, Pentatonix released covers of both popular and classic songs on YouTube. In interviews, the members mention that it was a way to stay relevant to their audience that enjoyed their work on "The Sing-Off", in addition to gaining new fans. Almost all of their covers, including "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra, "Gangnam Style" by PSY and "We Are Young" by Fun, went viral on YouTube.

Their first EP, '' PTX, Volume 1'', was released on June 26, 2012, charting at number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart and number 5 on the digital chart. It sold 20,000 copies in its first week of release. The group promoted the album through press appearances on ''Access Hollywood'', VH1 ''The Buzz'', Marie, and local television shows. Pentatonix were also featured on the Chinese version of ''The Sing-Off'' as guests where Kevin showcased his fluency in Mandarin. Pentatonix also embarked on their first national headlining tour in the fall of 2012. The tour was sold-out and spanned 30 cities.Pitilli, Lawrence

The group released their Christmas EP, '' PTXmas'', on November 19, 2012. The group released their video of an original arrangement of "Carol of the Bells" the following day. The group performed on "Coca-Cola Red Carpet LIVE! @ The 2012 American Music Awards" Pre-Show on November 18, the Hollywood Christmas Parade, and the "94.7 THE WAVE Christmas Concert Starring Dave Koz and Kenny Loggins" on December 16. The group was also featured guests on Katie Couric (ABC), ''Home and Family'' (Hallmark), ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', and Big D NYE. Ryan Seacrest's website named Pentatonix the 2012 "Featured Artist of the Year" for their expansive growth online in just one year. The Christmas album was re-released on November 19, 2013, as a deluxe edition containing two additional tracks. One of these, "Little Drummer Boy" charted in several ''Billboard'' categories including peaking at number two on the "Streaming Songs" chart and number one on the Holiday 100 chart, receiving a number of ''Billboard'' awards. ''PTXmas'' reappeared on the ''Billboard'' charts again in November 2014, placing No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 4 on the Holiday charts, giving Pentatonix three albums on the ''Billboard'' 200 at the same time. On ''Billboard''s 2014 Year-End charts, PTXmas was No. 8 on the ''Catalogue Albums'' chart and No. 119 on the Top ''Billboard 200'' Albums chart, with Pentatonix ranked as No. 46 on the Top ''Billboard 200'' Artists chart. As of December 24, 2014, PTXmas has sold 356,000 copies.

''PTX Vol. II'' (2013–14)

The band went on their second national headlining tour from January 24, 2013, to May 11, 2013, and simultaneously wrote additional original material for their second EP, '' PTX, Vol. II''. The group released the first single, a cover of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Can't Hold Us" on August 20, 2013. The group also promoted ''PTX, Vol. II'' on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' in November 2013, after the success of "The Evolution of Beyoncé" mashup on YouTube. That week, the band was featured on "Around the World with Diane Sawyer" and were named "Persons of the Week".

In March 2013, Pentatonix and violinist Lindsey Stirling released their cover of the Imagine Dragons song "Radioactive", and won for Response of the Year at the YouTube Music Awards. In July of the same year, along with American Idol contestant and fellow Arlington Texan Todrick Hall, they released "The Wizard of Ahhhs", which mashes up several songs to create one song. The music video follows the story of the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'' with the artists dressed as its numerous lead roles.

''PTX Vol. II'' was released on November 5, 2013, in conjunction with their second album single on YouTube: a medley of Daft Punk songs. The video went viral, garnering 100 million views in the first year. The medley was later nominated for and won Best Arrangement, Instrumental or a Cappella of the 57th Grammy Awards. ''PTX, Vol. II'' debuted at number ten on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number one on the Independent charts, selling 31,000 copies in the first week. Pentatonix subsequently re-released a deluxe version of PTXmas on November 18, 2013, with two new tracks, "Little Drummer Boy" and "Go Tell It On The Mountain". Their YouTube video of "Little Drummer Boy" peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 21, 2013.

In May 2014, Pentatonix signed with RCA Records, a "flagship" label of Sony Music Entertainment. On July 30, through the new label, the group released their first official album '' PTX, Vols. 1 & 2'' in Japan, containing all of the songs from their two namesake EPs and four additional tracks, previously released as singles.

''PTX Vol. III'' and ''That's Christmas to Me'' (2014)

On August 7, 2014, Pentatonix announced that their third EP '' PTX, Vol. III'' would be released on September 23, 2014. The EP went up for pre-order on iTunes on August 11, 2014, and included a download of two tracks from the EP, "Problem" and "La La Latch". ''PTX Vol. III'' debuted at number 5 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

The group also revealed on August a second full-length Christmas album, '' That's Christmas to Me'', titled after the title track of the album, an original song that was penned by Pentatonix themselves. The album was released on October 21, 2014 and peaked at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and number 4 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. A single from the album, the group's cover of " Mary, Did You Know?", both debuted and peaked on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number 26, at number 7 on ''Billboard''s Adult Contemporary chart, and at number 44 on the ''Billboard'' Canadian Hot 100 chart. Another single ''"That's Christmas To Me"'', the title track from the album, also peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart.

Pentatonix is also the first act to top both the Holiday Albums and Holiday Songs charts simultaneously since the Holiday 100 launched as a multi-metric tabulation in December 2011. The album is also the highest charting Holiday album by a group since 1962.

During the holiday season, 7 songs from ''That's Christmas to Me'' charted on ''Billboard''s Holiday Digital Songs chart. On December 10, 2014 ''That's Christmas to Me'' was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. On December 24, 2014, the album was certified Platinum. By year's end (December 31, 2014), ''Billboard'' reported the album had reached a total of 1.14 million copies sold—becoming the 4th best selling album of 2014 by any artist of any genre (being surpassed only by Taylor Swift's ''1989'', the ''Frozen Soundtrack'', and Sam Smith's ''In the Lonely Hour'') and was the Top Selling Holiday Album for 2014. On February 11, 2016, the album was certified Double Platinum.

Self-titled album, ''A Pentatonix Christmas'', and ''PTX, Vol. IV'' (2015–2017)

In late December, Scott Hoying stated that for 2015, "Pentatonix is transitioning towards original music." A release of a full-length album consisting of only original material was planned. Hoying also stated, "We're at the point in our careers now herewe must go to original music, and we want to go to original music; we have so much to say, and I think it's gonna be quite a journey."

On August 28, 2015, Pentatonix announced on social media that a self-titled album, the group's third full-length album and first album made of mostly original music, would be released on October 16, 2015.

On September 4, 2015, Pentatonix released " Can't Sleep Love" the first single from their upcoming album of original songs. On September 18, 2015, a second version featuring Tink was released online. On October 9, 2015, Pentatonix released their second single, a cover of Jack Ü and Justin Bieber's " Where Are Ü Now". The album ended up being released one day early as a surprise gift to their fans. On that same day, Pentatonix released their third single, "Sing". The album debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200. In the US, the album started with 98,000 units (88,000 in pure album sales). On February 8, 2016, the album was certified Gold.

On April 14, 2016, the music video was released for Pentatonix's cover with Jason Derulo of Shai's " If I Ever Fall In Love". In August 2016, the music video of Pentatonix's "Perfume Medley," a medley of songs by the Japanese girl group Perfume, was also released. The medley consisted of the songs " Spending All My Time", " Pick Me Up", " Chocolate Disco", and "Polyrhythm".

Their second full-length Christmas album, titled '' A Pentatonix Christmas'', was released on October 21, 2016. It features 11 songs, including the two originals "The Christmas Sing-Along" and "Good to Be Bad". It debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 at number three with 52,000 albums sold in its first week, and later peaked at number one. The album also debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Holiday Albums chart, their second number one on that chart after ''That's Christmas to Me''.

Their fifth EP, '' PTX, Vol. IV – Classics'', was released on April 7, 2017. It marked a departure from the group's typical sound, focusing on covers of standards of rock, blues, country, and older pop music.

New bass, ''Top Pop, Vol. I'', ''Christmas Is Here!'', and ''The Best of Pentatonix Christmas'' (2017–2019)

In May 2017, the band announced in a YouTube video that Avi Kaplan would leave the group following their upcoming tour. The split was amicable and centered on his inability to keep up with the touring demands of the group, and deal with the distance from his family.

On July 31, the group released the single " Dancing on My Own", a cover of the song by Robyn, their first release without Kaplan (although he was still a member at the time, as the tour was ongoing). Olusola performed cello on the song in lieu of a bass vocalist.

Kaplan performed his last concert with Pentatonix on September 3, 2017, in Essex Junction, Vermont. On October 13, Hoying introduced Matt Sallee as the group's new bass. The band's first official releases with Sallee were the songs from the deluxe edition of ''A Pentatonix Christmas'', which was released on November 27, 2017. Sallee is also featured on their cover of the Camila Cabello song "Havana

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