Pentatonix are a vocal group consisting of five artists redefining a cappella. Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Avi Kaplan formed the band in 2011 when the members decided to audition for season three of NBC's "The Sing-Off." On the show, they competed against other a cappella groups and eventually won, landing them a record deal with Sony that they were quickly dropped from. But being dropped from their label did not stop them from continuing to take over the world with their voices.
The group started uploading their music on YouTube, covering popular songs like "Moves Like Jagger" and "Starships." Since their first upload, they have gained over 1.4 billion video views and over 10 million subscribers. They became best-known for their Grammy award-winning "Daft Punk" medley, which nears 200 million views. They are also known for their double platinum Christmas album, "That's Christmas to Me," ranking number one on the holiday Billboard charts and featuring another Grammy award-winning song, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." Other albums they have released include "PTX, Volume 1," "PTX, Volume 2," "PTX, Volume 3," "PTXMas" and self-titled "Pentatonix." "Pentatonix" features the band's first single released for radio, "Can't Sleep Love," which debuted at number 11 on Billboard's Hot 100.
In recent months, the group has gained even more global recognition. In 2016 alone, they performed a "Star Wars" medley with a full symphony orchestra at the AMAs and sang alongside Stevie Wonder at the Grammys for their rendition of "That's the Way of the World." They also headlined Japan's POPSPRING music festival with other artists such as Carly Rae Jepsen and Redfoo. In late April, they released a music video for their cover of "If I Ever Fall in Love" with Jason Derulo.
Since their debut, the band has gone on several tours. Their first tour in 2012, consisting of 30 cities, was sold out. More tours took place in 2013 and 2014, and in 2015 they went on their own tour and became the opening act for Kelly Clarkson's Piece By Piece Tour. They announced their most recent tour on their Facebook page, for which concerts began in April 2016 with opening acts AJ and Us the Duo. The first leg of the 2016 Pentatonix World Tour includes 21 shows in the United States alone, but in late May concerts will begin to take place in various European countries such as the UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and France.
The loyal fanbase feels the same way, coming together to create the PTX World Tour Project, where they print out signs featuring lyrics to the Pentatonix song "New Year's Day." Fans then hold up the signs when the song is performed during each concert. The group is humbled by this gesture, even making band member Scott cry when he sees it.
The vocalists of Pentatonix have come so far since their formation, and with their incredible talent and devoted fans, there is no doubt the band's success will continue to grow.
