Pentatonix

Pentatonix Artistfacts

  • 2011-
    Scott HoyingBaritone vocals2011-
    Mitch GrassiCountertenor vocals2011-
    Kirstie MaldonadoSoprano vocals2011-
    Avi KaplanBass vocals, vocal percussion2011-
    Kevin OlusolaVocal percussion2011-
  • The a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, first garnered attention on the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off, where their talent for creating unique vocal arrangements of existing pop songs earned them the grand prize of $200,000 and a Sony recording contract.
  • They earned their first Grammy Award for "Daft Punk," a medley of electronic duo Daft Punk's songs, in the category Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella.
  • Maldonado, Hoying, and Grassi were high school friends who formed a vocal trio to compete in a radio competition for the chance to meet the cast of Glee. Their rendition of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" didn't take the top prize, but it did earn them a following on YouTube.
  • Hoying met Kaplan at the University of South Carolina and persuaded him to join the group to help meet the five-person minimum for The Sing-Off.
  • Olusola's future bandmates found him on YouTube, where he was famous for "celloboxing" - beatboxing and playing the cello simultaneously.
  • Their name is taken from the five-note Pentatonic scale, with an 'x' added for flare.
  • Asked by Artist Direct how the quintet care for their voices when out on the road and performing every night, Scott Olusola replied:

    "We aren't just singing or a little bit of time and then dancing or letting there being instrumental breaks and we sing for an hour and 30 minutes straight, so it's very very important to us.

    Number one, we drink tons of water. I drink excessively; more water than you would probably like to drink in a day. I drink a bottle maybe every hour, hour 15. That's how much water we drink every single day.

    I would say every band member sleeps 10 plus hours, honestly, because that's really what keeps your voice agile, so everyone kind of sleeps until the afternoon because we have to. If we don't our voices won't be in tip-top shape. And then we drink tea."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

Eric Clapton

Eric ClaptonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really write "Cocaine" while on cocaine? This question and more in the Clapton edition of Fact or Fiction.

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Gary Numan

Gary NumanSongwriter Interviews

An Electronic music pioneer with Asperger's Syndrome. This could be interesting.

Don Brewer of Grand Funk

Don Brewer of Grand FunkSongwriter Interviews

The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.