I love medleys so I definitely want to check both of those out. Thank you for suggesting them I really appreciate it! Thank you for your love and support. It really means a lot to me 🙂❤️
Thank you for reacting to this early Pentatonix video. Happy that you enjoyed it. Pentatonix has been a band for 12 years. There has only been one member change. Avi, the bass , left the band in 2017 for family and personal reasons. Matt has been their bass since October 2017. The members from left to right: Mitch (counter tenor), Scott (baritone), Kirstin (mezzo soprano/alto), Avi (bass), Kevin (beatboxer, tenor, cellist). Pentatonix got their start by competing on an all a cappella competition show in 2011 named "The Sing Off". They won Season 3 of the show. There are videos of all of their performances on TH-cam. Here is a link to the first performance: th-cam.com/video/9STdbGrfCLA/w-d-xo.html If you react to the performances, we will watch.
It seems only fair that you brought Pentatonix as the first acapella group to the channel. They're amazing and have been on the road for quite a while. I get always amazed by their performances. This one is hands down a favorite. Looking forward to Voiceplay and Home Free soon!
I LOVE acapella groups so much, so I knew I was going to bring Pentatonix and VoicePlay to the channel pretty early on. I'm definitely looking to bring Home Free (and probably Voctave too) as well, though I'm not exactly sure which of their songs to start with. Do you have any suggestions/recommendations? Thank you for all of your love and support. It really means so much to me 🙂❤️
Pentatonix They won The Sing Off in 2011. They made a guest starring appearance on America′s Got Talent as non−competitors a couple of years after that. The founding members are:- Scott Hoying (tall blond guy, natural baritone but has an impressive five−to−six octave range, can go all the way up to high tenor and down to bass, sings the bass lines when the usual bass singer takes the lead);
Kirstin "Kirstie" (Rhymes with "Thirsty") Maldonado (the only female member, natural mezzo soprano, but can go down to low alto and as high as upper soprano, also can sing in whistle notes that are off the scale); For a time in 2018 between the group’s tours, had the female lead on Broadway in the production of “Kinky Boots”. Mitch Grassi (a true contra−tenor, can hit high notes in his chest voice with ease and go WAY higher in his falsetto, also with ease); Avriel "Avi" Kaplan (dark beard and long hair), true basso profundo, trained as an opera singer, also can go up into the tenor range; and Kevin "KO" Olusola (beatboxer extraordinaire, also is a world−class cellist who plays cello on some of their songs, has a beautiful high tenor voice and gets occasional lead vocal solos as well, graduated pre−med from Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin Chinese). Kirstie, Scott & Mitch grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and began performing together as children in local youth musical theater. They ended up in high school together and performed in the choir. While there, they formed an a cappella group called The Trio which had several performance videos go viral on TH-cam, most notably a cover of Lady Gaga′s "Telephone". The three of them are best friends and consider themselves to be almost siblings. Scott & Kirstie (who were a class year ahead of Mitch) both graduated high school in 2010 and went their separate ways to different colleges, Scott at USC and Kirstie at Oklahoma. While at USC, Scott joined a USC−based a cappella group called the SoCal VoCals, where he met alumnus Ben Bram, who was now an arranger and vocal coach for the NBC TV show The Sing Off, an a cappella competition show. Ben convinced Scott to get The Trio to audition for the show. The three reunited (Mitch had to skip high school graduation ceremonies to go) in Los Angeles for the audition. They found out that the rules had changed, so they needed at least five members to audition. Ben put them together with Avi (a native of Visalia, California), who he knew from Avi′s performing days at Mount San Antonio College in California. They found Kevin (from Kentucky) through one of his TH-cam videos that had gone viral featuring him playing the cello and beatboxing at the same time, a talent that Kevin coined as "Cello−Boxing". Kevin arrived in Los Angeles literally the day before the audition! Scott came up with the name "Pentatonix" after the pentatonic scale. They performed a re−arrangement of "The Telephone" for the audition and passed, despite having been together as a five−piece group for less that 24 hours! They won The Sing Off that season (all of the performances are available on TH-cam), in which they received a substantial cash prize AND a record contract with Epic Records. They pooled their prize winnings together and all moved to Los Angeles, and all got apartments right next door to each other in the same building. But just a week later, Epic dropped them because the marketing people didn′t think an a cappella group could sell records. Instead of giving up, they were determined and began recording their own songs on TH-cam, hiring Ben Bram as their producer and arranger. These usually consisted of the five of them sitting on a couch and performing cover songs live. Several of the videos went viral, and Sony (the parent company of Epic) decided to give them another chance by placing them on one of their smaller labels, Madison Gate. They released two secular EPs and one Christmas EP on Madison Gate, all of which were strong sellers. But when their cove r of a medley of songs by Daft Punk not only went super−viral, but also won them their first Grammy, they were promoted all the way up to RCA Records, Sony′s top label. They began writing and producing their own songs in addition to their covers, began putting out a Christmas album just about annually (which has become their best−selling genre), and have had multi−platinum album sales, sold−out world tours, and have won two additional Grammys. Avi began getting burned out with all of the touring and heavy recording schedule, was suffering from anxiety and personal problems, and learned that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017. He announced he was departing from the group and taking some time away from the music industry. Matt Sallee (from Baltimore) joined them in September 2017. He did only become official when they renewed their RCA contract in February 2018, but he recorded with them in September as a featured artist and went on their Christmas tour as a featured artist, as well. When he attended the audition for the group, he had already mastered the Bass part for most if not all their past catalogue. He was successful and has proved that he fits in well with the group. If you think there have been other changes to the line up - look again. This is the ONLY change. Kirstie and Mitch are like chameleons and change looks frequently. After a year away from music, Avi has now returned as a phenomenal solo artist in the Folk/Americana/Roots genre. Ben Bram has been in charge of their production, including arranging and directing from the beginning. He is often referred to as the sixth member. Scott and Kevin are major players in the arrangements, but every member contributes. A good watch is "The Recording of Evergreen" where a camera was invited into the studio for the second week of recording/ Also, all members are songwriters for both Pentatonix and their own solo work. Ed Boyer who mixes everything of theirs (even the HWB Livestream) is the one who pulled Ben Bram into the sing off in the first place. They have Grammy wins for Daft Punk Medley, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jolene featuring Dolly Parton. They were nominated for a 4th Grammy for their album Evergreen, but didn't win. Kirstie became a new mum which caused a pause in touring after their Evergreen Christmas tour 2021. Mid March 2023 Kirstie has announced that she is engaged to Ben Hausdorff, their videographer. No dates YET! They have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame installed in February 2023. They are the only a capella group with a star! They came 3rd in the 2023 Masked Singer performing as "California Rolls" being unmasked in May 23. Things you need to know because if you get these wrong Pentaholics will come after you with pitch forks and torches! Ha Ha!! 1- There is NO Auto-Tune; what you hear is actually what they sing. They really are that good. One exception is the 90's Dance Medley where Cher used autotune as an effect - so they had to. 2- What produces everything that you hear in the video, you see in the official video. If there is an instrument used in the music, you see it on screen. In the 2022 Christmas album, there are some instruments not featured throughout the album. 3- They never release something on video they can’t reproduce with the exact same quality live on-stage.
They are the best at what they do! They can sing any genre - go down the rabbit hole and you will love it. They have done a number of "Evolution of" videos that are outstanding. The original bass singer, Avi, left and was replaced by Matt Sallee who is outstanding. Bohemian Rhapsody, Daft Punk, and Sound of Silence will blow you away.
They formed Pentatonix in 2011 in order to compete on the third season of the Sing Off. So they did their first 12 public performances during the competition. They won. Recommend their cover of The Prayer.
Great reaction! I love it when newbies find Pentatonix for the first time. If you do interesting Pentatonix reactions, the Pentaholics will come, I assure you! We are a loyal lot. Definitely watch their full version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Brian May loves their version and put it on his socials promoting it to Queen fans with one word 'enjoy'. Quite an accolade. They waited six years to do it because they wanted to do it justice. I have been a fan since Pentatonix first formed in 2011 when they won the third season of the Sing Off. I only got to see them live for the first time though this year in London in May. I'm 54 and I sing in several choirs and do some solo stuff. I've been going to see live music for nearly 40 years and their concert was easily the best I've ever been too. They were phenomenal! I loved that there were people of all ages there from small children to people in their 80s. They are so good and they cover such a wide range of different music styles that there really is something for everyone. A bit (!) of background. Kirstin (Kirstie - rhymes with thirsty!), Mitch (dark haired counter tenor) and Scott (tall, blonde baritone) have known each other since they were children - Kirstie and Mitch and Mitch and Scott since they were 8 and 10 respectively performing in community theatre together and Kirstie and Scott since high school. They sang in high school as a trio together where they grew up in Arlington Texas and have been best friends ever since. They are incredibly close which personally I think is a major ingredient of the Pentatonix magic! They needed at least five members to enter the Sing-off competition in 2011. They found Avi, their bass singer through a friend of a friend and Kevin, their beatboxer (who also plays cello and sings - he is a tenor) on TH-cam where a video of him 'cello-boxing' - i.e. playing the cello and beatboxing had gone viral. Scott, Mitch and Kirstie were all 19 at the time, Kevin and Avi were 23. They won the competition and the prize was a Sony record contract, however Sony dropped them after two weeks because they didn't think a cappella music would be marketable! PTX decided to go it alone. They started a TH-cam channel and began to make their own music. Everything on their channel was hugely successful and they quickly won their first Grammy for their Daft Punk medley. Sony soon realised their error and signed them to their prestigious RCA label. 12 years and many best selling albums, two more Grammy's, 3 billion TH-cam subscribers and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame later and they have never looked back. They are best known for their covers (the video for their cover of Hallelujah has over 700 million TH-cam views and counting!) and Christmas music but their original music is incredible and criminally under-rated! Their music influences span many different genres including: pop, rock, EDM, hip hop, rap, dance, world music, musical theatre and even a bit of country (they won their third Grammy for a collab with Dolly Parton on a cover of Jolene). Their catalogue is huge! They have only had one member change, their bass, Avi Kaplan left amicably in 2017 for personal reasons (his mum was unwell and he couldn't keep up with their hectic schedule). He has an incredible solo career now so it isn't a loss! He was replaced by Matt Sallee, who is now the youngest in the group at 29 (Kirstie and Mitch are 31, Scott is 32, Kevin is 34). Matt is different to Avi but just as good. He's now been in the group for as long as Avi was. They don't have a lead singer as such as they alternate the lead according to who is most appropriate for each song. Scott probably has more leads than the others though, closely followed by Mitch, Kirstie, Matt and Kevin in that order. Kevin gets to sing solo bits less frequently (about 10% of the time) as he is needed for the beatboxing! They are all multi-talented (Kevin most of all as he beatboxes, sings, plays the cello, saxaphone and piano, was pre-med at Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin!). They can all rap, especially Mitch and Scott and they have all been involved in writing some of their original songs. They are mostly a cappella except when Kevin plays the cello, or when they collab with the violinist Lindsey Stirling. They NEVER do anything in the studio that they can't replicate live so, for example, Mitch does the guitar solo from Bohemian Rhapsody with his mouth on stage. They all have five to six-octave ranges and Scott takes over the bass line when Avi, and now Matt, have solos, but can also sing really high. As a counter tenor, Mitch, and actually Kevin too, can sing as high, or sometimes even higher than Kirstie, who is a Mezzo soprano. Even Matt can sing very high. I love them all for different reasons but Mitch is my favourite. His voice is once in a generation and it moves me so much. Lots of people say Dimash is the best singer in the world and technically he is phenomenal but his voice doesn't move me like Mitch's does. With PTX, I always recommend Hallelujah, Daft Punk and Bohemian Rhapsody! After that, it's really a matter of what your particular musical interests are. I've yet to hear any of their songs that I don't like. We say they don't do covers, they do 'upgrades'. My favourites of their originals are Love again, Sing, Run to you, Can't sleep love, their new one I Rise, Cracked and Water. For Kirstie leads - Say something, Rather be, Water (original), 'Be my eyes' (original) and 'Shallow' are the ones that come to mind. I've subscribed for more PTX reactions. Enjoy the rabbit hole!
Ger ready for the Pentaholics... It took me 4 days to catch this. A journey well worth exploring. I'm giving it as shot you might see this (4 days later 😉)... but hat to mention the do a few "Evolution" songs, Michael Jackson is my favorite. They have also done Bohemian Rhapsody. 2 other Classics I ❤ John Lennons Imagine And Simon and Garfunkels Sound of Silence. If you think Kevin the Beatboxer is amazing... On their 2022 Christmas Tour, Scott (tall blonde) tells us how they searched for a Beatboxer, and how they found Kevin. They wanted to try out for the show 'The Sing-Off'. There's a TH-cam video called "Kevin's 5th". PLEASE look for the 17+ minute video... it will blow your mind. To say the man's talented... understatement of the century. I'm looking forward to taking this journey with you!
They've won Grammys for 3 of their songs. Their "Evergreen" album was nominated for a 4th. Those would all be good choices to react to. The 3 songs they won Grammys for are "Daft Punk", "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy", and "Jolene" (With Dolly Parton). But really, they don't have any bad songs to react to.
If you really want to see the beginnings - they were in the 2011 Sing Off and won - there are videos of all of their appearances that are really interesting - just search Pentatonix Song Off. The literally formed as a group a couple of days before performing in the Sing Off and it was obvious to everyone that they were something special.
Thank you so much I really appreciate that! 🙂❤️ That really means a lot. Avi caught me completely off-guard hitting those low notes like that 😂 Yeah they are all amazing! I'm already looking forward to diving down the Pentatonix rabbit hole for sure! Thank you for all of your love and support. It really means a lot to me 🙂❤️
Great reaction! You should check out Avi Kaplan's solo stuff so good. Would recommend Change on the rise or I'm only getting started. Avi has a wide range in his voice and its all beautiful. Please consider.
Please react to Pentatonix "Sound Of Silence", "Daft Punk", "When The Party's Over", "Sing", "Hallelujah", "Gold", "Evolution Of Rihanna", "The Prayer" and "Mad World" when you get the chance.
If you want to see their beginning, all of their performances on _"The Sing-Off"_ are available on TH-cam. Be sure to watch the ones that include the intro, the judges' comments, and anything Pentatonix had to say backstage afterward. Preferably, watch them in order, so you can see how they grew. They won season three. For reference, Home Free also got their start on _"The Sing-Off,"_ winning the fourth (final) season. Beyond that, you can't go wrong listening to anything Pentatonix has released; it's all gorgeous. But all pentaholics have our own personal favorites that we like to recommend. These are some of my favorites: • "Hallelujah" (the official video, with Avi) • "Hallelujah" ( a recent live performance, with Matt: th-cam.com/video/FqphhPapkoc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tC6Ew07JGeQKQvDL ) • "Imagine" (the official video) • "Sound of Silence" • "Run To You" (an original, written by Avi and Kevin) • "Happy Now" (another original) • "Daft Punk Medley" (their first Grammy winner) • "O Come All Ye Faithful" • "The Prayer" • "Bohemian Rhapsody" • "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" • "The Lucky Ones" (an original, written by Scott) • "Thank You" (an original, written by Scott and his then fiancé, now husband, Mark Manio Hoying, shortly after the end of COVID lockdown, about how much easier it was to get through that time because they were together) • "The Kevin Show/Kevin's Fifth." This is a live feed from a concert they gave in Owensboro, Kentucky, Kevin's home town: th-cam.com/video/DbCasvcNx78/w-d-xo.html Additionally, IF you're familiar with _"The Wizard Of Oz"_ (the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland), I recommend "Todrick Hall - The Wizard of Ahhhs (ft. Pentatonix)": th-cam.com/video/QkVeKb2igrg/w-d-xo.html If you've never seen the movie it won't make sense, so take care of that first.
There most certainly IS music; they're singing, and that's called "music." Pentatonix is the main reason a cappella is so popular today. They're the only a cappella band to have ever won a Grammy, except they've actually won three Grammys. They're also the only a cappella band to have a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. The members of Pentatonix: In the back row, on our left we have Mitch Grassi (pronounced Grah'-see, emphasis on the first syllable) natural contratenor. Mitch is known for his ethereally beautiful (some say "angelic") high vocals. Shawn Stockman, of Boyz II Men, has said Mitch has "one of the prettiest voices I have ever heard in my life." Mitch switches seamlessly from chest voice to mixed voice to head voice. He has a range of just over six octaves, and all the other members of Pentatonix say he has the best voice in the band. The tall blond to the right of Mitch (our right, Mitch's left) is Scott Hoying, lyric baritone. In describing a man's vocal range, "lyric" means that the actual range exceeds the nominal range. In Scott's case, he sings everywhere from about the middle of a normal bass range through most of a normal tenor range. Probably five or six octaves. Scott typically takes over the bass harmony line when their bass has a solo. And on the right in the back row is the only woman in Pentatonix, Kirstin (also called Kirstie, which rhymes with thirsty) Maldonado. Kirstie sings everywhere from a low alto through coloratura soprano, the highest female range. And she has fantastic whistle notes on top of that. Lately Pentatonix has begun referring to her as an alto soprano. These three grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and in high school they had a trio which they named "The Trio." (I know. They've gotten somewhat better with names since.) For this reason pentaholics still refer to them as "the trio," and the trio is the heart of Pentatonix. In 2011, after all three of them had graduated from high school, they wanted to compete on _"The Sing-Off,"_ an a cappella competition show that ran on NBC from 2009 through 2012. But the show required groups to have at least five members, so they added the two people in the front row. On our left in the front we have Avi (pronounced Ah'-vee, emphasis on the first syllable) Kaplan, lyric bass. Avi is an operatically trained basso profundo - his lowest notes have blown out speakers in live performances - but his range extends to somewhere in the middle of a normal tenor range. And on the right we see Kevin Olusola (pronounced Oh-loosh"-oh-luh', primary emphasis on the second syllable, secondary emphasis on the fourth) beatboxer extraordinaire. There may be a better beatboxer than Kevin, but if so I've never encountered him or her. We don't get to hear Kevin sing as often as we'd like because he's generally too busy being the entire percussion section, but when he does sing he has a lovely tenor voice that occasionally descends to the uppermost reaches of a baritone range. He's also known for the beauty of his falsetto, which I believe goes higher than Mitch can. Kevin has perfect pitch. He began piano lessons at age 4, cello at age 6, and alto saxophone at age 10. When he was a teenager he performed at Carnegie Hall twice, once on the saxophone and once on the cello. He beatboxes while playing the cello, which he refers to as "celloboxing." He graduated from Yale in 2011 with a pre-med major and had already been accepted to Yale Medical School when he gave up his dream of becoming a surgeon to pursue his dream of becoming a professional beatboxer instead. He speaks five languages fluently: English, French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. He's one of the kindest people in the world, and when he laughs the whole planet seems like a brighter place. In 2017 Avi found it necesssary to leave Pentatonix, for a variety of personal reasons. He has since gone on to have a very successful solo career, and I strongly recommend subscribing to his TH-cam channel, which you can find here: youtube.com/@AviKaplanMusic Avi's replacement joined in either late 2017 or early 2018 (depending on how you figure it); you'll see him in a lot of their videos: The second black member of Pentatonix is Matt Sallee (pronounced Suh-lee', emphasis on the second syllable), lyric bass. In addition to being the newest member of Pentatonix Matt is also the youngest member, and I'm told that bass voices improve with age. Matt's range seems to be growing on a daily basis right now. He isn't QUITE down to basso profundo yet, though I expect him to reach it within a year or two. But on his high end Matt reaches nearly the top of a normal tenor range. To find his current range I recommend listening to a recent live stream of "Hallelujah." You can find one here: th-cam.com/video/FqphhPapkoc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tC6Ew07JGeQKQvDL Matt's arrangement of the second verse seems to be designed to show off his full range, and it will blow you away.
Thank you so much I really appreciate it! 🙂❤️ I'm so glad you enjoyed my reaction 🙂 I actually have not seen their cover of Bohemian Rhapsody yet, and that's probably what I'll plan to react to next. Thank you for the suggestion I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for all of your love and support. It really means so much to me 🙂❤️
They are a fantastic group, pretty much any song you pick from their catalog is amazing. Word of warning, their record label/distributor SME (Sony) is notoriously aggressive and difficult when it comes to blocking for Fair Use / copyright with the TH-cam algorithm. Many reactors use filters, text overlay, dropping the opacity etc to help get past those blocks as often its the video getting triggered (but it doesn't seem to be consistent so, best of luck!)
great reactions! i am having a sonic night! love it ! cant believe you love all the songs i do! so much fun! if u like this - u will absolutely love this! u will know every song! and thx for the great daft punk reaction too! i will just send u the name because sometimes if i put the link - it gets erased - it is 'pentatonix - 90's dance medley (official video) and if it gets crossed out i will find some way to tell you! keep on enjoying great music- makes our world go round- appreciate you
Thank you so much! 🙂❤️ I'm so happy to hear you're enjoying my reactions so much You have NO idea just how much that means to me 🙂🫂❤️ I'm glad to hear we enjoy the same songs too 🙂 You're very welcome! I really enjoyed reacting to that video. That's easily one of my favorites by PTX. Definitely feel free to send any recommendations/suggestions my way. I appreciate every single one of them. I'm loving all of the music and videos I've reacted to so far, and I don't plan to stop any time soon. Thank you so much! I appreciate you as well 🙂🫂❤️ Thank you so much for all of your love and support. It really means so much to me 🙂❤️
Avi Kaplan, the low bass, is the only change in personnel. He left them about four years ago do do his own thing and Matt Sallee came in to fill the slot. Everyone else has stayed the same. Sometimes you'll think it's someone new with Mitch, but that's because he's a chameleon. He loves avaunt guard fashion and can look different every time you see him.
@@Blue-rl5dp I know the feeling. The other day I made a comment about Kevin in which I said that he graduated with a pre-med major from Yale in 2021 😳. Oops! There's nothing like being a whole decade off.
Another acapella group, that have been around long before Pentatonix etal for you to check out Straight No Chaser. 10 guys, that met in college years ago, almost all of them are still together with a couple changes I think. They do mostly live shows that are not always the best audio. Some official music videos that are really great. Their version of "Creep" official music video is my highest recommended song by them to new listeners to start with. Please check it out. In other songs they do some funny stuff, and oh so talented!!!!
If you like medleys, their 90s dance medley is really good, and their Daft Punk medley actually won a Grammy. Both are worth reacting to.
I love medleys so I definitely want to check both of those out. Thank you for suggesting them I really appreciate it! Thank you for your love and support. It really means a lot to me 🙂❤️
Thank you for reacting to this early Pentatonix video. Happy that you enjoyed it. Pentatonix has been a band for 12 years. There has only been one member change. Avi, the bass , left the band in 2017 for family and personal reasons. Matt has been their bass since October 2017. The members from left to right: Mitch (counter tenor), Scott (baritone), Kirstin (mezzo soprano/alto), Avi (bass), Kevin (beatboxer, tenor, cellist). Pentatonix got their start by competing on an all a cappella competition show in 2011 named "The Sing Off". They won Season 3 of the show. There are videos of all of their performances on TH-cam. Here is a link to the first performance: th-cam.com/video/9STdbGrfCLA/w-d-xo.html If you react to the performances, we will watch.
It seems only fair that you brought Pentatonix as the first acapella group to the channel. They're amazing and have been on the road for quite a while. I get always amazed by their performances. This one is hands down a favorite. Looking forward to Voiceplay and Home Free soon!
I LOVE acapella groups so much, so I knew I was going to bring Pentatonix and VoicePlay to the channel pretty early on. I'm definitely looking to bring Home Free (and probably Voctave too) as well, though I'm not exactly sure which of their songs to start with. Do you have any suggestions/recommendations? Thank you for all of your love and support. It really means so much to me 🙂❤️
They did a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody, check it out.
Pentatonix
They won The Sing Off in 2011. They made a guest starring appearance on America′s Got Talent as non−competitors a couple of years after that.
The founding members are:-
Scott Hoying (tall blond guy, natural baritone but has an impressive five−to−six octave range, can go all the way up to high tenor and down to bass, sings the bass lines when the usual bass singer takes the lead);
Kirstin "Kirstie" (Rhymes with "Thirsty") Maldonado (the only female member, natural mezzo soprano, but can go down to low alto and as high as upper soprano, also can sing in whistle notes that are off the scale); For a time in 2018 between the group’s tours, had the female lead on Broadway in the production of “Kinky Boots”.
Mitch Grassi (a true contra−tenor, can hit high notes in his chest voice with ease and go WAY higher in his falsetto, also with ease);
Avriel "Avi" Kaplan (dark beard and long hair), true basso profundo, trained as an opera singer, also can go up into the tenor range; and
Kevin "KO" Olusola (beatboxer extraordinaire, also is a world−class cellist who plays cello on some of their songs, has a beautiful high tenor voice and gets occasional lead vocal solos as well, graduated pre−med from Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin Chinese).
Kirstie, Scott & Mitch grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and began performing together as children in local youth musical theater. They ended up in high school together and performed in the choir. While there, they formed an a cappella group called The Trio which had several performance videos go viral on TH-cam, most notably a cover of Lady Gaga′s "Telephone". The three of them are best friends and consider themselves to be almost siblings.
Scott & Kirstie (who were a class year ahead of Mitch) both graduated high school in 2010 and went their separate ways to different colleges, Scott at USC and Kirstie at Oklahoma.
While at USC, Scott joined a USC−based a cappella group called the SoCal VoCals, where he met alumnus Ben Bram, who was now an arranger and vocal coach for the NBC TV show The Sing Off, an a cappella competition show. Ben convinced Scott to get The Trio to audition for the show. The three reunited (Mitch had to skip high school graduation ceremonies to go) in Los Angeles for the audition.
They found out that the rules had changed, so they needed at least five members to audition. Ben put them together with Avi (a native of Visalia, California), who he knew from Avi′s performing days at Mount San Antonio College in California. They found Kevin (from Kentucky) through one of his TH-cam videos that had gone viral featuring him playing the cello and beatboxing at the same time, a talent that Kevin coined as "Cello−Boxing".
Kevin arrived in Los Angeles literally the day before the audition! Scott came up with the name "Pentatonix" after the pentatonic scale. They performed a re−arrangement of "The Telephone" for the audition and passed, despite having been together as a five−piece group for less that 24 hours!
They won The Sing Off that season (all of the performances are available on TH-cam), in which they received a substantial cash prize AND a record contract with Epic Records. They pooled their prize winnings together and all moved to Los Angeles, and all got apartments right next door to each other in the same building.
But just a week later, Epic dropped them because the marketing people didn′t think an a cappella group could sell records.
Instead of giving up, they were determined and began recording their own songs on TH-cam, hiring Ben Bram as their producer and arranger. These usually consisted of the five of them sitting on a couch and performing cover songs live.
Several of the videos went viral, and Sony (the parent company of Epic) decided to give them another chance by placing them on one of their smaller labels, Madison Gate. They released two secular EPs and one Christmas EP on Madison Gate, all of which were strong sellers.
But when their cove r of a medley of songs by Daft Punk not only went super−viral, but also won them their first Grammy, they were promoted all the way up to RCA Records, Sony′s top label.
They began writing and producing their own songs in addition to their covers, began putting out a Christmas album just about annually (which has become their best−selling genre), and have had multi−platinum album sales, sold−out world tours, and have won two additional Grammys.
Avi began getting burned out with all of the touring and heavy recording schedule, was suffering from anxiety and personal problems, and learned that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017. He announced he was departing from the group and taking some time away from the music industry.
Matt Sallee (from Baltimore) joined them in September 2017. He did only become official when they renewed their RCA contract in February 2018, but he recorded with them in September as a featured artist and went on their Christmas tour as a featured artist, as well. When he attended the audition for the group, he had already mastered the Bass part for most if not all their past catalogue. He was successful and has proved that he fits in well with the group.
If you think there have been other changes to the line up - look again. This is the ONLY change. Kirstie and Mitch are like chameleons and change looks frequently.
After a year away from music, Avi has now returned as a phenomenal solo artist in the Folk/Americana/Roots genre.
Ben Bram has been in charge of their production, including arranging and directing from the beginning. He is often referred to as the sixth member. Scott and Kevin are major players in the arrangements, but every member contributes. A good watch is "The Recording of Evergreen" where a camera was invited into the studio for the second week of recording/
Also, all members are songwriters for both Pentatonix and their own solo work.
Ed Boyer who mixes everything of theirs (even the HWB Livestream) is the one who pulled Ben Bram into the sing off in the first place.
They have Grammy wins for Daft Punk Medley, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jolene featuring Dolly Parton. They were nominated for a 4th Grammy for their album Evergreen, but didn't win.
Kirstie became a new mum which caused a pause in touring after their Evergreen Christmas tour 2021. Mid March 2023 Kirstie has announced that she is engaged to Ben Hausdorff, their videographer. No dates YET!
They have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame installed in February 2023. They are the only a capella group with a star!
They came 3rd in the 2023 Masked Singer performing as "California Rolls" being unmasked in May 23.
Things you need to know because if you get these wrong Pentaholics will come after you with pitch forks and torches! Ha Ha!!
1- There is NO Auto-Tune; what you hear is actually what they sing. They really are that good. One exception is the 90's Dance Medley where Cher used autotune as an effect - so they had to.
2- What produces everything that you hear in the video, you see in the official video. If there is an instrument used in the music, you see it on screen. In the 2022 Christmas album, there are some instruments not featured throughout the album.
3- They never release something on video they can’t reproduce with the exact same quality live on-stage.
They are the best at what they do! They can sing any genre - go down the rabbit hole and you will love it. They have done a number of "Evolution of" videos that are outstanding. The original bass singer, Avi, left and was replaced by Matt Sallee who is outstanding. Bohemian Rhapsody, Daft Punk, and Sound of Silence will blow you away.
They formed Pentatonix in 2011 in order to compete on the third season of the Sing Off. So they did their first 12 public performances during the competition. They won. Recommend their cover of The Prayer.
Great reaction! I love it when newbies find Pentatonix for the first time. If you do interesting Pentatonix reactions, the Pentaholics will come, I assure you! We are a loyal lot. Definitely watch their full version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Brian May loves their version and put it on his socials promoting it to Queen fans with one word 'enjoy'. Quite an accolade. They waited six years to do it because they wanted to do it justice.
I have been a fan since Pentatonix first formed in 2011 when they won the third season of the Sing Off. I only got to see them live for the first time though this year in London in May. I'm 54 and I sing in several choirs and do some solo stuff. I've been going to see live music for nearly 40 years and their concert was easily the best I've ever been too. They were phenomenal! I loved that there were people of all ages there from small children to people in their 80s. They are so good and they cover such a wide range of different music styles that there really is something for everyone.
A bit (!) of background. Kirstin (Kirstie - rhymes with thirsty!), Mitch (dark haired counter tenor) and Scott (tall, blonde baritone) have known each other since they were children - Kirstie and Mitch and Mitch and Scott since they were 8 and 10 respectively performing in community theatre together and Kirstie and Scott since high school. They sang in high school as a trio together where they grew up in Arlington Texas and have been best friends ever since. They are incredibly close which personally I think is a major ingredient of the Pentatonix magic!
They needed at least five members to enter the Sing-off competition in 2011. They found Avi, their bass singer through a friend of a friend and Kevin, their beatboxer (who also plays cello and sings - he is a tenor) on TH-cam where a video of him 'cello-boxing' - i.e. playing the cello and beatboxing had gone viral. Scott, Mitch and Kirstie were all 19 at the time, Kevin and Avi were 23.
They won the competition and the prize was a Sony record contract, however Sony dropped them after two weeks because they didn't think a cappella music would be marketable! PTX decided to go it alone. They started a TH-cam channel and began to make their own music.
Everything on their channel was hugely successful and they quickly won their first Grammy for their Daft Punk medley. Sony soon realised their error and signed them to their prestigious RCA label. 12 years and many best selling albums, two more Grammy's, 3 billion TH-cam subscribers and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame later and they have never looked back.
They are best known for their covers (the video for their cover of Hallelujah has over 700 million TH-cam views and counting!) and Christmas music but their original music is incredible and criminally under-rated! Their music influences span many different genres including: pop, rock, EDM, hip hop, rap, dance, world music, musical theatre and even a bit of country (they won their third Grammy for a collab with Dolly Parton on a cover of Jolene). Their catalogue is huge!
They have only had one member change, their bass, Avi Kaplan left amicably in 2017 for personal reasons (his mum was unwell and he couldn't keep up with their hectic schedule). He has an incredible solo career now so it isn't a loss! He was replaced by Matt Sallee, who is now the youngest in the group at 29 (Kirstie and Mitch are 31, Scott is 32, Kevin is 34). Matt is different to Avi but just as good. He's now been in the group for as long as Avi was.
They don't have a lead singer as such as they alternate the lead according to who is most appropriate for each song. Scott probably has more leads than the others though, closely followed by Mitch, Kirstie, Matt and Kevin in that order. Kevin gets to sing solo bits less frequently (about 10% of the time) as he is needed for the beatboxing!
They are all multi-talented (Kevin most of all as he beatboxes, sings, plays the cello, saxaphone and piano, was pre-med at Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin!). They can all rap, especially Mitch and Scott and they have all been involved in writing some of their original songs. They are mostly a cappella except when Kevin plays the cello, or when they collab with the violinist Lindsey Stirling. They NEVER do anything in the studio that they can't replicate live so, for example, Mitch does the guitar solo from Bohemian Rhapsody with his mouth on stage.
They all have five to six-octave ranges and Scott takes over the bass line when Avi, and now Matt, have solos, but can also sing really high. As a counter tenor, Mitch, and actually Kevin too, can sing as high, or sometimes even higher than Kirstie, who is a Mezzo soprano. Even Matt can sing very high. I love them all for different reasons but Mitch is my favourite. His voice is once in a generation and it moves me so much. Lots of people say Dimash is the best singer in the world and technically he is phenomenal but his voice doesn't move me like Mitch's does.
With PTX, I always recommend Hallelujah, Daft Punk and Bohemian Rhapsody! After that, it's really a matter of what your particular musical interests are. I've yet to hear any of their songs that I don't like. We say they don't do covers, they do 'upgrades'. My favourites of their originals are Love again, Sing, Run to you, Can't sleep love, their new one I Rise, Cracked and Water. For Kirstie leads - Say something, Rather be, Water (original), 'Be my eyes' (original) and 'Shallow' are the ones that come to mind.
I've subscribed for more PTX reactions. Enjoy the rabbit hole!
Ger ready for the Pentaholics... It took me 4 days to catch this.
A journey well worth exploring.
I'm giving it as shot you might see this (4 days later 😉)... but hat to mention the do a few "Evolution" songs, Michael Jackson is my favorite. They have also done Bohemian Rhapsody.
2 other Classics I ❤
John Lennons Imagine
And
Simon and Garfunkels
Sound of Silence.
If you think Kevin the Beatboxer is amazing...
On their 2022 Christmas Tour, Scott (tall blonde) tells us how they searched for a Beatboxer, and how they found Kevin. They wanted to try out for the show 'The Sing-Off'.
There's a TH-cam video called "Kevin's 5th".
PLEASE look for the 17+ minute video... it will blow your mind.
To say the man's talented... understatement of the century.
I'm looking forward to taking this journey with you!
They've won Grammys for 3 of their songs. Their "Evergreen" album was nominated for a 4th. Those would all be good choices to react to. The 3 songs they won Grammys for are "Daft Punk", "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy", and "Jolene" (With Dolly Parton). But really, they don't have any bad songs to react to.
If you really want to see the beginnings - they were in the 2011 Sing Off and won - there are videos of all of their appearances that are really interesting - just search Pentatonix Song Off. The literally formed as a group a couple of days before performing in the Sing Off and it was obvious to everyone that they were something special.
Avi left in 2017 and Matt took the bass. That’s the only change. Scott is the blonde, Kirstie is the female and Kevin is the beat boxer.
I loved your reaction! Have subscribed for more!
You're my new favorite person....dude the bass! Avi is crazy good. No shade to the others becuz they are all amazing!
Thank you so much I really appreciate that! 🙂❤️ That really means a lot. Avi caught me completely off-guard hitting those low notes like that 😂 Yeah they are all amazing! I'm already looking forward to diving down the Pentatonix rabbit hole for sure! Thank you for all of your love and support. It really means a lot to me 🙂❤️
@@SonicReactsOfficial You need to check out Avi's solo music. Change on the Rise is where most start.
Great reaction! You should check out Avi Kaplan's solo stuff so good. Would recommend Change on the rise or I'm only getting started. Avi has a wide range in his voice and its all beautiful. Please consider.
Please react to Pentatonix "Sound Of Silence", "Daft Punk", "When The Party's Over", "Sing", "Hallelujah", "Gold", "Evolution Of Rihanna", "The Prayer" and "Mad World" when you get the chance.
If you want to see their beginning, all of their performances on _"The Sing-Off"_ are available on TH-cam. Be sure to watch the ones that include the intro, the judges' comments, and anything Pentatonix had to say backstage afterward. Preferably, watch them in order, so you can see how they grew. They won season three. For reference, Home Free also got their start on _"The Sing-Off,"_ winning the fourth (final) season.
Beyond that, you can't go wrong listening to anything Pentatonix has released; it's all gorgeous. But all pentaholics have our own personal favorites that we like to recommend. These are some of my favorites:
• "Hallelujah" (the official video, with Avi)
• "Hallelujah" ( a recent live performance, with Matt: th-cam.com/video/FqphhPapkoc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tC6Ew07JGeQKQvDL )
• "Imagine" (the official video)
• "Sound of Silence"
• "Run To You" (an original, written by Avi and Kevin)
• "Happy Now" (another original)
• "Daft Punk Medley" (their first Grammy winner)
• "O Come All Ye Faithful"
• "The Prayer"
• "Bohemian Rhapsody"
• "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
• "The Lucky Ones" (an original, written by Scott)
• "Thank You" (an original, written by Scott and his then fiancé, now husband, Mark Manio Hoying, shortly after the end of COVID lockdown, about how much easier it was to get through that time because they were together)
• "The Kevin Show/Kevin's Fifth." This is a live feed from a concert they gave in Owensboro, Kentucky, Kevin's home town: th-cam.com/video/DbCasvcNx78/w-d-xo.html
Additionally, IF you're familiar with _"The Wizard Of Oz"_ (the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland), I recommend "Todrick Hall - The Wizard of Ahhhs (ft. Pentatonix)": th-cam.com/video/QkVeKb2igrg/w-d-xo.html
If you've never seen the movie it won't make sense, so take care of that first.
PTX 🔥🤘
There most certainly IS music; they're singing, and that's called "music."
Pentatonix is the main reason a cappella is so popular today. They're the only a cappella band to have ever won a Grammy, except they've actually won three Grammys. They're also the only a cappella band to have a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
The members of Pentatonix:
In the back row, on our left we have Mitch Grassi (pronounced Grah'-see, emphasis on the first syllable) natural contratenor. Mitch is known for his ethereally beautiful (some say "angelic") high vocals. Shawn Stockman, of Boyz II Men, has said Mitch has "one of the prettiest voices I have ever heard in my life." Mitch switches seamlessly from chest voice to mixed voice to head voice. He has a range of just over six octaves, and all the other members of Pentatonix say he has the best voice in the band.
The tall blond to the right of Mitch (our right, Mitch's left) is Scott Hoying, lyric baritone. In describing a man's vocal range, "lyric" means that the actual range exceeds the nominal range. In Scott's case, he sings everywhere from about the middle of a normal bass range through most of a normal tenor range. Probably five or six octaves. Scott typically takes over the bass harmony line when their bass has a solo.
And on the right in the back row is the only woman in Pentatonix, Kirstin (also called Kirstie, which rhymes with thirsty) Maldonado. Kirstie sings everywhere from a low alto through coloratura soprano, the highest female range. And she has fantastic whistle notes on top of that. Lately Pentatonix has begun referring to her as an alto soprano.
These three grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and in high school they had a trio which they named "The Trio." (I know. They've gotten somewhat better with names since.) For this reason pentaholics still refer to them as "the trio," and the trio is the heart of Pentatonix. In 2011, after all three of them had graduated from high school, they wanted to compete on _"The Sing-Off,"_ an a cappella competition show that ran on NBC from 2009 through 2012. But the show required groups to have at least five members, so they added the two people in the front row.
On our left in the front we have Avi (pronounced Ah'-vee, emphasis on the first syllable) Kaplan, lyric bass. Avi is an operatically trained basso profundo - his lowest notes have blown out speakers in live performances - but his range extends to somewhere in the middle of a normal tenor range.
And on the right we see Kevin Olusola (pronounced Oh-loosh"-oh-luh', primary emphasis on the second syllable, secondary emphasis on the fourth) beatboxer extraordinaire. There may be a better beatboxer than Kevin, but if so I've never encountered him or her. We don't get to hear Kevin sing as often as we'd like because he's generally too busy being the entire percussion section, but when he does sing he has a lovely tenor voice that occasionally descends to the uppermost reaches of a baritone range. He's also known for the beauty of his falsetto, which I believe goes higher than Mitch can. Kevin has perfect pitch. He began piano lessons at age 4, cello at age 6, and alto saxophone at age 10. When he was a teenager he performed at Carnegie Hall twice, once on the saxophone and once on the cello. He beatboxes while playing the cello, which he refers to as "celloboxing." He graduated from Yale in 2011 with a pre-med major and had already been accepted to Yale Medical School when he gave up his dream of becoming a surgeon to pursue his dream of becoming a professional beatboxer instead. He speaks five languages fluently: English, French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. He's one of the kindest people in the world, and when he laughs the whole planet seems like a brighter place.
In 2017 Avi found it necesssary to leave Pentatonix, for a variety of personal reasons. He has since gone on to have a very successful solo career, and I strongly recommend subscribing to his TH-cam channel, which you can find here: youtube.com/@AviKaplanMusic
Avi's replacement joined in either late 2017 or early 2018 (depending on how you figure it); you'll see him in a lot of their videos:
The second black member of Pentatonix is Matt Sallee (pronounced Suh-lee', emphasis on the second syllable), lyric bass. In addition to being the newest member of Pentatonix Matt is also the youngest member, and I'm told that bass voices improve with age. Matt's range seems to be growing on a daily basis right now. He isn't QUITE down to basso profundo yet, though I expect him to reach it within a year or two. But on his high end Matt reaches nearly the top of a normal tenor range. To find his current range I recommend listening to a recent live stream of "Hallelujah." You can find one here: th-cam.com/video/FqphhPapkoc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tC6Ew07JGeQKQvDL Matt's arrangement of the second verse seems to be designed to show off his full range, and it will blow you away.
The only member who changed in this group is Avi the bass that's it. The rest change their looks constantly I'm each songs they do.
Subbed for more PTX! They are fantastic!
PTX is the pinnacle of a cappella
Great reaction, thanks so much for sharing! Have you watched their cover of Bohemian Rhapsody yet? I think you will love it!
Thank you so much I really appreciate it! 🙂❤️ I'm so glad you enjoyed my reaction 🙂 I actually have not seen their cover of Bohemian Rhapsody yet, and that's probably what I'll plan to react to next. Thank you for the suggestion I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for all of your love and support. It really means so much to me 🙂❤️
They are a fantastic group, pretty much any song you pick from their catalog is amazing. Word of warning, their record label/distributor SME (Sony) is notoriously aggressive and difficult when it comes to blocking for Fair Use / copyright with the TH-cam algorithm. Many reactors use filters, text overlay, dropping the opacity etc to help get past those blocks as often its the video getting triggered (but it doesn't seem to be consistent so, best of luck!)
That isn't falsetto on the high "for me"; that's Mitch's head voice!
great reactions! i am having a sonic night! love it ! cant believe you love all the songs i do! so much fun! if u like this - u will absolutely love this! u will know every song! and thx for the great daft punk reaction too! i will just send u the name because sometimes if i put the link - it gets erased - it is 'pentatonix - 90's dance medley (official video) and if it gets crossed out i will find some way to tell you! keep on enjoying great music- makes our world go round- appreciate you
Thank you so much! 🙂❤️ I'm so happy to hear you're enjoying my reactions so much You have NO idea just how much that means to me 🙂🫂❤️ I'm glad to hear we enjoy the same songs too 🙂
You're very welcome! I really enjoyed reacting to that video. That's easily one of my favorites by PTX. Definitely feel free to send any recommendations/suggestions my way. I appreciate every single one of them.
I'm loving all of the music and videos I've reacted to so far, and I don't plan to stop any time soon. Thank you so much! I appreciate you as well 🙂🫂❤️ Thank you so much for all of your love and support. It really means so much to me 🙂❤️
Wide awake/As long as you love me mash up
We Are Young
Avi Kaplan, the low bass, is the only change in personnel. He left them about four years ago do do his own thing and Matt Sallee came in to fill the slot. Everyone else has stayed the same. Sometimes you'll think it's someone new with Mitch, but that's because he's a chameleon. He loves avaunt guard fashion and can look different every time you see him.
Six years ago, actually.
@@margretrosenberg420How time flies. I can't keep track of anything anymore it seems. Must be getting old. 😄
@@Blue-rl5dp I know the feeling. The other day I made a comment about Kevin in which I said that he graduated with a pre-med major from Yale in 2021 😳. Oops! There's nothing like being a whole decade off.
@@margretrosenberg420 😱 😖 😁
Another acapella group, that have been around long before Pentatonix etal for you to check out Straight No Chaser. 10 guys, that met in college years ago, almost all of them are still together with a couple changes I think. They do mostly live shows that are not always the best audio. Some official music videos that are really great. Their version of "Creep" official music video is my highest recommended song by them to new listeners to start with. Please check it out. In other songs they do some funny stuff, and oh so talented!!!!
👋
As always thank you so much for all of your love and support brother. You know how much it means to me 🙂🫂❤️
👋🏻
Hey Jill! 👋🙂🫂❤️ It's so great to see you! Thank you so much for all of your love and support. You know how much it means to me 🙂🫂❤️
@@SonicReactsOfficial Thank you, Scott. It was great seeing your reaction. I know how much you appreciate everyone. You are the best!