Hailing originally from Arlington, Texas, the five-member vocal ensemble Pentatonix secured early national exposure after capturing the third season of NBC’s The Sing-Off in 2011. Their fresh approach to a cappella, bolstered by distinct contributions from each singer, produced a run of Top Ten albums, several Grammy wins, and broad international chart impact. Beyond popular covers and originals such as Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and the group’s own “Can’t Sleep Love,” many of their strongest successes arrived via holiday classics, including a 2013 Billboard Top 20 placement for “Little Drummer Boy” and the number-one debut of A Pentatonix Christmas in 2017. Ten years after their Sing-Off triumph, the 2021 collection The Lucky Ones introduced new original material, while the seasonal projects Evergreen and Holidays Around the World followed in 2022; the standalone single “I Rise” preceded the holiday anthology The Greatest Christmas Hits in 2023.
High-school friends Kirstie Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, and Scott Hoying launched the act after a YouTube clip of their take on Beyoncé and Lady Gaga’s “Telephone,” created for a local Glee-themed competition, drew widespread notice. They soon recruited Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola, adopted the name Pentatonix, and auditioned for The Sing-Off, ultimately prevailing with a performance of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” that highlighted their broad stylistic reach across electronica, reggae, R&B, dubstep, and additional genres.
After moving to Los Angeles, the quintet issued its first EP, PTX, Vol. 1, in 2012, containing renditions of Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Later that year PTXmas appeared, followed by a debut slot on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. PTX, Vol. 2, released the next year, offered versions of tracks by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Calvin Harris alongside “Daft Punk,” which earned a Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella. In December 2013 their arrangement of “Little Drummer Boy” climbed to number 13 on the Hot 100. PTX, Vol. 3 arrived in September 2014 with three originals and four covers, among them Ariana Grande’s “Problem” and a reworking of Disclosure’s “Latch” titled “La La Latch.” The following month brought the second holiday set, That’s Christmas to Me, later certified platinum by the RIAA; its “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” secured the group’s second Grammy.
Pentatonix returned in 2015 with a self-titled fourth studio album of entirely original songs that reached the top of the Billboard 200; its lead track “Can’t Sleep Love” entered the Hot 100. Around the same time the members made a cameo appearance in the film Pitch Perfect 2. In summer 2016 they supplied a new version of Ray Parker, Jr.’s Ghostbusters theme for the franchise reboot, and that September issued “Jolene” featuring Dolly Parton, which earned a third Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. October saw the release of A Pentatonix Christmas, their second number-one album and another platinum seller, aided by the NBC broadcast A Pentatonix Christmas Special in December; the project also included a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that peaked inside the Top 25 in the U.S. and Canada while topping charts in Austria and elsewhere in Europe.
Early 2017 brought PTX, Vol. 4: Classics, containing both “Jolene” and a reading of John Lennon’s “Imagine”; the EP reached the Top Ten in Canada, Australia, and the U.S., landing at number four on the Billboard 200. Bass singer Avi Kaplan then departed, with Matt Sallee joining in time for the April 2018 covers album PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. 1, whose take on Camila Cabello’s “Havana” helped it peak at number ten. Later that October the seasonal release Christmas Is Here! arrived and climbed to number seven. The 19-track retrospective The Best of Pentatonix Christmas followed in October 2019 and incorporated four previously unreleased tracks.
Another holiday album, We Need a Little Christmas, surfaced in November 2020 and debuted at number 30 on the U.S. chart. Four months later came The Lucky Ones, a collection of original songs produced by Matthew Koma. Evergreen, the group’s fifth seasonal project—comprising one new composition and 13 covers—appeared in October 2021 and reached number 72 on the Billboard 200. The following year’s Holidays Around the World, issued alongside a Disney+ special, featured guest contributions from Meghan Trainor, Lang Lang, Hiba Tawaji, and Lea Salonga, among others. The original track “I Rise” surfaced in August 2023 ahead of the holiday compilation The Greatest Christmas Hits.
