Scott Hoying
Scott Hoying (born September 17, 1991)[1] is an American singer, musician and songwriter who came to international attention as the baritone of the a cappella group Pentatonix and one-half of the music duo Superfruit.[2][3] As of June 2021, Pentatonix has released eleven albums (two of which have been number ones) and two EPs, have had four songs in the Billboard Hot 100, and won three Grammy Awards as "the first a cappella group to achieve mainstream success in the modern market".[4] As of November 2021, Superfruit's YouTube channel has over 2.4 million subscribers, and over 444 million views.[5]
Scott Hoying
September 17, 1991
- Singer
- musician
- songwriter
- record producer
2004–present
- Vocals
- piano
- keyboards
- synthesizer
Early life and education[edit]
Scott Richard Hoying was born in Arlington, Texas to Connie and Rick Hoying. He met Mitch Grassi, another co-founder of Pentatonix and his partner in the duo Superfruit, when he was young. He also met Kirstin Maldonado, a thjrd Pentatonix founder, while they were both attending Martin High School.[6] Hoying and Grassi were both active in theater arts in Arlington and met when they were cast in the musical Annie; they both play piano. They were "giggly" together but not best friends immediately; then they were split up being sent to different schools for a year and a half. They reunited while performing in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.[7] After graduating high school, he briefly attended the University of Southern California, where he studied popular music performance.[8]
Pentatonix started as a trio, as Hoying, Grassi, and Maldonado had been in choir for most of their time in high school.[9] The three quickly put together an a cappella cover of Lady Gaga's 2010 "Telephone" featuring Beyoncé to compete in a local radio station contest to meet Glee cast members. They did not win but kept competing and performing, gaining popularity.[10][11]
Hoying heard about The Sing-Off reality-show competition for a cappella acts; he gained an interest in the genre once in college.[6] It was the first time the trio had embraced a cappella. The show required groups to have five or more members, so they recruited bass vocalist Avi Kaplan and singer/beat boxer Kevin Olusola.[12][13][14] After they won, they all relocated to Los Angeles to pursue recording artist careers.[15][16] The main goal of the group was to become the first modern mainstream a cappella group, which they have done.[17]
Career[edit]
Pentatonix[edit]
Pentatonix is an a cappella collective and a quintet; most of their songs are covers and much of their success comes from touring, including internationally.[18] They gained national attention in the U.S. competing on NBC's a cappella reality show The Sing-Off in 2011, which they won.[19] The group got a record label, who dropped them as their audience was too niche—with no guarantee of selling albums, or concert tickets—but the group felt it was ultimately advantageous as around late 2012 Pentatonix started posting videos to YouTube building an international fan base.[a][20] Pentatonix also released the debut EP, PTX, Volume 1, on their new label in June 2012, followed by a Christmas EP, PTXmas in November.[13][20] They recorded covers of pop 40 hits like Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" (2011), Psy's "Gangnam Style" (2012), and Fun's "We Are Young" (2011).[21] Their big video hit was a November 2013 video of a medley of Daft Punk songs. It had ten million views in the first week of its release and rose to over 150 million views; as of January 2020 it has over 320 million views.[22]
As of March 2015 they had 7.6 million YouTube subscribers. By October 2019 that number rose to seventeen million and in December 2020, 18.9 million; the channel has over three billion video views.[20][23] As of February 2020, they had over 4.4 billion views; they also have two million followers on Instagram, and 3.6 million on Facebook.[24]
Their YouTube videos usually each have more than a million views.[25][26] They also tour extensively including across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America—over an estimated forty countries as of December 2016; and have had cameos in shows and movies like Bones and Pitch Perfect 2 (2015); and their own television show, A Pentatonix Christmas Special (2016).[27][28][29]
As of June 2021, Pentatonix has released eleven albums, ten of which reached the Top Ten on the Billboard 200, all combined selling ten million albums—including two number one albums, and five of Christmas music—and have had four songs in the Billboard Hot 100, and won three Grammy awards.[30][31][32] Their three Grammy wins were for their: Daft Punk medley tribute to the French electronic music duo (2015); version of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" (2016); Jolene collaboration with Dolly Parton (2017). In addition to their regular tours, they utilize their extensive holiday music for Christmastime tours. Their That's Christmas to Me (2014) is the highest-charting Christmas album by a group of two or more since 1962.[33]
The individual members find inspiration to cover recent songs, as well as international classics, then if they decide as a group it is a good match, they compose an arrangement; their friend Ben Bram, who is also their producer, is their co-arranger.[10][11] Although they are known for their covers and re-arranged popular songs, the band released their first album, Pentatonix, in October 2015, and it was all original music; it also marked the first time an a cappella group had the top album on the Billboard 200 album chart.[34] Their sold-out North American tour that year was documented in the movie, On My Way Home.[35] Grassi said that he and Hoying both being openly gay has been appreciated by the group's fans; a common demographic is Midwesterners and Christians who comment that the pair have helped them accept their LGBTQ children.[36]
Personal life[edit]
Hoying is openly gay and resides in Hollywood.[44] He began dating model Mark Manio in 2017.[45] They got engaged in the Bahamas on April 13, 2022[46][47] and were married in Santa Barbara, California, on July 7, 2023.[48] Their wedding was officiated by singer-songwriter Christina Perri.[49] Hoying has scoliosis and had to wear a brace for 5 years when he was younger to help treat the condition.