The American Music Awards pay homage to the new Star Wars movie. How? By inviting the Grammy-winning a capella group, Pentatonix (PTX).
Pentatonix performed the theme from Star Wars on the show, and backing them up is the full orchestra. The group has been working with the orchestra of the legendary John Williams, which is the composer of movie scores of iconic films such as E.T., Jaws, Superman, Indiana Jones, Memoires of a Geisha, the first three Harry Potter films, and of course, the Star Wars franchise.
According to an interview with Rolling Stones, PTX beatboxer Kevin "KO" Olusola said that the performance will be epic, based on their rehearsals. "It was really a collaboration with the orchestra. We were ecstatic when they asked us if we would be willing to work with John Williams' orchestra. Our background is in choral music, so this felt like a chance to revisit and re-study certain classical techniques. It sounds so amazing. Our fans are going to be geeking out, because a lot of them are choral students, and I think they're going to get a huge kick out of this," said Olusola.
After being introduced by Mr. Harrison Ford himself, Pentatonix received a standing ovation from their performance on the well-known score. Watch the clip here.
PTX consists of bestfriends Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, and Kirstie Maldonado, then recruiting bass singer Avi Kaplan and beatboxer Kevin Olusola. The chart-topping group has been credited for their unique a capella style, covering top 40 hits like Cheerleader by Omi, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons which they performed with violinist Lindsey Sterling, and their Daft Punk medley which won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella together with Ben Bram.
After releasing 3 cover albums, PTX recently released a self-titled album containing original songs. This album debuted at Number 1 in the U.S. Billboard 200. The group also released a documentary titled "On My Way Home" which features footage of their "On My Way Home" tour, some clips about recording for their new album, and also features their struggles and success after winning Season 3 of The Sing Off, an a capella competition.
