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[2][3]. As of 2025, 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]
Scott Richard Hoying was born in Arlington, Texas to Connie and Rick Hoying. After graduating high school, he briefly attended the University of Southern California, where he studied popular music performance.[5]
Pentatonix started as a trio, as Hoying, Mitch Grassi, and Kirstin Maldonado had been in choir for most of their time in high school.[6] 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.[7][8]
Hoying heard about The Sing-Off reality-show competition for a cappella acts; he gained an interest in the genre once in college.[9] 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.[10][11][12] After they won, they all relocated to Los Angeles to pursue recording artist careers.[13][14] The main goal of the group was to become the first modern mainstream a cappella group, which they have done.[15]
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.[16] They gained national attention in the U.S. competing on NBC's a cappella reality show The Sing-Off in 2011, which they won.[17] 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.[18] Pentatonix also released the debut EP, PTX, Volume 1, on their new label in June 2012, followed by a Christmas EP, PTXmas in November.[11][18] 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).[19] 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 2025 it has over 380 million views.[20]
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.[18][21] As of February 2020, they had over 4.4 billion views; they also have 3.6 million followers on Instagram, and 5.1 million on Facebook.[22]
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).[23][24][25]
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.[7][8] 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.[30] Their sold-out North American tour that year was documented in the movie, On My Way Home.[31]
In 2013, Hoying teamed up with Grassi in SUPERFRUIT. The comedy and music YouTube channel gathered half-a-billion views, attracted 2.4 million YouTube subscribers, and garnered hundreds of millions of streams across songs like “GUY.exe.”
Solo music
In 2023 Hoying released his solo debut EP, Parallel. The lead single “Mars” was released July 2023 generated millions of streams across platforms. He delivered a performance of the title track “Parallel” on TODAY and "Mars" on the Kelly Clarkson Show. The Associated Press hailed the EP as “his most personal music to date.” In 2025, Hoying's song "Rose Without The Thorns", a tribute to his husband Mark, earned him his first solo nomination for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella at the 2025 GRAMMY Awards.
Achievements
In 2023, Hoying received an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Music Direction” of America's Youth Choir at Super Bowl LVII. In 2024, Hoying and his husband Mark published a children's book entitled How Lucky Am I?, landing on USA TODAY's Best-selling Booklist.
Hoying is openly gay. He began dating model Mark Manio in 2017.[33] They got engaged in the Bahamas on April 13, 2022[34][35] and were married in Santa Barbara, California, on July 7, 2023.[35] Their wedding was officiated by singer-songwriter Christina Perri.[36]
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