Pentatonix on AMAs ‘Star Wars’ Tribute: ‘It’s Going to Be Epic’
This Sunday, the Force will be with choral students and orchestra nerds around the world. The 2015 American Music Awards will pay homage to the imminent release of the newest Star Wars installment, The Force Awakens, and the series’ legendary score composer John Williams by enlisting the chart-topping group Pentatonix. The vocal quintet will lend its pristine harmonies to a medley of the Star Wars score backed by a full orchestra.
The a cappella group, winner of Season 3 of the reality competition The Sing-Off, is known for its ebullient and inventive arrangements of songs by popular artists from Beyoncé to Michael Jackson. The outfit has released three covers albums, one of which was last year’s holiday juggernaut That’s Christmas to Me, which outpaced Taylor Swift’s 1989 for the top spot on iTunes. After such successes, Pentatonix made the strategic, albeit risky move into the realm of original music on their October release, Pentatonix, which debuted at Number One. The group’s latest single, the lilting, infatuated-with-love song “Can’t Sleep Love” is one of the rare times you’ll hear instrument-less music on Top 40 radio.
For Kevin Olusola, the group’s resident beatboxer and an Owensboro, Kentucky, native who grew up playing classical cello, Sunday’s performance is the opportunity of a lifetime. In between rehearsals for the AMAs, Olusola spoke to Rolling Stone about the upcoming performance and binge-watching his favorite Star Wars movies on tour (his favorite is The Empire Strikes Back).
Let’s talk about Star Wars. What can we expect from Pentatonix’s performance on Sunday?
We just came out of rehearsal and it’s going to be epic.
Did you guys write the arrangement for the medley?
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.
Have you met John Williams yet?
We haven’t yet, but I hope we get to during another rehearsal. I was classically trained on the cello, so it’s unbelievable to me that we’re singing with him.
He’s such an iconic composer, from Jaws and Jurassic Park to Star Wars. When did you first become aware of him?
It had to be when I first saw E.T., I learned about Williams. Later on, I was reading Quincy Jones’ autobiography because he’s a mentor and someone I really admire. I didn’t realize how much Quincy had worked with Williams. Quincy was producing for Michael Jackson at the time E.T. came out, and he served as a producer for E.T. as well.
Are you a Star Wars fan?
Are you serious [laughs]? Absolutely.