Pentatonix appears to be one of those musical ensembles with a history of exceptional good fortune. From their earliest popular videos to their significant victory on The Sing-Off, their ascent to the top of their game appears to have been rather simple. It turns out that things haven’t always been so simple for them.
When the original members Kirstin Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, and Scott Hoying were looking for a bass singer and a beatboxer in 2011, Kaplan joined Pentatonix. The quartet got together the day before The Sing-third Off’s season auditions started. The group was accepted into the program after a good audition, and they ultimately won the season.
Avi Kaplan found it difficult to leave Pentatonix and start a solo career. He admits that the overwhelming undertaking even caused a brief period of despair. He said a lot of it came from the fact that he had recently left a highly successful career and had a lot of hurt and healing to do.
Departure Of Kalpan From The Pentatonix
Under the name Avriel & the Sequoias, Kaplan released “Fields and Pier,” his debut solo track, on April 29, 2017. Sage and Stone, his first EP, was released on June 9. Kaplan announced that he would be leaving Pentatonix after their tour on May 12, 2017. On September 3, his farewell performance with Pentatonix took place at the Champlain Valley Fair in Essex Junction, Vermont.
He explained in a video announcing his departure that while he liked being a part of the group, it was challenging for him to maintain the demanding schedule of the group, which required him to spend less time with his family. In a video in which he was joined by his bandmates, Kaplan stated that his departure was amicable and that, despite the effort required to be a member of the group, he missed his friends.
The reality about Pentatonix would be that their music, whether original or cover versions, tends to stay firmly in the pop genre. Even though Kirstin Maldonado’s solo music is also pop, Avi Kaplan departed the band since his music isn’t considered to be pop.
Before joining the a cappella group, Kaplan was a huge fan of folk music, and he wanted to go back to his roots, which meant permanently leaving the group, according to Billboard. Fortunately for him, their innumerable albums and globe tours gave him a wide base from which to launch himself.
According to other sources, he also believed Kirstin was a weak point and needed to be changed. He made her life terrible for years, and she planned to leave the group because of how miserable she was. He attributed her with all the mistakes that occurred. When the group was finally assembled, Avi stated, “Me or her.” After talking about it, they swiftly returned with her. All of this occurred in 2016 when they were finishing up the Christmas album. Around that time, they conceived the concept for PTX Classics, and instead of moving ahead with the second original recording they had planned, they utilized that album to get Avi out of his contract with RCA.
On a technicality, after Avi quit the group, he blocked all of their original songs that anyone had written for PTX, even the ones that he had no involvement in writing. He kept these songs as ransom because he intended the band to keep paying him what he was getting paid while he was in the band. They wrote a tonne of new songs while working on their first original album, and they planned to save some of those for their follow-up.
After legal issues with Avi were resolved in 2019, they had to start over and write entirely new songs. We will never listen to nearly 50 originals that they lost. Prior to the resolution of all legal matters, Pentatonix was unable to release new original music, but it appears that they will shortly release a new original album.
Are Avi’s friends from Pentatonix still around?
It seems like Kevin and Avi may still be close. A few months ago, Avi and his girlfriend went to Kevin’s wedding. No pictures of Avi with the groom and bride or any of the members of the band were made available to the public. There were numerous pictures taken of the band, the bride, and the groom.
There have been no online exchanges between anyone other than Kevin since the “legal difficulties” were handled with Avi’s departure from the group. All of Avi’s comments on Pentatonix YouTube videos that don’t feature him have been removed. Additionally, Mitch unfollowed Avi on all social media platforms. Since 2014, Kirstin and Avi have stopped following one another on social media. I sincerely doubt they will interact much in the future, given how that whole situation played out.
