Kirstin Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Mates Release Inspirational “Amazing Grace” Cover

Kirstin Maldonado is bringin’ a little grace to the holiday season…

The 28-year-old Mexican & Spanish American singer and her Pentatonix group mates have surprised the world with the release of the music video for their new cover of “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone).

Pentatonix

In the Jimmy Bates-directed clip, Maldonado and her Pentatonix mates infuse the enduring gospel classic with their trademark a capella harmonies while wandering through a stunning outdoor church in the misty woods.

“My chains are gone/ I’ve been set free/ My God, my savior has ransomed me/ And like a flood/ His mercy reigns/ Unending love/ Amazing grace,” Mitch Grassi belts, while his bandmates provide crashing percussion and background vocals. Maldonado then takes over lead vocals on the next pitch-perfect stanza.

The track will serve as the lead single for the band’s upcoming sixth holiday album, We Need a Little Christmas, which is slated to drop November 13 via RCA Records.

While Pentatonix has yet to reveal the studio set’s complete track list, it will follow The Best of Pentatonix Christmas, their 2019 holiday compilation which featured collaborations with Tori Kelly (“Winter Wonderland/Don’t Worry, Be Happy“), Kelly Clarkson (“Grown Up Christmas List“), Maren Morris (“When You Believe”) and Jennifer Hudson (“How Great Thou Art“), as well as a posthumous duet with the late Whitney Houston on “Do You Hear What I Hear?

Previously, the Christmas-loving a capella group has also released 2012’s PTXmas, 2014’s That’s Christmas to Me, 2016’s A Pentatonix Christmas and 2018’s Christmas Is Here! 

Their next non-holiday full-length, titled The Lucky Ones, is currently expected to hit shelves, digital retailers and streaming services on February 12, 2021.

 

Maldonado & Pentatonix Groupmates Remain Atop the Billboard 200 for Second Week

Kirstie Maldonado is still basking in the holiday spirit…

The 24-year-old half-Mexican, part Spanish-American singer and her fellow Pentatonix members spend a second week atop the Billboard 200 with their holiday album A Pentatonix Christmas.

Pentatonix

The set earned 101,000 equivalent album units in the week ending December 29, 2016 — the final tracking week of the calendar year.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

The closing tracking frame of 2016 includes the two days leading up to Christmas Day and the holiday itself, so it’s fitting that a Christmas album leads the tally.

While A Pentatonix Christmas’ total units earned for the week were down by 51 percent, its traditional album sales were greater than any other album: it sold 82,000 copies (down 55 percent), far ahead of the No. 2 selling set of the week, Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic, with 55,000 copies (down 39 percent).

A Pentatonix Christmas‘ handsome sales, along with small declines in SEA and TEA (down 12 and 10 percent, respectively), helps keep the album ahead of the No. 2 set on the Billboard 200, The Weeknd’s former No. 1 Starboy. The latter climbs one rung with 94,000 units (down only 7 percent).

Mars’ 24K Magic dips one slot to No. 3 with 81,000 units (down 29 percent), while J. Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only is steady at No. 4 with 75,000 units (down 16 percent).

The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical climbs two positions to No. 5 with 54,000 units (down 7 percent). This is the highest rank for the title in five months, since it also placed at No. 5 on the August 6, 2016-dated list. The album has so far peaked at No. 3 (July 2, 2016), following its 11 Tony Award wins on June 12.

The soundtrack to the animated film Moana jumps 10-6 on the new chart with 53,000 units (up 4 percent), while Twenty One Pilots’ Blurryface vaults 15-7 with 52,000 units (up 37 percent). The latter album benefits from a $5.99 sale price in the Apple iTunes store, as well as promotion generated by the release of Twenty One Pilots’ new EP with MuteMathThe MuteMath Sessions, on Dec. 20. Overall sales of Blurryface were up by 23 percent to 33,000, while its download sales increased by a whopping 268 percent to 20,000.

Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Bandmates’ Christmas Album Reaches No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

Kirstie Maldonado is a woman on top… of the charts…

The 24-year-old half-Mexican, part Spanish-American singer and her fellow Pentatonix members have scored their second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart.

Pentatonix

The vocal group’s Pentatonix Christmas rises 2-1 on the latest list, earning 206,000 equivalent album units in the week ending December 22 (up 32 percent), according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 185,000 were in traditional album sales (up 33 percent).

It’s the first holiday album at No. 1 in five years, since Michael Buble’s Christmas ruled the tally for five consecutive weeks on the charts dated December 10, 2011, through January 7, 2012.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Pentatonix previously led the list with its self-titled album, which debuted atop the list in 2015.

A Pentatonix Christmas was released through RCA Records on October 21. It debuted at No. 3 on the November 12-dated chart, and has never ranked lower than No. 6 on the list in its nine weeks on the chart.

The album benefits from not only holiday-fueled purchases, as well as a sale price in the iTunes Store (for just $7.99), but also a number of television appearances from the group during the tracking week. The act’s December 7 performance on ABC‘s Jimmy Kimmel Live! repeated on Dec. 16; NBC‘s A Pentatonix Christmas Special (which premiered on December 14) received an encore airing on December 17; they sang on NBC’s America’s Got Talent Holiday Spectacular on December 19; and they performed on Fox News’ Fox & Friends on December 21 and the syndicated Rachael Ray Show on December  22.

A Pentatonix Christmas is the group’s sixth top 10 album overall, and third holiday effort to reach the region, following 2014’s No. 2-peaking That’s Christmas to Me, and the 2013 PTXmas EP, which climbed to No. 7.

Pentatonix’s latest No. 1 also earns the largest sales week for a holiday album in two years, since Pentatonix’s previous holiday set, That’s Christmas to Me, sold 203,000 copies in the week ending December 21, 2014. In fact, the last acts that weren’t Pentatonix to sell more in a single week with a holiday album were Michael Buble and Justin Bieber during the week ending December 25, 2011. That week, Buble sold 467,000 copies of Christmas, while Bieber moved 225,000 copies of his Under the Mistletoe.

Further, A Pentatonix Christmas is the first album to earn its first week at No. 1 by climbing there — as opposed to debuting or re-entering at No. 1–since Rihanna’s Anti vaulted from No. 27 to No. 1 in its second chart week, on the February 20-dated list.

Also notable, since A Pentatonix Christmas reaches No. 1 in its ninth week on the list, it logs the slowest continuous climb to No. 1 (thus excepting re-entries at No. 1 from Prince’s The Very Best of Prince and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller) since the March 16, 2013-dated list, when Bruno Mars’ Unorthodox Jukebox reached No. 1 in its 12th week.

Pentatonix’s New Holiday Album On Track to Reach No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

Kirstie Maldonado is ready to rule the roost…

The 24-year-old half-Mexican, part Spanish-American singer and her fellow Pentatonix members are on track for the vocal group’s second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as industry forecasters believe the a cappella act’s latest release, the holiday effort A Pentatonix Christmas, could rise to the top of next week’s list.

Pentatonix

Prognosticators say the album could earn over 175,000 equivalent album units in the week ending December 22. That should be enough to easily take over the top spot, as the next closest competitors will likely be The Weeknd’s Starboy album and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic, with both albums predicted to sell around 100,000 copies for the week.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The top 10 of the new January 7, 2017-dated Billboard 200 chart — where A Pentatonix Christmas could rise to No. 1 — is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s websites on Monday, December 26.

A Pentatonix Christmas was released through RCA Records on October 21. It debuted at No. 3 on the November 12-dated chart, and has never ranked lower than No. 6 on the list in its eight weeks on the chart. On the latest tally, reflecting the tracking week ending December 15, it climbed from No. 3 to No. 2 with 156,000 units (up from 128,000 the week previous).

The album is basking in the glow of holiday-fueled purchases, as well as a sale price in the iTunes Store (for just $7.99), as well as due to a number of television appearances from the group during the tracking week. The act’s December 7 performance on ABC‘s Jimmy Kimmel Live! repeated on December 16, NBC‘s A Pentatonix Christmas Special (which premiered on Dec. 14) received an encore airing on December 17, and they sang on NBC’s America’s Got Talent Holiday Spectacular on December 19.

If the album reaches No. 1, it will give Pentatonix its second leader, following their self-titled album, which debuted atop the Nov. 7, 2015-dated list. A Pentatonix Christmas is the group’s sixth top 10 album overall, and third holiday effort to reach the region, following 2014’s No. 2-peaking That’s Christmas To Me, and the 2013 PTXmas EP, which climbed to No. 7.

Maldonado & Pentatonix’s New Holiday Album Debuts at No. 3 on Billboard 200 Chart

Kirstie Maldonado has another holiday hit on her hands…

The 24-year-old half-Mexican, part Spanish-American singer and her fellow Pentatonix members’ latest album, A Pentatonix Christmas, debuts at No. 3 on the new Billboard 200 album chart.

Pentatonix

Pentatonix’s new album registered 60,000 units (52,000 in traditional album sales).

The set marks the sixth top 10 for the act and third holiday album to reach the list (following That’s Christmas to Me in 2014, which peaked at No. 2, and the PTXmas EP in 2013, which peaked at No. 7).

A Pentatonix Christmas also starts at No. 1 on the Holiday Albums chart, the second leader for the group on that tally, after That’s Christmas to Me.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new November 12-dated chart will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, November 1.

Maldonado’s Pentatonix’s Holiday Album Registers 1 Million in Total Sales

Kirstie Maldonado has one million to celebrate…

The 22-year-old half-Mexican/part-Spanish singer and her Pentatonix band mates’ holiday album That’s Christmas To Me has surpassed 1 million in total sales in the week ending December 21.

Pentatonix

With another 203,000 sold, its cumulative total now stands at 1.02 million, landing Pentatonix in special company.

That’s Christmas To Me, released through RCA Records, is only the fourth album to sell a million copies in the U.S. in 2014, following the Frozen soundtrack (3.46 million), Taylor Swift’s 1989 (3.34 million) and Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour (1.13 million).

That’s Christmas To Me continues to be the a cappella group’s best selling studio effort, well ahead of PTXmas, which has moved 356,000.

Additionally, That’s Christmas To Me is the first holiday album to sell a million copies in a calendar year since 2011, when both Michael Buble’s Christmas and Justin Bieber’s Under the Mistletoe managed the feat (with 2.45 million and 1.25 million, respectively).

Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Members Sign with RCA Records

Kirstin Maldonado has landed a new recording contract…

The half-Mexican American/part-Spanish singer and her fellow Pentatonix members have signed with RCA Records.

Pentatonix

Maldonado and her a cappella quintet members, The Sing-Off season-three champions and viral stars, is known mostly for their creative covers of pop hits like Lorde‘s “Royals” and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis‘ “Can’t Hold Us,” evolution-style arrangements and original songs.

“We are thrilled to have Pentatonix join RCA,” said RCA president and COO Tom Corson. “Their musicality and special vocal abilities have enabled them to create innovative original songs as well as re-create some of today’s biggest hits. Pentatonix is unique to our business and we look forward to working with them as we take their talents to new and exciting heights everywhere in the world.”

“We’re really excited to start this new chapter of our career with RCA,” said the group — consisting of Maldonado, Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola — in a statement. “We feel like we’ve found a home where we can truly develop our artistry with the best in the industry.”

Following their Sing-Off win in 2011, the electro-infused quintet has released three albums via Madison Gate Records (PTX Volume 1, PTXmas and PTX Volume 2, selling over 500,000 copies combined) and collected over 445 million views and more than 5.6 million subscribers on YouTube.

The group wraps its sold-out European tour on May 18, following a sold-out North American tour.