Three-time Grammy winners Pentatonix on why this year’s nom is “very validating, exciting and fulfilling”

Pentatonix has already won three Grammys, but on Sunday they’re up for yet another one: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for their 2021 album, Evergreen. The group’s Scott Hoying says even though they’re old hands at the Grammys by now, there’s one thing about this nomination that’s special.

“We’ve never been nominated for an album before, and we’ve put out so many albums,” Scott tells ABC Audio, estimating they’ve released about 16 projects.

“Evergreen was just a really special album to us because we had been away from each other for longer than we ever had in our career because of the pandemic,” he explains. “And we got to come back together … and we went in and we built it together and, like, stripped it apart and built it more. And we just love how it turned out.”

“It’s probably our favorite album collectively as a band,” he adds. “And so to see it be our first nomination in years” — since 2017, to be exact — “and to be nominated as a piece of work, an album, was very validating and exciting and fulfilling.”

The bad news is that there’s some fierce competition in that category, starting with Thank You, the first album in 15 years by the legendary Diana Ross.

“I know! Oh, my gosh. And Kelly Clarkson, and Michael Bublé and Norah Jones. I was like, ‘Whoa. Stacked category,’” Scott says. Kelly and Norah are nominated for their recent Christmas albums, while Michael’s up for his 2022 album, Higher.

Scott’s not too concerned about winning, though.

“Honestly … I know this sounds like a diplomatic answer, but I really mean it … just to be nominated with such icons that I grew up loving is really, really cool.”

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