Around the holidays, you're sure to hear the vocal stylings of Pentatonix. But depending on when the song was recorded, the bass voice might be different, because Avi Kaplan left the group in 2017. So where'd he end up?
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00:00Around the holidays, you're sure to hear the vocal stylings of Pentatonix.
00:04But depending on when the song was recorded, the bass voice might be different,
00:08because Avi Kaplan left the group in 2017. So where'd he end up?
00:13It seems Kaplan was something of a victim of the acapella group's unexpected smash success,
00:19which led to a grueling work schedule. In May 2017, the group posted an emotional video on
00:24Facebook where Kaplan admitted that he'd always struggled with the fast-paced lifestyle of touring.
00:30It's been extremely hard for me to not be able to see my family or friends when I need to."
00:37Kaplan added that it was hard to find alone time where he could escape to nature
00:41when he was overwhelmed by his work. He also explained that his decision to leave
00:46stemmed from not wanting to hold the group back. Kaplan thanked fans for their unwavering support
00:51and announced that he'd still be making solo music. After his last show with the band,
00:55he posted a final farewell in another Facebook post. He wrote,
00:59"'Maybe someday all five of us will sing together again like old times,
01:03but until then, I'm standing by. Always.'"
01:07That time hasn't happened just yet, though. Pentatonix quickly replaced Kaplan with singer
01:12Metsali and continued on with its fast-paced schedule of recording and touring. Kaplan had
01:17already released some solo music the year he left the group, but so had bandmate Kirsten Maldonado,
01:23who remains in Pentatonix as of the making of this video. As he promised,
01:27Kaplan has continued making solo music. Unlike Maldonado, whose solo efforts are pretty similar
01:33to those of Pentatonix genre-wise, Kaplan has steered away from pop in his music since leaving
01:38the group. It seems that genre change may have been another reason he broke off from the group
01:42that made him famous. In 2020, Kaplan told Billboard that he thoroughly loved folk music
01:48before joining the acapella group, and he wanted to return to these roots. That meant leaving the
01:53group once and for all, but he was able to use his notoriety as a former member of the hugely
01:58successful acapella quintet as a springboard for his own music. Since leaving Pentatonix,
02:04Kaplan has released three EPs and a full-length album, 2022's Floating on a Dream. His newest EP,
02:10Feel Alright, came out in 2024, and he announced plans to launch a Patreon for fans on December
02:1613th. As his goodbye message hinted, Kaplan has indeed seemed to escape to nature since his split
02:22with Pentatonix. The California native has relocated to a rural forest in Tennessee
02:27and has shared even less about his personal life over the last few years.
02:32"...inspiration looks like a lot of things.
02:36It's like the forest, the mountains, the ocean, the desert."
02:40Kaplan has not entirely escaped whispers about his love life, though.
02:44In 2017, he had a failed relationship with YouTube personality Trisha Paytas,
02:49though Kaplan kept it secret until Paytas finally revealed it on Ex, formerly Twitter.
02:54Rumors have also circulated for years that Kaplan secretly got married after leaving the band.
02:59These claims became even more widespread when two photos of him with a woman dressed
03:03in a bridal gown hit the internet. Though some online articles claim the woman in those photos
03:08is his wife, it's a hoax. It's actually his sister, Esther Koop, and Kaplan was attending
03:14her wedding. By all indications, Kaplan is not married. He doesn't wear a wedding ring in any
03:19of his social media posts or music videos. If he did get hitched, it's clear he's taking great
03:24care to keep it under wraps. As for Pentatonix, they're still going strong, nearly 14 years after
03:31forming in Arlington, Texas and winning the 2011 season of The Sing-Off. You're sure to
03:36hear their newest single, Meet Me Next Christmas, very soon.