Mitch Grassi

Mitchell Coby Michael Grassi (born July 24, 1992) is an American singer from Arlington, Texas. Known for his high tenor voice, Grassi came to international attention as a founding performer in two groups—the a cappella quintet Pentatonix, and the duo Superfruit with Pentatonix bandmate Scott Hoying. As of September 2023, Pentatonix has released eleven albums (two of which have been number ones) and six EPs, have had five songs in the Billboard Hot 100, and won three Grammy Awards as "the first a cappella group to achieve mainstream success in the modern market".

In April 2020, Grassi debuted a solo moniker, Messer, doing a DJ set of "a range of dark, techno tunes" at Paper's Club Quarantine Zoom event during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Machine" was released as Messer's debut single in July 2021, with "Angels Pray" following later that month. Messer's debut EP Roses was released August 2021.

Early life and education Grassi was born , in Arlington, Texas, to Nel Grassi (née Fenton) and Michael (Mike) Grassi, a native of Hornell, New York. He is of half Italian and half a mix of Scottish, Irish and Welsh descent. His parents relocated to the Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, area in the mid-1980s for Michael's career in the airline industry. Grassi has an older sister, Jessa, and remembers doing singalongs to pop tunes and Christmas songs in homemade variety shows with her for his parents when he was very young.

He met Scott Hoying, another co-founder of Pentatonix, and his partner in the duo Superfruit, when he was young. Grassi and Hoying were both active in theater arts in Arlington and met when they were cast in the musical Annie; they both also play piano.

Pentatonix started as a trio, as Grassi, Hoying, and Maldonado had been in choir for most of their high school careers. Grassi and Maldonado also did community theater together as well. The three quickly put together an a cappella cover of Lady Gaga's 2010 "Telephone" featuring Beyoncé to compete in a local radio station contest to meet Glee cast members. Grassi skipped high school graduation to audition for 2011's The Sing Off. After they won, all relocated to Los Angeles to pursue recording artist careers. The main goal of the group was to become the first modern mainstream a cappella group, which they have done.

Pentatonix

Pentatonix is a quintet a cappella collective, with most of their songs being covers, and much of their success comes from touring, including internationally. They gained national attention in the U.S. competing on NBC's a cappella reality show The Sing-Off in 2011, which they won. Pentatonix also released the debut EP, PTX, Volume 1, on their new label in June 2012, followed by a Christmas EP, PTXmas in November. Their big video hit was a November 2013 video doing a medley of Daft Punk songs, it had ten million views in the first week of its release and rose to over 150 million views; as of January 2020 it has over 320 million views.

As of March 2015 they had 7.6 million YouTube subscribers, that rose to seventeen million as of October 2019; with over three billion video views.

They continually release YouTube videos, with nearly every one with more than a million views. They also tour extensively including across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America—over an estimated forty countries as of December 2016; and have had cameos in shows and movies like Bones and Pitch Perfect 2 (2015); and their own television show, A Pentatonix Christmas Special (2016).

As of June 2021, Pentatonix has released eleven albums, ten of which reached the Top Ten on the Billboard 200, all combined selling ten million albums—including two number one albums, and five of Christmas music—and have had four songs in the Billboard Hot 100, and won three Grammy Awards. Their three Grammy wins were for their: Daft Punk medley tribute to the French electronic music duo (2015); version of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" (2016); Jolene collaboration with Dolly Parton (2017).

The individual members find inspiration to cover recent songs, as well as international classics, then if they decide as a group it is a good match, they compose an arrangement; their friend Ben Bram, who is also their producer, is their co-arranger. Their sold-out North American tour that year was documented in the movie, On My Way Home. Grassi noted he and Hoying both being openly gay has been appreciated by the group's fans; a common demographic is midwesterners and Christians who comment that the pair have helped them accept their LGBTQ children. According to Hoying, Superfruit "came from Mitch's random mind". Hoying noted, "Our first rule with starting Superfruit was: This is for fun... This is to be free and do whatever we want. So, let's write stories that we want to write, let's make videos that we want to make, let's not put limitations on it. And not care so much about calculating it to where we think it might be more successful ... And I think that's why it feels so good to the fans." Navigating Pentatonix versus the duo's projects and touring schedules was simplified by the quintet's rule that the larger groups' commitments come first. Superfruit's first EP, Future Friends, Part One, was released in June 2017, Part Two in September 2017, followed by a full-length album of the same name. She used Gucci and Balenciaga to elevate with high-fashion inspiration and "a pop art approach to their look". This initial online outing of Messer was a DJ set of "dark, techno tunes"

August 2021 saw the release of an EP, Roses. Self-released under the label-name Schwingungen, Roses features 5 songs, including the singles "Machine" and "Angels Pray". Four of the tracks were cowritten and coproduced with alexmaax (Max Hershenow) while the title track was cowritten and produced with Naomi MacPherson of MUNA. A remix by Planningtorock of "Boy in the Pictures" (the third track on Roses) was released on October 25, 2021, along with the b-side, "Love Supply," a Messer original co-written with Xander Rushie. The 2022 single, "Leather," again co-written with Rushie along with Austin Macedo, was highlighted by Frontview Magazine as a departure from Messer's previous releases moving towards " a more sensual and r&b-inspired sound."

On January 14, 2023, Messer had his debut live show at the Moroccan Lounge in LA. This concert was originally scheduled for October 2022 but was postponed due to illness.

On June 23, 2025, Messer announced the release of his new album, Cuts, for July 18 of the same year. On January 23, 2026, a vinyl pressing of Cuts was released for the first time.

Public appearance Grassi has become known for being fashion forward and adventurous; he feels "self expression, especially through fashion is so important" for him.

Personal life Grassi is gay; Out readers voted him the second-most eligible gay bachelor behind Adam Lambert in 2017. As of 2016, Grassi lives in Hollywood, California. In 2023, Grassi began dating his current partner and fiancé after meeting in Berlin, Germany. After dating long-distance for over a year, Grassi decided to move temporarily to Berlin in late 2024, describing his living conditions as "half-and-half" between Los Angeles and Berlin.

Discography Messer +List of studio albums, with selected informationTitle DetailsCuts Released: July 18, 2025 Label: Schwingungen (self released) Formats: Digital download, streaming +List of extended plays, with selected informationTitle DetailsRoses Released: August 27, 2021 Label: Schwingungen (self released) Formats: Digital download, streaming

Pentatonix

Superfruit + List of studio albums, with selected information Title Details Peak chart positions US CAN Future Friends Released: September 15, 2017 Label: RCA Formats: CD, digital download, streaming 29 70

Filmography

Television

Film Awards and nominations +World Choreography Awards Year Category Work Result 2017 Best Choreography in a Music Video Sweet Life

+ Daytime Emmy AwardsYearCategoryWorkResult 2017 Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" on Rachael Ray

+ Grammy AwardsYearCategoryWorkResult 2015 Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella"Daft Punk" 2016"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" 2017 Best Country Duo/Group Performance"Jolene" (ft. Dolly Parton) 2023 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Evergreen 2024 Holidays Around the World

+ Streamy AwardsYearCategoryWorkResult 2014 Best Cover Song "Daft Punk" Best Original Song "Love Again" Best Cover Song "Evolution of Michael Jackson" 2015 Artist of the Year Pentatonix

+ Shorty AwardsYearCategoryWorkResult 2015 Best YouTube Musician Pentatonix

+ Billboard Music AwardsYearCategoryWorkResult 2015 Top Billboard 200 Album That's Christmas to Me Top Billboard 200 Artist Pentatonix

+ Nickelodeon Kids' Choice AwardsYearCategoryWorkResult 2016 Favorite Music Group Pentatonix 2017

+ IHeartRadio Music AwardsYearCategoryWorkResult 2016 Best Cover Song "Cheerleader"

+ Webby AwardsYearCategoryWorkResult 2016 Video Remixes/Mashups Evolution of Michael Jackson