See, a few centuries ago, religious music destined for use in chapels was for voices only. Why? Because unlike big churches, chapels didn’t have any musical instruments. That’s how the whole “a cappella” genre was born, even though some historians may disagree and claim that cavemen humming to themselves were singing a cappella too. One way or another, a cappella has come a long way since those days. The 25 Best Acapella Groups that follow, demonstrates best that many musicians from around the world are hitting stardom nowadays, without the use of musical instruments or expensive music videos to accompany their undeniable vocal skills. With two ARIA awards, a wide local and international fan base, and 10 studio albums released during the past 25 years, this is probably the most decorated a acapella band in Australia. Founded in 2012, G-Rule stepped on the scene with their viral hit The Pachanelly Canon. Since then, the band has appeared on MTV, Billboard.com, BuzzFeed and The Huffington Post among other outlets. Not bad. The House Jacks are considered the first professional a cappella group to have a dedicated vocal percussionist and has won a total of 22 Contemporary A Cappella Recording and A Cappella Community Awards. The band has worked with several great musicians such as Ray Charles, Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder just to name a few. The group has always consisted of six singers in total, with their membership changing over the years. None of the original members remain. In 2002, they performed at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in Seoul, South Korea, to an audience of 60,000. There are not many (if any) other a cappella bands who can claim performing live in front of such a massive audience. They band has won more Grammy Awards than any other a capella group in history, grabbing ten of them. The group continues to this day with a turnover of new members. More than 50 singers have been a Swingle during the long “life” of the legendary group (nearly fifty years old). With their YouTube channel currently having over 17 million subscribers and 4 billion views, Pentatonix can easily claim that they are the most influential a cappella band of all time, popularizing the genre more than any other a cappella artist or group in history.
