The Owensboro-Daviess County Christmas Parade Association, a volunteer group of Owensboro citizens who produce the annual parade, is proud to announce they have chosen three time Grammy-winning, music sensation Kevin Olusola as the Grand Marshal of the 81st Annual Owensboro-Daviess County Christmas Parade being held Saturday, November 18, 2017 beginning at 4:30pm in downtown Owensboro.
Mr. Olusola is an American musician, beatboxer, rapper, record producer, singer, and songwriter and the beatboxer of the vocal band Pentatonix. Pentatonix is a three-time Grammy® Award-winning and multi-Platinum- selling has sold more than 6.5 million albums and performed for hundreds of thousands of fans at their sold-out shows across the globe. Their YouTube channel boasts more than 13.8 million subscribers, yielding over 2.7 billion video views, and their 2015 self- titled album has been certified gold after debuting #1 on Billboard’s 200. Seven of their albums reached the top 10 on Billboard’s 200 chart (2 at #1) and received multiple RIAA certifications for multi-platinum, platinum and gold selling albums and singles. In 2015, the group released its first tour documentary – On My Way Home – and appeared in the feature film Pitch Perfect 2. Earlier this year, the group released PTX Vol. 4 – Classics which features their Grammy Award-winning performance of “Jolene” with Dolly Parton, as well as an arrangement of the John Lennon classic “Imagine.”
Pentatonix has recently released a deluxe version of their certified Platinum 2016 holiday album A Pentatonix Christmas Deluxe which features a collection of modern and seasonal favorites, a collaboration with Jennifer Hudson and holiday classics such as “Deck The Halls”, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, and “Away In A Manger”. The group will commence their A Pentatonix Christmas Tour on December 3rd with 3 sold out nights at The Chicago Theatre. To coincide with the tour, Pentatonix will return to NBC with A Very Pentatonix Christmas – their second annual holiday special that will air November 27th at 10:00 PM ET / PT with an encore airing on December 6th at 8:00 PM ET / PT.
Kevin grew up in the small town of Owensboro, Kentucky. At an early age, Kevin began learning piano, cello and saxophone. He performed at Carnegie Hall twice as a soloist on the cello and saxophone and has appeared on NPR’s From The Top. Kevin graduated from Yale University. On March 10th 2015, Kevin released his first solo album, The Renegade EP courtesy of RCA Records. The album debuted #1 on Billboard Traditional Classical and Classical Crossover charts, in addition to staying #1 on iTunes classical albums for weeks as it featured classically reimagined versions of popular songs like “All of Me,” “Stay With Me,” and “Heart Attack,” as well as Kevin’s original composition “Renegade.”
The theme for this year’s parade is “Visions of Christmas” and the committee invites the public to join them along Second Street from Pearl Street to Locust Street in downtown Owensboro where some 100 floats and other entries will open the holiday season on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, thus making Owensboro “where Kentucky starts Christmas.”
For those attending this year’s parade, please note that the Fire Marshal has reminded the community that no fire pits or outside heating sources are allowed along the parade route.
Find out more about the Owensboro Christmas Parade at christmasparade.net or on Facebook.
