Metro Vocal Group is an American

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Metro’s repertoire is a mix of traditional music fused with rock and pop as well as covers of popular songs worldwide. In an

fashion, Metro uses their voices to imitate percussion, trumpets, guitars and miscellaneous sound effects as well full melodies with harmony. Metro is best remembered for their music video covering " Boundless Ocean, Vast Skies" (海闊天空), a song made famous by

rock group

Beyond Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed b ...

, and their cover of

Joey Yung Joey Yung (, ; born 16 June 1980) is a Hong Kong singer and Cantopop diva signed to Emperor Entertainment Group. Since her debut in 1996, Yung has won numerous awards, including the JSG Most Popular Female Singer and Ultimate Best Female Sin ...

's "

My Pride ''My Pride'' ( Chinese: 我的驕傲) is an album recorded by Cantopop singer Joey Yung, released in 2003. "My Pride" was Yung's fifth studio recorded album and garnered Yung with the "Most Popular Female Singer" award for that year. The title so ...

" (我的驕傲). The group has since received over 12 million views worldwide on video sharing websites like

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and

Youku Youku Tudou Inc. (formerly Youku Inc.), doing business as Youku (), is a video hosting service based in Beijing, China. It operates as a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Limited. Youku has its headquarters in the Sinosteel Plaza in Haidian ...

. Since that time, Metro has released two albums, ''Music for a Metropolis'' and ''No Borders'', an all Chinese album, and has received acclaim throughout Greater China.

History

Celebrity Cruises (1998-2002)

The group was originally formed in 1998 by Eric Monson. Eric was asked to form an

quartet by a Nashville-based talent agency to provide entertainment for a six-month contract aboard

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 19 ...

cruiseships. Eric contacted Sean Oliver, Michael Lance and Chris Riggins to form the original ensemble. The group’s first name was Four Score and their initial repertoire was mostly Barbershop and Doo-wop music. Their first contract was aboard

Mercury. After finishing the Mercury contract, Metro signed an additional contract aboard

Century for its inaugural European cruise. In 2000, the group was asked to be a part of the opening crew for the inaugural voyage of

Millennium. It was on board the Millennium where the group would find a distinct sound, adopting more of a pop rock genre, and rename themselves Metro Vocal Group. Shortly thereafter, Metro Vocal Group was hired as part of the opening crew for the

Summit's inaugural voyage.

Disney (2002-2007)

In 2002, after a successful four-year contract with Celebrity Cruises, Metro Vocal Group was hired to perform at

Tokyo Disney Resort The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is fully owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under a licence from The Walt Disney Company, who constru ...

in Maihama,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. While in Tokyo, they performed as the Dockside Porters at the American Waterfront of

Tokyo Disney Sea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual proper ...

and performed mostly barbershop arrangements. After three years in Tokyo, Metro was asked to open the new

Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...

in 2005. Continuing with a Barbershop sound, Metro entertained as the Dapper Dans on Main Street, USA.

Hong Kong (2007-present)

In 2007, after two years performing at

, Metro continued their residency in

and now performs throughout Asia. They have appeared on '' China’s Got Talent'',中国达人秀
www.daren.dragontv.cn (January 19, 2014). Retrieved on December 1, 2015. ''

Day Day Up ''Day Day Up'' ( zh, 天天向上; pinyin: Tiāntiān xiàngshàng) is a popular Chinese talk show broadcast on Hunan Television. The show is co-hosted by Wang Han (汪涵), Da Zhangwei (大张伟), Qian Feng (钱枫), and Wang Yibo_(王一 ...

'',天天向上
www.hunantv.com (January 14, 2011). Retrieved on December 1, 2015.

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

,CCTV New Year's Gala
tv.cntv.cn (September 14, 2014). Retrieved on December 1, 2015.CCTV Chinese Internet Gala
wichunwan.cntv.cn (February 11, 2015). Retrieved on December 1, 2015.

Beijing TV Beijing Radio and Television Station (BRTV), formerly Beijing Media Network (BMN), is a government-owned television network in China. It broadcasts from Beijing. The channel is available only in Chinese. Beijing Media Network was founded on ...

Beijing TV Spring Festival Global Gala
tv.brtn.cn (February 17, 2015). Retrieved on December 1, 2015. as well as celebrity appearances on several televised programs in greater

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Metro has also collaborated with many different artists including Ng Yip Kwan,

G.E.M. Gloria Tang Sze-wing (born 16 August 1991), professionally known as G.E.M. (backronym of Get Everybody Moving) or Tang Tsz-kei (), is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter originally from Shanghai, China. She made her debut in the Hong Kong music in ...

and

Hacken Lee Lee Hak Kan (; born 6 December 1967), better known as Hacken Lee, is a Hong Kong singer, television host and actor, active from the 1980s until today. In 2013, Lee's song "House of Cards" swept multiple awards in many Hong Kong award ceremonies, in ...

and has been featured in several albums such as the gospel collaboration WAO "We Are One" and also with Wendy Zheng on her single "Miracle Love." Metro Vocal Group now holds tours throughout Korea, China and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Members

;Current members *Kevin Thornton - Tenor/Lead/Vocal Percussion (2008–present) *Sean Oliver - Tenor/Lead (1998-2003, 2004–present) *Eric Monson - Baritone/Tenor (1998–present) *Michael Lance - Bass/Vocal Percussion (1998-2003, 2010–present) ;Former members *Marcus Kroese- Tenor (2004-2007) *Cody Jorgensen - Bass/Vocal Percussion (2004-2010) *Christopher Coffee - Lead (2003-2004) *Joel Diffendaffer - Bass (2003-2004) *Reggie Mobley - Tenor (2002-2004) *Del Coy - Tenor/Lead (2001-2002) *Chris Riggins - Tenor/Lead (1998-2000)

Discography

References

External links

* {{Authority control Professional a cappella groups A cappella