MKTO

MKTO
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Pop
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Columbia
Website	wearemkto.com
Members	Malcolm Kelley Tony Oller

MKTO is an American pop duo, consisting of Malcolm Kelley and Tony Oller. Their self-titled debut album was released on January 30, 2014 by Columbia Records. In July 2015 the duo released their first extended play Bad Girls EP.

Career

2010–2012: Formation

Malcolm Kelley and Tony Oller met in 2010 while filming the Nickelodeon television series Gigantic, in which their characters played best friends.^[1] They later formed as a duo and came up with the name MKTO, which represents the combined initials of their names and surnames, MK for Malcolm Kelley and TO for Tony Oller. They elaborated upon the inspiration for their name, saying: "It also stands for what our album kind of is: Misfit Kids and Total Outcasts – just like the kids we were in high school".^[2]

2013–present: MKTO

The duo signed to Columbia Records and released their debut single "Thank You" on January 15, 2013.^[2] "Thank You" is a crossover between pop and hip hop. The song's music video was released on YouTube via VEVO on January 4, 2013, and garnered over 500,000 views within two days of being released.^[2] The song has attained commercial success, reaching the top ten on both the Australian and New Zealand singles charts.^[3][4] In the music video, Harold Perrineau, who played the father of Malcolm Kelley's character on Lost, appeared as a reference to the show. MKTO released their second single, "Classic" along with the music video on June 20, 2013. Classic peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and the music video has since compiled over 50 million views on YouTube. In 2013, they served as the opening for Emblem3 on their summer tour across the United States. Their self-titled debut album was released on April 1, 2014.^[5] The music video for their third single, "God Only Knows", was released on November 29, 2013 on YouTube and Vevo. They also served as the opening for Emblem3's #bandlife Tour and Demi Lovato's "Demi: World Tour" in 2014. In February 2014, their debut album went to #1 in Australia and #6 in New Zealand. During the summer of 2014, MKTO went on their first headlining tour, the American Dream Tour. This featured opening acts Tiffany Houghton and Action Item. The third single from their debut album in the United States is "American Dream". On July 22, 2015 MKTO released their first extended play Bad Girls EP, which was preceded by the June 2015 release of its lead single "Bad Girls".^[6] A double A-side single including two brand new tracks "Hands Off My Heart/Places You Go" was premiered exclusively on Billboard on March 9, 2016.^[7]

Discography

Albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		AUS [3]	NZ [4]	SWE [8]	US [9]
MKTO	Released: January 30, 2014 Format: CD, digital download Label: Columbia	1	6	21	31

EPs

Title	Album details
Bad Girls EP	Released: July 24, 2015 Format: Digital download Label: Columbia

Singles

As lead artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions							Certifications	Album
		AUS [3]	CAN [10]	NL [11]	NZ [4]	SWE [8]	UK [12]	US [13]
"Thank You"	2012	2	—	37	7	—	—	—	ARIA: 4× Platinum[14] RMNZ: Platinum[15]	MKTO
"Classic"	2013	9	61	64	8	7	24	14	ARIA: 3× Platinum[14] BPI: Silver[16] IFPI SWE: Platinum[17] RMNZ: Platinum RIAA: Platinum[18]
"God Only Knows"		11	—	—	19	—	—	—	ARIA: Platinum[19] RMNZ: Gold[20]
"American Dream"	2014	40	—	—	12	—	—	—	ARIA: Gold[21] RMNZ: Gold[22]
"Bad Girls"	2015	80	—	—	—	—	—	—		Bad Girls EP
"Hands Off My Heart/Places You Go"	2016	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		TBA
"Superstitious"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

As featured artist

List of singles as featured artist, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Album
"Summer Paradise" (Simple Plan featuring MKTO)	2013	Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2014	Radio Disney Music Awards[23]	Catchiest New Song	"Classic"	Nominated
2015	Radio Disney Music Awards	Catchiest New Song	"Classic"	Nominated

References

1. "Uncover Discover". The Edge. MediaWorks Radio. January 29, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
2. "MKTO Signs With Columbia Records". PR Newswire. UBM plc. January 15, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
3. Hung, Steffen. "Discography MKTO". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
   • "Bad Girls": Ryan, Gavin (June 13, 2015). "ARIA Charts: Taylor Swift Bad Blood Remains At No 1". Noise11. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
4. Hung, Steffen. "Discography MKTO". New Zealand Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
5. "MKTO confirm tracklisting for debut album | Hamada Mania Music Blog". Hamadamania.com. 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
6. Bowman, Patrick. "MKTO Preview New Single "Bad Girls": Listen To Funk-Pop Anthem". Idolator.com. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
7. Polanco, Luis (March 9, 2016). "MKTO Returns With New Song 'Hands Off My Heart'/'Places You Go': Exclusive Premiere". Billboard. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
8. Hung, Steffen. "Discography MKTO". Swedish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
9. "MKTO – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
10. "MKTO – Chart History: Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
11. Hung, Steffen. "Discografie MKTO". Dutch Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
12. "Official Charts - Artist - MKTO". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
13. "MKTO – Chart History: The Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
14. "ARIA Charts Singles 2014". Aria.com.au. 2014-12-31. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
15. http://www.webcitation.org/5yW7i8Oca. Archived from the original on May 7, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
16. "BPI Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
17. "Sverigetopplistan - Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan.se. 2015-06-08. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
18. "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database". RIAA.
19. "ARIA CHarts Top 50 Singles : 8 June 2015" (PDF). Aria.com.au. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
20. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
21. "ARIA Charts Singles 2014". Aria.com.au. 2014-12-31. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
22. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
23. Rutherford, Kevin. "Nominees for 2014 Radio Disney Music Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 13 March 2014.