MKTO

MKTO is the American duo of two young singers, songwriters, and actors, Malcolm Kelly and Tony Oller. The guys are the best friends that get a lot of pleasure from creating incredible music in the pop-rap, pop, and hip hop genres. 

In the duo, Malcolm mostly reads rap, and Tony sings. This very positive couple of talented guys not only performed with their latest cool melody “How Can I Forget You” on the Ceek stage, but also gave us an exclusive sit down. So, let’s know more about MKTO. 

Malcolm Kelley was born on May 12, 1992, and began acting when he was 10 years old. His first role was in the Antwone Fisher film where Kelley played the title character. Malcolm also had roles in various TV shows such as Malcolm in the Middle, Judging Amy, Lost, and others. And, he had got the lead role on the TeenNick program Gigantic but was canceled after the first season. In 2010, Malcolm Kelley met Tony Oller on the set of the Nickelodeon television series Gigantic. Both guys were supposed to play the roles of best friends. Just like Kelly, Tony Oller began his career by starring in television series, shows, and films. At first, Tony played the role of Danny on the Disney Channel short series As the Bell Rings. Moreover, the channel also premiered three original songs recorded by Tony, such as "Could You Be The One", "Here I Go", and "All You Gotta Do". Tony Oller is one year older than Kelly, he was born on February 25, 1991. Playing the roles of best friends, the guys made friends with each other in real life, and, in 2012, formed the pop duo MKTO. The name of the duo is combined initials of the members, wherein MK for Malcolm Kelley and TO for Tony Oller.  

After the duo had been formed, the friends signed to the widely known American record label, Columbia Records. Their debut single “Thank you” was already released through the label on November 12, 2012. Actually, it is the song that brings hope and encouragement to a lot of people. Thanks to it, the younger generation gets the message saying they care about the importance of standing up for themselves, no matter what. The song managed to become a hit in Australia and New Zealand and got on the top 40 in the Netherlands, and the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 charts. Also, it was certified platinum by ARIA and RMNZ. Thus, it’s clear that the debut single of the MKTO had commercial success. The year later, the guys had released the music video to the song that garnered over 500,000 views within two days.  

The second MKTO song “Classic” had become massively successful, and even more so. It was released along with the music video on June 20, 2013, and since that time, it has compiled over 100 million views on YouTube. The song reached 11 position on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum by RIAA, RMNZ, IFPI SWE, BPI, and ARIA. 

In the same year, MKTO released the single “God Only Knows”. And, after several months, in January 2014, the guys released the debut studio album “MKTO” that consisted of those three tracks. That year, in April, they completed the album with the song “American dream”. Both of the last singles were certified gold by RMNZ. The album reached number 1 in Australia and number 6 in New Zealand. Being full of energy, they served as the opening for the Emblem3 tour across the United States in 2013 and Demi Lovato's world tour in 2014. 

MKTO’s popularity rapidly grew: the guys started to get not only more fans' love, but also numerous interview invitations. Their first headlining tour had been occurring during the summer of 2014. Being in the career’s full swing, 

MKTO released the Bad Girls EP, in July 2015. Then, exclusively on Billboard in 2016, Tony and Kelley premiered a double A-side single titled "Hands Off My Heart/Places You Go".  

Unexpectedly for all, Tony shared the post on Twitter in which he announced the duo's breakup. It was in 2017, but already in 2018, MKTO announced they were back together. Then they signed with another label, BMG. The first single after the breakup was released in September 2018, it’s the song “How Can I Forget”, that was performed by the duo on the Ceek stage. It is an incredibly gentle and beautiful song that is able to cling the soul of everyone who misses the person he was with. Currently, MKTO has already released 7 non-album singles since they were back together. Among them are "Shoulda Known Better", "Marry Those Eyes'', "Consider Me Yours", "Party With My Friends", "Simple Things", and "How Much".