2Cellos

2Cellos (stylized 2CELLOS) is a cello duo consisting of Croatian cellists Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser. Signed to Sony Masterworks since 12 April 2011,the two were discovered after uploading a music video of their cello-only cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" to YouTube.   2Cellos is currently signed to record label Sony Masterworks and finished recording their first album in May 2011, which will carry the Menart Records name in Croatia.   Scheduled for release on July 19, 2011, the album will include covers of songs by U2, Guns N' Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Sting, Coldplay, Nirvana, Muse, Kings of Leon. Hauser told la Repubblica that the album would also feature a cello version of Jackson's "Human Nature."   

The duo said that they chose songs that could be adapted into covers playable on only two cellos. In anticipation of the release, 2Cellos released their second single "Welcome to the Jungle," a cover of the Guns N' Roses song of the same name.  

As a result of 2Cellos' success, English singer Elton John asked the duo to appear with him on his summer tour, which began in Cardiff on 8 June 2011.  

John, who personally called Šulić, said that he had watched the "Smooth Criminal" video and wanted 2Cellos to participate in the thirty-city tour. The two had previously performed on the 25 April 2011 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as well as on Perez Hilton's Perez TV several days before that. 2Cellos will also perform on 25 July 2011 at the 2011 iTunes Festival in London.  

Although the two record covers of mainly rock songs, Šulić and Hauser say they still play with orchestras and will not abandon playing classical music. The cellists say they would someday like to go on tour with both a classical and a contemporary orchestra. 

(Wikipedia)