The Piano Guys

The Piano Guys is a musical group hailing from Utah. The group, which consists of pianist Jon Schmidt, cellist Steven Sharp Nelson, videographer Paul Anderson, and music producer Al van der Beek, is known for combining elements of pop, rock and roll, and classical music.

The Piano Guys gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson's music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson (formerly by Tel Stewart).

As of August 2018, the group had surpassed 1.6 billion views on their YouTube channel and had 6.2 million subscribers. To date, they have topped the Billboard Classical Albums chart six times and the New Age Albums chart eight times.

Before The Piano Guys took off commercially, all of its members were middle-aged family men with separate careers. Schmidt had a solo musical career with eight albums and seven piano books to his credit. Nelson owned a real estate agency, Anderson owned a piano store, and van der Beek operated a recording studio in his home. After signing with Sony in 2012, all four quit their jobs to pursue their joint musical career.

All four members of The Piano Guys are devout Mormons, and each of them served full-time proselyting missions: Anderson in Washington state, Schmidt in Norway, with Nelson and van der Beek in separate missions in Korea. The group prays together before each recording session, video shoot, concert, and songwriting session.