Note-oriety was founded in 1998 by Kelly Myer and Bonnie Estes as a sister group to the premier a Cappella group at JMU, The Madison Project. It is the first all-female group at James Madison University. The student-run musical group performs in and around Harrisonburg, Virginia and up and down the East Coast of the United States. In addition to various gigs, Note-oriety holds a concert once per semester, typically at the end of each semester. Additionally, they go on tour approximately bi-yearly.
Note-oriety has competed in several competitions throughout the years. In 2012, they won "Best Choreography" at SingStrong Aca Idol.[8] In 2013, they won 1st place at the SingStrong Aca Idol Competition as well as winning "Audience Favorite".[9] Note-oriety has also competed in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, most recently in 2019, where they placed third.[10]
Throughout their 20 years, Note-oriety has released several studio albums and singles. In 2015, they released their self-titled album Note-oriety. The album was nominated for numerous awards and was selected as the Recorded A Cappella Review Board's 2015 Album of the Year.[11] The group has been nominated for several CARA awards through the years, most recently winning "Best Song" in the Collegiate Female category for "Bang Bang" on Note-oriety.[12] The music video for "Pretty Hurts" from this album garnered over half a million views.[13] The video went viral after it was released, and was praised by Nicki Minaj.[14] Note-oriety's eighth album, titled XX in honor of their twentieth anniversary,[15] was released April 29, 2018.[16] Their most recent album, Note to Self, was released in July 2020.
Note-oriety as a group works for charities as well as groups promoting Women's empowerment, and has been involved with numerous philanthropic events since its founding. In 2016, Note-oriety performed at the United State of Women Summit in Washington, D.C.[17] and in 2017 the group performed at The National Crittenton Foundation's national conference "In Solidarity We Rise: Healing, Opportunity, and Justice for Girls". In 2018, College Magazine named Note-oriety one of The 10 Female Groups Running the A Cappella World.[18]
^Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
