2Cellos

2Cellos (stylized 2CELLOS) is a Croatian cello duo consisting of 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.Šulić, born in Maribor, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia and Hauser, born in Pula, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia, met at a master class in Croatia while still in their teens. Šulić—the younger of the two by a year—and Hauser attended the Academy of Music in Zagreb together, and both then travelled to study in Vienna. Šulić later entered London's Royal Academy of Music, while Hauser attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. The duo rose to fame after their cover of "Smooth Criminal" became a hit on YouTube, receiving over three million views in the first two weeks and more than eleven million views in all. The creation of the music video was prompted by the cellists' financial difficulties, despite their musical success in the UK.