Us the Duo
Us the Duo was an American folk-pop duo made up of Michael Alvarado and Carissa Rae Martin, who were married in 2012. They met in Los Angeles in 2011 on the set of an AJ Rafael music video. In 2013 they started posting six-second cover videos on Vine, building a big following that reached about 5 million before Vine shut down in 2017. In 2014 they signed with Republic Records, reportedly becoming one of the first artists signed to a major label because of Vine.
In 2016 they joined Pentatonix on their World Tour, performing across the United States and then in cities like London, Paris, Prague, Rome, and Tokyo. They released two full-length albums and kept putting out new music, including songs like "(Stop) Just Love" and "Slow Down Time," plus covers such as "2015 Top Hits in 3.5 Minutes." Oprah Winfrey booked them for a tour in November 2014 after she saw their song "No Matter Where You Are" in The Book of Life. They also did the Just Love Tour to support their album Just Love, which came out on July 22, 2016.
In June 2018 they auditioned for America’s Got Talent, advanced, and reached the semifinals before being eliminated. Their daughter Xyla was born in October 2018. On March 28, 2024, they announced that they had been living separately for some time and were in the process of divorcing.
Carissa Rae Martin was born and raised in Los Angeles and is Filipino American. She started singing at age 5 with a church choir and runs a fashion blog called Wear I Am. Michael Alvarado was born in Michigan and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is of Puerto Rican descent, started piano at age 7, and sang in a garage band in high school. He attended Appalachian State University.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:46 (CET).