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| Josh Groban |
Early life and education
Josh Groban was born in Los Angeles, to Lindy (née Johnston), a school teacher and full time mother, and Jack Groban, a businessman. Groban's father was born Jewish, and is a descendant of Russian and Polish immigrants. Groban's mother's ancestry includes Norwegian (from Toten), German, and English; one of her own grandfathers had been Jewish. Groban's father converted from Judaism to Christianity when marrying his mother, and Groban's parents joined the Episcopal Church. He has a younger brother, Chris, who shares the same birthday, four years later.
Josh Groban debuted as a singer in the fifth grade. His music teacher chose him to sing a solo of "S'wonderful" at the school's Cabaret Night, where he sang alone on stage for the first time. At this time, he was more focused on theatrical arts. In the summers of 1997 and 1998, he also attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts Camp in Michigan, majoring in music theatre, and began taking vocal lessons. Josh Groban went on to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a theatre major and graduated in 1999. He was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University, intending to study drama, but he left four months into his first semester. Offered a recording contract, he decided to pursue his singing career.
Career
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| Josh Groban |
In late 1998, the 17-year-old Josh Groban was introduced by his vocal coach to Grammy-winning producer/arranger David Foster and future manager Brian Avnet. At the time Groban had no recording experience and was preparing to begin studying at Carnegie Mellon University. Groban worked for David Foster as a rehearsal singer on a series of high-profile events, including the January 1999 inauguration of Gray Davis as Governor of California and the 1999 Grammy Awards where — as a stand-in for Andrea Bocelli — he rehearsed Foster's "The Prayer" with Céline Dion. According to manager Avnet, Groban was very nervous about standing in for Bocelli and had to be talked into it, but his performance prompted the show hostess, Rosie O'Donnell, to ask him to appear on her show the following week, which then led to an appearance on the Ally McBeal show. David E. Kelley, creator of the television series Ally McBeal, created a character, Malcolm Wyatt, for Groban in the season finale aired in May 2001. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular, prompting 8,000 emails from viewers, that Josh Groban was asked to return the next season to reprise his role and perform "To Where You Are." Avnet claims this sequence of events effectively got Groban's career off the ground.
Josh Groban was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through Foster's 143 Records imprint. Avnet told HitQuarters that Warner initially proved resistant to the deal because "They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get a voice like that on radio." Explaining his reasons for signing the artist, Foster said: "I love his natural ability in the pop and rock arena, but I love his sense of classics even more. He's a true musical force to be reckoned with." Under Foster's influence, Groban's first album focused more on classics such as "Gira Con Me Questa Notte" and "Alla Luce Del Sole."
Josh Groban performed "There For Me" with Sarah Brightman on her 2000–01 La Luna World Tour, and was featured on her "La Luna" concert DVD. He recorded "For Always" with Lara Fabian on the movie soundtrack to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Josh Groban performed in many benefit shows, including: "The Andre Agassi Grand Slam Event For Children," singing alongside Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Don Henley, and Robin Williams; "Muhammad Ali's Fight Night Foundation" which honored Michael J. Fox and others; "The Family Celebration" (2001), which was co-hosted by President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and David E. Kelley and his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer; and Michael Milken's CapCure event, which raises funds for cancer research.
The singer's self-titled debut album Josh Groban was released on November 20, 2001. Over the next year, it went from gold to double-platinum.
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| Josh Groban |
Recent years
Josh Groban's second album Closer, produced and written by Foster, was released on November 11, 2003. Groban said that he believed that this second album was a better reflection of him, and that his audience would be able to get a better idea of his personality from listening to it. "What most people know about me, they know through my music. This time, I've tried to open that door as wide as possible. These songs are a giant step closer to who I really am and what my music is all about. Hence the title."
Two months after Closer was released, it rose on the Billboard charts from number 11 to number one. His cover of Brian Kennedy's "You Raise Me Up" became very popular on the adult contemporary charts. Josh Groban also performed the song "Remember" (with Tanja Tzarovska) on the Troy soundtrack, "Believe" on the soundtrack to the 2004 animated film The Polar Express, and a cover of Linkin Park's "My December".
In the summer of 2004, Josh Groban returned to Interlochen, performing and discussing his earlier experiences with local residents and campers. On November 30, 2004, his second live DVD, Live At The Greek, was released; it was also shown as a Great Performances special on PBS. Also in 2004, Groban performed "Remember When It Rained," backed by a full orchestra, at the American Music Awards, where he was nominated for Favorite Male Artist in the pop category. Groban and his recordings were nominated for more than a dozen awards in 2004, including the American Music Award, a World Music Award, an Academy Award, and a Grammy.
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| Josh Groban |
During the first week of September 2006, Josh Groban's single entitled "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" was released exclusively on AOL's First Listen. His third studio album Awake was officially released on November 7, 2006. Groban performed "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" as well as two other tracks from Awake at his recording session for Live from Abbey Road at Abbey Road Studios on 26 October 2006. On that album, Groban also collaborated with British musician and songwriter Imogen Heap, on the single "Now or Never". He performed two tracks with the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, "Lullaby" and "Weeping." Groban's "Awake" world tour visited 71 cities between February and August 2007, and travelled further to Australia and the Philippines with Lani Misalucha as his special guest in October 2007. He performed a duet with Barbra Streisand ("All I Know of Love") and with Mireille Mathieu ("Over the Rainbow"). As to his future, Groban is open to a plethora of possibilities. He said, "I am fortunate enough to have had many really big moments in my career. I think the mistake a lot of people in my position make is to always search for the next big thing. I am looking forward to playing some small theaters. I'm looking forward to writing more. I want to delve further into my acting career and explore some of the film and TV opportunities that I haven't had time for. My outlook is to expect the unexpected. And when the next step comes, I'm prepared to take it." Groban has also expressed an interest in performing on Broadway.
Josh Groban has twice appeared on hit British TV Music Quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks. His first appearance was as a guest on Omid Djalili's team and the second appearance was as the host/quiz master of an episode.
2010–present
Josh Groban finished his fifth studio album, entitled Illuminations, and the album was released on November 15, 2010. Most of the songs on the album are about "specific situations that I've had where love has existed and ultimately failed," Josh Groban told The New York Times, adding: "And other songs are about the quest, and it just not working out." Groban wrote 11 of the 13 songs on the album. The first single from the album, "Hidden Away," was made available for free download via Facebook on September 8. “For me to sit in a room with a piano in one take with some of Johnny Cash’s musicians — that was totally new for me.” Josh added. “and I think that excitement is on the record.” On October 12, a second single from the upcoming album, "Você Existe Em Mim", was made available on iTunes. This song is sung in Brazilian Portuguese and was written by Brazilian artist Carlinhos Brown. The Washington Post said: "Illuminations" is not a revelation, but it offers a perfectly fine, and often quite lovely, glimpse at a pop-classical crossover artist in the middle of crossing over." Josh plans on making one more record with Rick Rubin. Beginning May 12, 2011, Groban is scheduled to embark on a worldwide tour entitled Straight to You Tour to promote Illuminations.
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| Josh Groban |
Film
In the comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love., a film starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell, released on July 29, 2011, Josh Groban played a character named Richard, a caddish and nerdy attorney.
