Born: 27 February 1981
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Best Known As: Singer of "You Raise Me Up"
Joshua Winslow Groban (born
February 27,
1981 in
Los Angeles, California) is an
American singer. Known for his
baritone voice and good looks, his
musical style ranges from
classical to
pop.
In 1997 and 1998, Groban attended the Interlochen Arts Program, majoring in musical theater. In late 1998, the 17-year-old Groban was introduced by his vocal coach to Grammy-winning producer/arranger David Foster. Groban worked for Foster as a rehearsal singer on a series of high-profile events, including the 1999 Grammy Awards -- where, as a stand-in for Andrea Bocelli, he rehearsed Foster's "The Prayer" with Céline Dion -- and the January 1999 inauguration of Gray Davis as governor of California.
Accepted into the theater department at Carnegie Mellon University, Groban left after his freshman year, when he was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through Foster's own 143 Records imprint. He performed with Sarah Brightman on her 2000-2001 La Luna Tour, and made his recording debut by singing "For Always" with Lara Fabian on the movie soundtrack to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001).
In May 2001, Groban played the role of Malcolm Wyatt in the season finale of the television series Ally McBeal, performing "You're Still You" and "To Where You Are" from his debut album. The series creator David E. Kelley had been impressed at the 1999 Gray Davis inauguration and based on the audience reaction to Groban's singing, Kelley wrote a similar scene in this finale. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular that Groban was asked to come back the next season to reprise his role.
On November 20, 2001, his self-titled debut album Josh Groban was released and over the next year, his album went from gold to double-platinum.
On February 24, 2002, Groban performed "The Prayer" with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, and in November, Groban had his own PBS special Josh Groban In Concert (2002). The following month, he performed "To Where You Are" and "The Prayer" at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, and joined The Corrs, Ronan Keating, Sting, Lionel Richie and others for a holiday performance at the Vatican in Rome.
On November 11, 2003, his second album Closer was released. Josh himself 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 him personally from listening to Closer. Both of Groban's albums were produced by David Foster, released under Foster's 143 Records and distributed by Warner Music.
On November 30, 2004, his second live DVD, Live at the Greek, was released. It also ran as a Great Performances special on PBS. Also in 2004, Josh performed "Remember When It Rained" at the MTV music awards where he was up for best male singer in the pop cateogory, but lost out to Usher. Still his live performance of "Remember When it Rained", backed by a full orchestra, was most memorable.
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