Josh

The New Boy Wonder of the Voice was what Josh Groban was dubbed by The New York Times. “Meteoric” was how his rise to stardom was described. And “grateful” is how he feels about his journey over the past few years.

He was discovered by well-known music producer David Foster when he was asked to stand in for Andrea Bocelli to sing with Céline Dion in the 1998 Gray Davis’ inauguration. Josh said, “I needed that push, and it wound up being a day that changed my life.”

Since then, Josh has released two multi-platinum albums: his self-titled debut in 2001 and Closer in 2003. He has established himself in the classical crossover genre with songs like the inspirational To Where You Are (2001) and the uplifting You Raise Me Up, and has sung for the soundtracks for A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and Troy.

His work represents a close collaboration with many award-winning musicians, like Foster, Walter Afanasieff and Italian composer Ennio Morricone. The list goes on to include performers like Charlotte Church, The Corrs and Deep Forest. He has also composed his own songs, including the ballad Remember When It Rained, working closely with Eric Mouquet of Deep Forest.

Josh’s music, however, does not “fit into a mold”. Sung mostly in English and Italian—although he has tackled Spanish and French songs—his music includes many diverse classical and pop recordings.

Although trained classically, he is influenced by a wide range of music. He said, “When I put out my first album, I wanted to reflect all that while staying true to who I am as a singer.” He admits that he does not speak Italian fluently but also adds that Italian is very “romantic and poetic”. He said, “The language itself is very musical.”

To him, songs present something “beautiful.” He said, “Sometimes they’re personal and sometimes you can just appreciate the story, even if it’s not mine. It all comes from the same place.”