Josh Groban

Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow Groban or better known as Josh Groban - a Grammy-nominated American singer/songwriter known for his mature and lyrical baritone voice, was born February 27, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, to a Jewish American father and a Norwegian American mother.

His father converted to Christianity upon marriage, and Groban was raised an Anglican-Episcopalian. Groban debuted as a singer in seventh grade, but soon put it on hold for a few years. He joined Bridge Academy, when he felt his grades were slipping. There Groban took normal classes from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM, and then afterwards attended theatre classes. He also played the penny whistle in grade school.

Groban left Carnegie Mellon after only one year when he was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through Foster's 143 Records imprint. Soon after being picked up by Foster, Groban went on to perform "There For Me" with Sarah Brightman on her 2000-2001 La Luna Tour. He made his recording debut by singing "For Always" with Lara Fabian on the movie soundtrack to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Groban also became drawn in many benefit shows, including the following: "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 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.

Groban's second album Closer, also produced by Foster, was released on November 11, 2003. He believed that this second album displayed a better reflection of him which would make his listeners be able to get a better idea of him personally from listening to it.

Closer rose on the Billboard charts from number 11 to number one after it?s release. His cover of Brian Kennedy's "You Raise Me Up" became very popular on the adult contemporary charts. Groban also performed the song "Remember" (with Tanja Tzarovska) on the Troy soundtrack. He also performed on the soundtrack to the 2004 animated film The Polar Express, featured in the song "Believe."

During the summer of 2004, Groban returned to Interlochen, where he performed and shared his experiences as a young performer. 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, 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, World Music Award, Academy Award, and a Grammy.

His musical influences include Radiohead, Paul Simon, Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Bj?rk, Mandy Patinkin, Klaus Nomi, George Hearn, and Luciano Pavarotti. Groban, still single, presently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Under the guidance of his mentor David Foster, Groban performed for many charity events that included VH1 Save the Music (2005), Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope (2005), Fifth Adopt-A-Annual Minefield concert (2005), 2nd Annual Grammy Jam (2005), Live 8 (2005), The Heart Foundation Gala (2005), and David Foster and Friends Charity Gala (2006). Inspired by a visit with Nelson Mandela during a 2004 trip to South Africa, he founded the Josh Groban Foundation to help children in need through education, healthcare and the arts. Mandela appointed Groban as an Official Ambassador for Mandela's Project 46664, a campaign to help raise Global awareness of HIV/AIDS in Africa. On April 25th, 2007, Josh Groban performed with the African Children's Choir on American Idol, Idol Gives Back episode.

In an article entitled Who Does Josh Groban Think He Is, Groban admitted to experimenting once with pot, picking his nose and a love for cursing.

He has concentrated his career so far mostly in concert singing and recordings, although he has said that he wishes to pursue musical theater in the future.