Obiaks Blog

The Early Years Of Josh Groban

You have probably heard of Josh Groban - if you haven't your mother almost certainly has. Josh Groban is currently the most popular (according to Yahoo Music stats) classical crossover artist.
Joshua was born in 1981, in Los Angeles. Young Joshua grew up with a Jewish father and a Norwegian mother. His father converted his faith to Christianity upon marrying Groban's mother before the boys were born. Joshua and his brother Chris were raised as Anglican-Episcopalian's and he is still active in church. Joshua's brother, Chris, was born four years after Josh on the same day as Joshua and they share a birthday every year.
When Josh was in the seventh grade, he had his first singing debut. Although Josh was a great singer at this early age, he held off for a few years so he could concentrate on his education. He would return to singing after he graduated from Bridges Academy. While at Bridges Academy Josh had normal education classes during the day and after school, he would attend the theater classes the school provided.
Joshua's education in the arts did not stop at Bridges Academy, he went on to attend the Michigan based Interlochen Arts Camp in 1997 and 1998 where he chose to major in musical theater. When Josh was not in school, he would take additional voice lessons where he developed his baritone voice. Since he was very good at singing, Josh decided to do some singing and acting in some productions staged by the school. When Josh was seventeen, he met David Foster who was an arranger/producer who had won a Grammy for his works.
Joshua's vocal coach arranged the meeting between Josh and Foster, which led to the two forming a working relationship. Josh was hired as a rehearsal singer who worked on some very impressive events with Foster. Josh rehearsed with Celine Dion doing Foster's "The Prayer" as a stand in for Andrea Bocelli for the Grammy Awards in 1999 as well as the Gray Davis inauguration for California governor.
Joshua Groban studied at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and graduated as a theater major in 1999. This paved the way for Josh to study drama at Carnegie Mellon University. Joshua dropped out after a year when Warner Brothers Records offered him a recording deal. Joshua Groban's first album was mainly classical styled songs, which Foster felt was his strongest influence. All of Josh's albums have been Classical Crossover in style, but his most recent album, Awake, has pushed the boundaries farther than his first few albums.
Joshua's career has become a household name with songs like You Raise Me Up and Remember When It Rained, which were decided on by Josh and Foster. He now sings with some of the greatest artists in the world of music. Josh has sung with artists as varied as Celine Dion, Charlotte Church, and Angelique. At the time of this writing, Josh Groban's album, Noel, was the number one album in the USA. Josh's other albums are also wildly popular.