b. Joshua Winslow Groban, 27 February 1981, Los Angeles, California, USA. First bursting onto the music scene while still a teenager, opera baritone Groban updates the age-old genre with modern music styles such as pop and dance. Groban began singing while in the seventh grade, but despite possessing enormous potential, took a break from music for a couple of years after changing schools. It was not until being accepted to Michigan’s prestigious Interlochen Arts Program that Groban began to focus mainly on developing his talent, as he sang in several musical theatre productions. He began studying with a vocal coach who knew renowned producer/composer David Foster, who had contacted the teacher to see if he could recommend anyone to sing at rehearsals for an event that he was arranging for the Governor of California's Inauguration. Groban got the gig, and subsequently, began a fruitful relationship with Foster, resulting in a then-17 year old Groban filling in for an ill Andrea Bocelli at the rehearsals for the 1999 Grammy Awards.
When Warner Brothers Records inquired about signing the young singer to a recording contract, Groban put his schooling on hold to pursue his music career. His self-titled debut was issued in November 2001, and featured a commercially appealing mixture of classical and pop material sung to the accompaniment of piano. The album was produced and arranged by Foster, and featured appearances by Charlotte Church, the Corrs, Rhys Fulber, and Lili Haydn. Around the same time, Groban put his acting and vocal talents to use in the season finale of the US television show, Ally McBeal, singing ‘You’re Still You’ in the character of Malcolm Wyatt.
An in-concert set was released as a stop-gap the following year while the singer worked on his new studio album. Closer, released in November 2003, confirmed Groban’s star status in his homeland, taking up residence in the US Top 10 over the Christmas period and achieving multi-platinum status. The album eventually topped the charts in January 2004. Another live release paid testament to the artist’s in-concert appeal and was followed in 2006 by his third studio collection, Awake. This album updated Groban’s sound with a wider range of instrumentation and guest appearances from African artists Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Vusi Mahlasela. The artist’s holiday collection Noel topped the US charts the following November, the first Christmas-themed album to achieve the feat since Kenny G.’s Miracles in 1994.
