I learned of Josh by the way of two young relatives. I heard them talking about him all the time, but I assumed he was just another over annoyingly, overrated, and under talented boy singer like Justin Timberlake.
One night on the way home from work I had Delilah on the radio and I heard The Prayer with Josh and Charlotte Church. I knew her angelic voice and was just sobbing by the end of the song. Then I heard Delilah name the song by Josh and Charlotte. Josh Groban? Could this be the same Josh Groban my young cousins had gone on about?
I was coming down I-85 near the Speedway Blvd. Exit. In moves that belonged on the racetrack, I quickly cut across 4 lanes of traffic to make the exit and head towards the mall. I slid my van into the parking lot and made a mad dash for FYE. I then almost attacked the poor clerk in such a way Vic Mackey and the strike team from The Shield would have impressed! After apologizing to the poor guy, he directed me to the classical section and Josh where by I picked up a copy of his first CD Josh Groban and made a mad dash for the cash register to check out. I quickly ran home and drew a bubble bath. I turned on my Jacuzzi jets, turned my CD player on full blast, and for more than an hour I listed to the moist beautiful voice I had heard in a long time. Oh, and somewhere along the line I did notice this guy was absolutely gorgeous.
Josh’s professional start began in 1997 at Grey Davis’ Inaugural Event. Producer David E. Kelly heard his remarkable voice and saw the audience’s reaction to him, so we wrote him into his popular TV show Ally McBeal . A year later he stood in for the equally talented Andrea Bocilli to perform The Prayer with Celine Dion at The Grammy’s. Rosie O’Donnell saw his riveting performance and promptly had him to perform on her show. He has been going strong ever since then.
Josh is often credit as being a classical singer. But his music ranges from classical and opera to pop and Broadway. He has preformed at the Olympics, the Superbowl, and the Oscars (where he should have preformed by himself and not with the annoying Beyonce). He also sang last year at the Kennedy Center Honors. He preformed Music of the Night from the Phantom of the Opera when Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was honored. He will also be performing at the Concert for Diana next month with Sarah Brightman. His first PBS Special in 2002 resulted with the #1 selling CD of the year. This hot 26 year old has received the love and adoration of millions of fans throughout the world. From his self titled debut album to his current Awake CD, millions of fans have fallen in love with his powerful and angelic voice. Me included.
What is most unexpected about Josh’s fan is the diversity. Go to a Josh Groban concert and you see young squealing pre-teens, not known for their musical taste, to those who qualify for senior discounts. As witnessed by 5 women who sat beside of me. It was a great grandmother, grandmother, mom, and her 2 daughters. They screamed and shouted for Josh and during his more somber songs, they all sat holding hands and moving to the music. Unlike many other musicians, I don’t think Josh’s fans can be pegged into any particular statistic.
What is also surprising is that Josh performs at major concert arenas. I saw him at the RBC Center which is where the Hurricanes play. I also found out from my waitress, that they moved the women’s basket ball game to another venue to allow a bigger arena for Josh and his fans! Normally singers given the label "classical" singer perform at performing arts centers, not at the places Bono and U2 perform at. Over the years I have had the honor to see Charlotte Church, Sarah Brightman, Rene Flemming, Linda Eder, and Yo Yo Ma perform. And I have seen them perform at the performing arts center with about 2500 fans. On April 15, 2000 I did have the immense honor of seeing Luciano Pavarotti perform and now he performed at the Charlotte Colsieum before a crowd of more than 10,000 fans. But he’s Pavarotti .
I had the great opportunity to see Josh in 2005 when he was in town. So there was no way I was missing Josh again. His new Awake CD is a delight and if you have never heard Josh, now would be the time to start listing. Two of his songs, Lullaby and Weeping are preformed with the equally talented Ladysmith Black Mambazo and features the hit You Are Loved . For almost 2 hours Josh sang a mixture of classics and opera arias. Josh doesn’t use a lot of pyrotechnics and stage props in his show. When you have his voice you don’t need to. During the pop song "Machine" there is a nifty video playing. He started out the Night with "You are Loved ". He also performed the beautiful African inspired song "Stone in Her Heart" with his opening act Angelique Kidjo. Her voice is as smooth a silk and rich. She sounds a lot like Tsidii Leloka (she played Sukeena in Stephen Kings’ Rose Red ) who played the original Rafiki in the The Lion King . During "In Her Eyes" Josh appeared out in the audience and made his way through the throngs of yelling and screaming fans back to the stage. He came down our aisle and yes I was lucky enough to shake his hand and get a peck on the cheek! The night ended with the emotionally stirring "You Raise Me Up" with a local choir for back up. Josh preformed the song at Superbowl XXXVIII to honor the crew of the spaceship Columbia disaster. When you go see Josh make sure you bring Kleenex, you will need them.
Also performing with Josh were cellist, Colette Alexander, and violinist, Lucia Micarelli. Lucia played with him when I saw him in 2005. She has been performing professionally since the age of 6! Both women are astoundingly talented. During a break, Lucia, Colette, and the rest of the band performed the song "Cashmere" by Led Zeppelin . Leaving me thinking "dang those girls have skills!". Imagine this hard hitting rock song performed to perfection by an orchestra and Lucia’s violin replacing Robert Plants vocals. Amazing! The show was just mind-blowing and Josh and his crew received several standing ovations. The only thing missing was Josh performing ‘To Where You Are". This hauntingly beautiful song was written by Richard Marx (yes of 80’s fame Richard Marx) in tribute to the families and victims of 9/11. We played this solemn song last year at my grandmother’s funeral and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
If you have never heard of Josh, I recommend you go out and buy his CD’s immediately. This young mans voice is truly the voice of an angel. His songs are so passionate and he pours all of that passion into his concerts as well. If Josh is coming to your town, make sure you go see him. For more information on Josh you can go to www.joshgroban.com
Very highly recommended