Josh Groban One of Hottest Tickets on Tour Circuit
The Grand Rapids Press
February 27, 2005
Josh Groban, the sneaker-wearing singer who packs arenas instead of opera halls, celebrates his 24th birthday tonight singing "Believe" from "The Polar Express" on the 77th Annual Academy Awards broadcast.
Then he's off to West Michigan for a Tuesday performance in Van Andel Arena, virtually in the back yard of "The Polar Express" creator Chris Van Allsburg's old town, East Grand Rapids.
"My parents had read the book to me, so I really connected to the film. It takes me back to my child place," Groban said from his tour bus enroute to Moline, Ill., last week. "It's so great to find a sweet, beautiful Christmas song that makes you feel good."
Although Groban recorded the song on the soundtrack, Beyonce was scheduled to sing the Oscar-nominated song on the telecast. Though Groban was disappointed, he canceled two tour stops for a chance to perform a duet with Beyonce on the show.
"Some songs wouldn't make a duet, but 'Believe' is so simple in melody and message, it will work, " Groban said.
But don't ask the self-described computer geek which movie should win the Oscar. He's been too busy the past year on an extended tour to see any of the nominated movies.
"I feel like I'm giving up a lot, losing my youth," he said. "I'm going to have a major midlife crisis one of these days."
The curly-haired classical-crossover musician is riding a wave of popularity with two albums in the Billboard Top 200. "Closer," his 2003 release, has sold more than 4 million copies. He sells out major venues, and his core audience of middle-aged women is expanding to young marrieds and preteens.
"VH-1 and MTV take for granted what young people want to hear," he said. "I love to look out into the audience and see people my age. We're appealing to a wider group."
But most critics and retail outlets still have a hard time deciding how to classify his Italian love songs and lushly orchestrated ballads.
"Let the listener decide," Groban said. "I find it in all parts of the music store, and that's OK."
If pressed to name a genre, Groban refers to his music as pop with classical effects. He said he was thrilled to get a Grammy nomination for male pop vocalist.
"I want to widen what pop is, rather than change what classical is," he said. "It's not the pop you get on Top 40 radio stations. As I travel the world, it's amazing what is on the radio as pop music in different regions."
Groban said he has a visceral reaction to music, and he knows within a few bars whether the melody is for him.
"I absolutely want to sing songs that I can sing with all of my heart. A song I sing has to be something I can connect with," he said. "No matter how many times I hear it, it gets me every time."
Groban, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, said his early interest in music took a serious turn when he spent two high-school summers at Interlochen Arts Camp.
"It took it from a hobby to the skills to make it professional. But more important, I met other kids from all over the world who had the same interest. We all had one vision."
Groban said performing a sold-out show in Interlochen's Kresge Auditorium last summer was an incredible, nostalgic experience.
"When I saw the light in kids' faces, I saw myself again in my blue camper clothes."
Groban did a camper chat for 1,500 students, telling them Interlochen was their happy place before music turns into a business.
"Pretty soon, you are signing on the dotted line and worrying about percentages; you have become a product.The only thing that gets you through is remembering what made you want it in the first place," he said.
Groban's big break came soon after Interlochen when producer David Foster asked him to fill in for Andrea Bocelli in the dress rehearsal for the 1999 Grammy Awards.
His performance of "The Prayer" with Celine Dion won an appearance on Rosie O'Donnell's show. Then David Kelley cast him in a couple of "Ally McBeal" episodes.
But he reached millions when he sang in the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Groban planned a career in musical theater, studying at Pittsburg's Carnegie Mellon University for six months before being lured away by a recording contract with Warner Brothers.
He said he misses the college experience and hopes to return some day to learn science, history and other basics.
"Right now, I'm learning from the road. It's like a 24-hour-a-day master class."
Groban says he has been seeing a special girl for about 18 months, though he's been on the road most of that time.
"I didn't mean to be an on-the-road boyfriend. It was supposed to be a three-month tour, but then we started selling out in 20 minutes, and they decided to do a bigger tour and move into arenas."
Whenever he gets a break in his tour schedule and returns to his home in Los Angeles, he enjoys driving his Porsche. He is planning to get a motorcycle, even though some of his motherly fans would have a fit.
"I may seem sweet and boring," he said. "But there's a real boy in there, too."
HOME