൬ JOSH GROBAN, Gira Con Me|Alla Luce|For Always|You're Still U|The Prayer|To Where You Are|U Raise Me Up|U Are Loved|Now Or Never|Remember When It..|

Josh Groban (born Joshua Winslow Groban, February 27 1981) in Los Angeles, California to a Jewish father (a descendant of Polish and Russian immigrants) and a Norwegian mother. His maternal great-grandparents were from the eastern Norwegian district of Toten. Chris, his younger brother by four years shares a birthday with him. In late 1998 the 17-year-old Groban was introduced by his vocal coach to Grammy-winning producer/arranger David Foster. Groban worked for Foster as a rehearsal singer on a series of high-profile events including the 1999 Grammy Awards — whereas a stand-in for Andrea Bocelli he rehearsed Foster's "The Prayer" with Céline Dion — and the January 1999 inauguration of Gray Davis as governor of California.

Groban left Carnegie Mellon school after only four months into his first semester when he was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through Foster's 143 Records imprint. With regard to signing Groban Foster said: "I love his natural ability in the pop and rock arena but I love his sense of classics even more. He's a true musical force to be reckoned with." Therefore under Foster's influence Groban's first album focused more on the classics with songs such as "Gira Con Me" and "Alla Luce Del Sole" the first ones decided on by Foster and Groban.

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 involved 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 Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton and David E. Kelley and his wife Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Milken's Cap Cure event which raises funds for cancer research.

Groban played the role of Malcolm Wyatt in the May 2001 season finale of the television series Ally McBeal performing "You're Still You". The series creator David E. Kelley was impressed at Groban's performance at The Family Celebration event and based on the audience reaction to Groban's singing Kelley created a character for Groban in this finale. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular with 8000 emails from fans that Groban was asked to return the next season to reprise his role and perform "To Where You Are". The singer's self-titled debut album Josh Groban was released on November 20 2001. Over the next year it went from gold to double-platinum.

Various music critics have described Groban's voice in different ways with some referring to him as a tenor and others as a baritone. In performance, Groban's music goes as low as G2 (as in the song "To Where You Are") and extends up to at least B4 flat or the first B flat above middle C (as heard in "You Raise Me Up"). This places his voice lower than the tenor range on the low end and just short of Tenor C and therefore above the baritone rangeon the high end. In a 2002 New York Times article, Groban described himself as a "tenor in training."

On February 24 2002 Groban performed "The Prayer" with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and by November he had his own PBS special Josh Groban In Concert (2002). In December 2002 he performed "To Where You Are" and then sang "The Prayer" in a duet with Sissel Kyrkjebø at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo Norway. He then joined The Corrs, Ronan Keating, Sting, Lionel Richie and others for a Christmas performance at the Vatican in Rome Italy. In 2003 Groban performed at the David Foster created concert for World Children's Day. He performed "The Prayer" with Celine Dion and the finale song "Aren't They All Our Children" with artists including Yolanda Adams, Nick Carter, Enrique Iglesias and Celine Dion.

YOU RAISE ME UP

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;

Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,

Until you come and sit awhile with me.

*You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.

* (repeat 3x)

Two months after Closer was released it rose on the Billboard charts from number 11 to number one. His cover of Brian Kennedy's "You Raise Me Up" became very popular on the adult contemporary charts even featuring as the debut song for the always-popular Lake house 2008. Groban also performed the song "Remember" (with Tanja Tzarovska) on the Troy soundtrack "Believe" on the soundtrack to the 2004 animated film The Polar Express and a cover of Linkin Park's "My December".

You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)

Don't give up.. It's just the weight of the world

When your heart's heavy I, I will lift it for you

Don't give up.. Because you want to be heard

If silence keeps you I, I will break it for you

Everybody wants to be understood.. Well I can hear you

Everybody wants to be loved, Don't give up

Because you are loved

Don't give up. It's just the hurt that you hide

When you're lost inside I, I'll be there to find you

Don't give up.. Because you want to burn bright

If darkness blinds you I, I will shine to guide you

Everybody wants to be understood.. Well I can hear you

Everybody wants to be loved, Don't give up

Because...you are loved

Don't give up..It's just the weight of the world

Don't give up.. Everyone needs to be loved

You are loved

During the first week of September 2006 Groban's latest single entitled "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)"was exclusively released to AOL's First Listen. It was taken from his third studio album Awake which was officially released on November 7 2006. Josh Groban performed "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" as well as two other tracks from Awake at his recording session for Live from Abbey Road at Abbey Road Studios on 26 October2006. On this album Groban also collaborated with British musician and songwriter Imogen Heap on the single "Now or Never".

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. [wikipedia]