Born in Los Angeles on February 27, 1981, Joshua Winslow Groban took his first steps in song in his high school choir. Destined for a career in musical theatre after studying at a specialized school, he left university to sign a recording contract, when his voice teacher introduced him to renowned producer David Foster. In 1999, he made a name for himself by replacing tenor Andrea Bocelli at the Grammy Awards rehearsals for a duet with Céline Dion, and was invited to appear in a TV show, then in an episode of the series Ally McBeal. After his first duet with Lara Fabian for the film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence ("For Always"), Groban records a highly successful debut album of the same name, certified double platinum. Invited to sing at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, and featuring collaborations with The Corrs, Ronan Keating and Sting, his second album Closer (2003), the best-selling classic crossover of the decade, reached number one on the Billboard charts, and his next, Awake (2006), featured contributions from such diverse artists as Herbie Hancock and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. After a Christmas album (2007) and another live album, Awake Live (2008), Groban teamed up with producer Rick Rubin for the polyglot Illuminations (2010, No. 4), including tracks sung in French, Italian and Portuguese. Back at No. 1 with All That Echoes (2013), featuring contributions from trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and Italian singer Laura Pausini, the performer devotes a volume, Stages (2015), to the musical. Her fairly wide range of covers and original compositions extends to Bridges (2018, No. 2), featuring duets with Andrea Bocelli, Sarah McLachlan, Vicente Amigo and Jennifer Nettles. In 2020, it's a duet with Elton John on "Empty Sky" that comes out a few months before the album Harmony and its duets with Leslie Odom Jr., Sara Bareilles and Kirk Franklin.
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