Line #17 Music/JoshGroban


1	%%
2	%%
3	%%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1646283555046613500
4	%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
5	%%
6	%%
7	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/groban.png]]
8	[[caption-width-right:349:[[Series/{{Glee}} He is an angel sent from heaven to deliver platinum records unto us.]]]]
9	%%
10
11	-> ''"Sons and daughters of England. I urge you not to purchase my record. Do something nice, make a card, buy a puppy for her. Chocolates, there are really so many things you can do to make your mother happy than buy a Josh Groban CD, so please, from Josh Groban... stay away."''
12	-->--'''[[SelfDeprecation Josh Groban]]''', ''Series/NeverMindTheBuzzcocks''
13
14	Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is a singer, formerly famous for looking like a 15-year-old, and having the voice of a 300-pound, 50-year-old baritone. Now that he's in his 40s and has scruffed himself up a bit, he is largely now famous for the latter. He still has plenty of millennial fangirls, but the "Grobanites" are still seen as the grandmas of the aforementioned millennials.
15
16	Groban got his start thanks to a discovery by mega-producer David Foster, who is responsible for Music/WhitneyHouston, Music/CelineDion, and Groban's contemporary Music/MichaelBuble. He got his start as a rehearsal stand-in; during the 1999 Grammy Awards, he subbed in for Music/AndreaBocelli and performed a duet with Music/CelineDion. Creator/RosieODonnell just so happened to have witness his performance and invites him to her talk show. It wouldn’t be long before he was noticed by such big name personalities such as Creator/OprahWinfrey, Creator/EllenDeGeneres, and ''Series/AllyMcBeal'' producer David E. Kelley. The Grammy rehearsal led to California governor Gray Davis hiring the 17-year-old to perform for his inauguration, as well as David E. Kelley hiring him for a two-episode role on ''Ally [=McBeal=]''.
17
18	He was offered a record contract by Creator/WarnerBrosRecords after the inaguration, and WB's PR team hatched a plan to promote him as a boy band–type singer. Groban decided to decline the contract after WB had him do a series of fairly embarrassing photos for promotional purposes; Foster then backed the teenage Groban up, giving him a contract with his own division of WB records, 143 Records. His debut was redone as a mix of pop and opera, a formula that has given him platinum records ever since. His more recent albums, ''Illuminations'', ''All That Echoes'' and ''Bridges'', have departed from the Classical/Singing-in-Romance-Languages style of his previous albums, moving into pop, folk, Americana, as well as other genres, while ''Stages'' is entirely showtune covers.
19
20	Along with ''Series/AllyMcBeal'', Groban has done a number of TV performances. Notable examples show his sense of humor, including the 60th Emmy Awards, where he performed a love-it-or-hate-it medley of famous TV show themes. He also did the "Panda Sex Song" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZS37zD-5V8]], "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_pFTAY7MF8]] (cameo starts at 4:12) and "Josh Groban sings the tweets of Music/KanyeWest" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Axzxe1a78E]] for Jimmy Kimmel, and the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! for Creator/AdultSwim [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cqtqxGigAQ]]. He also [[AdamWesting parodied his own image]] on the ''Series/{{Glee}}'' episode "Acafellas", making himself out to look like he LikesOlderWomen.
21
22	He is also famous for spearheading a revival of the musical ''{{Theatre/Chess}}'', appearing twice as protagonist Anatoly Sergievsky. The latest appearance was at the Royal Albert Hall, starring alongside Creator/IdinaMenzel and Adam Pascal. He then went on to star in the Broadway debut of ''Theatre/NatashaPierreAndTheGreatCometOf1812'' as Pierre in 2016. As of March 2023, he plays the title role in the Broadway revival of ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''.
23
24	He dated ''Series/MadMen'''s January Jones for three years, and has been (falsely) linked several times to "I Kissed A Girl" singer and friend Music/KatyPerry.
25
26	----
27	!!Discography
28	'''Studio:'''
29	* ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Josh Groban]]'' (2001)
30	* ''Closer'' (2003)
31	* ''Awake'' (2006)
32	* ''With You'' (2007, compilation of songs from previous albums)
33	* ''Noël'' (2007, Christmas album)
34	* ''A Collection'' (2008, GreatestHitsAlbum)
35	* ''Illuminations'' (2010)
36	* ''All That Echoes'' (2013)
37	* ''Stages'' (2015)
38	* ''Bridges'' (2018)
39	* ''Harmony'' (2020)
40	'''[[LiveAlbum Live]]:'''
41	* ''Josh Groban in Concert'' (2002, recorded for PBS' Great Performances in Pasadena)
42	* ''Live at the Greek'' (2004, recorded at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles)
43	* ''Awake Live'' (2008, recorded in Salt Lake City)
44	* ''Stages Live'' (2016, recorded in August 2015 at Los Angeles Theatre prior to leaving for fall tour)
45	* ''Bridges Live: Madison Square Garden'' (2019, recorded November 2018 at Madison Square Garden on the last night of the first leg of the year long world tour in support of Bridges).
46	----
47	!!Examples:
48
49	* AdamWesting:
50	** As mentioned above, his bit on ''{{Series/Glee}}'' parodies his public image and notorious fangirls.
51	** His cameo on ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' has him singing a parody of the sort of sad ballad he's known for. (And a damn good ballad, at that.)
52	--->''We tell ourselves that we're in a movie''\
53	''Whoa, whoa, whoa''\
54	''Each one of us thinks we've got the starring role''\
55	''Role, role, role''\
56	''But the truth is, sometimes you're the lead''\
57	''And sometimes you're an extra''\
58	''Just walking by in the background''\
59	''Like me, Josh [[IncrediblyLongNote Grobaaaaaaaan]]!''
60	** Shows up for a flashback gag in ''Film/KimmyVsTheReverend'' where he laments that his famous smooth baritone singing voice [[SingingVoiceDissonance is nothing like]] his high-pitched, squeaky speaking voice.
61	* AwardBaitSong: "You Raise Me Up".
62	** "Remember", recorded for the ''Film/{{Troy}}'' soundtrack, also qualifies.
63	** "Evermore" from the soundtrack to the [[Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017 remake]] of ''Beauty and the Beast''.
64	* BreakupSong: Groban's songs are generally split up into either love songs or this. Best examples: "Broken Vow", "Awake", "Now or Never" (done with Music/ImogenHeap).
65	* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: Several from WB's attempt at making him look like he fit in with the Music/BackstreetBoys. There's also a photo out there that will get you banned on the official forums within 5 minutes for posting. Reason? Drinking before a concert when you can't handle it + hot chicks in the front row + thin pants... Poor guy. Half the fandom erupted in "how dare the photographer," and the other half laughed their asses off.
66	* MrFanservice
67	* GriefSong: "Broken Vow"
68	* HolyWar: Easily started on his official forums.
69	* IncrediblyLongNote: One of his specialties.
70	* MoralGuardians: Official forum Grobanites often act this way, invoking ThinkOfTheChildren when Groban makes any off-color jokes.
71	* MuppetCameo: He appeared with the Muppets in a video where he sang [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv8msHbqaFE&ab_channel=LindseyStirling "Pure Imagination"]], accompanied by Music/LindseyStirling.
72	* NoHitWonder: The only song he's been on that went Top 40 is "We Are The World 25", which is an ensemble song that he alone is not credited for.[[note]]He does have a few number 1 hits on the Adult Contemporary chart, though none since his version of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" in 2008.[[/note]]
73	* OneWomanWail: Backs him up in the song "Remember Me", from the soundtrack to the movie ''Film/{{Troy}}''.
74	* SingingVoiceDissonance: His trademark baritone-tenor voice, which sounds absolutely ''nothing'' like how he talks.
75	* ThinkOfTheChildren: See MoralGuardians.
76	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Groban was a top contender to succeed Regis Philbin on ''Live!''

Context Music / JoshGroban