Josh was born on February 27, 1981 in Los Angeles, California. His father is a Russian-Polish Jew, and his mother has Norwegian roots. Exactly four years after Josh was born, on February 27, 1985, Josh’s brother Christopher was born.
In 1997 and 1998, Groban attended the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan with a degree in music theater and took lessons from a private vocal teacher. In 1998, his vocal teacher, Seth Riggs, gave producer David Foster a tape of Josh performing an aria from The Phantom of the Opera, All I Ask of You. Foster loved the recording, and in January 1999, Josh performed the aria at a concert in honor of the inauguration of California Governor Gray Davis, who hosted Foster. And in February, Josh replaced Andrea Bocelli at a Grammy rehearsal, where he sang "The Prayer" with Celine Dion.
In 1999, Groban graduated from Los Angeles County High School Arts with a degree in theater, before attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he studied drama.
Groban left Carnegie Mellon only a year after being offered a contract with Warner Bros. Records through Foster's record label 143 Records. Under Foster’s influence, Groban’s first album became more classic. The album was first recorded with Alla Luce Del Sole and Gira Con Me. It also included the song "To Where You Are", music by Richard Marks and lyrics by Linda Thompson. The album was not yet finished when Groban received an offer from singer Sarah Brightman, working at the intersection of classical and modern music, to take part in her La Luna tour, which lasted from September 2000 to May 2001. During the show, he performed with Sarah the song "There for Me".
In 2001, the film “Artificial Intelligence” was released, the soundtrack to which is the duet of Josh and Lara Fabian “For Always”. Josh participates in charity events, one of which is The Family Celebration. The event was hosted by Bill Clinton with Hillary Roden Clinton and David E. Kelly with Michelle Pfeiffer. David was so impressed with Groban's performance at the event that he created the role of Malcolm Wyatt in the TV series Ellie McBeal, in which Josh also sang "You're still you." The way Groban performed the song was so different from his character that the audience decided that Groban was just an actor and the song was recorded by someone else. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular that Groban was asked to return next season and perform the song "To Where You Are".
November 20, 2001 released the debut album of the singer “Josh Groban”. In addition to "To Where You're" and "You're Still You", it includes works by Ennio Morricone (Cinema Paradiso), Bach (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring), as well as "Let Me Fall" from "Cirque de soleil". The album also includes "The Prayer", recorded with Charlotte Church, which Groban and Church performed at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics on February 24, 2002. "The Prayer" isn't the only song "borrowed" Celine Dion's coffin. The album includes Aléjate, which is a cover version of Just Walk Away.
In 2002, the disc went gold and double platinum. In November, a live version of the album and DVD "Josh Groban In Concert" was released.
In December, Groban performs at the Nobel Prize in Oslo, where he performs "To Where You Are", "The Prayer" along with Sissel and "Imagine" along with all the participants of the concert. Josh participates in both the Vatican Christmas Concert and David Foster’s World Children’s Day (2003) concert. Groban and Celine Dion perform "The Prayer".
In the same year, Groban plays the role of Anatoly in the musical Chess at the Charity Concert in support of the actor’s fund.
The second album, "Closer", which according to Groban, was the best reflection of his first album, was released on November 11, 2003. There are more songs written specifically for the singer. For example, there are two songs recorded together with Eric Mouquet from the French duo Deep Forest. Groban continues to perform well-known works – “Caruso” and “Hymne l’amour”. The special edition also includes a cover version of Linkin Park's "My December", and a cover version of "You're Raise Me Up" by Norwegian-Irish duo Secret Garden became very popular among the Adult contemporary charts and was nominated for a Grammy 2005 ("Best Male Pop Vocal Performance"). The album itself two months after its release reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart. The Closer tour took place in America, Europe and South Africa.
In 2004, two more soundtracks were released, performed by Groban: "Remember" for the film Troy, recorded with Macedonian singer Tanya Tsarovsky, and "Believe" for the Christmas cartoon Polar Express. "Believe" was nominated for an Oscar, but did not receive an award.
In the summer of 2004, Josh returned to Interlochen, where he gave a performance to the locals and residents of the camp, and shared the experience of the young performer.
On November 30, he released his second live DVD, Live At The Greek. At the concert, Josh also performed the composition “America” by Paul Simon, whose big fan Josh is.
In 2005, Groban, along with Andrea Bocelli and other famous singers, participated in the recording of "Tears in Heaven" to raise funds in support of victims of Hurricane Katrina and tsunami in South Asia.
The third album was released on November 7, 2006. On it, Groban continues to collaborate with Eric Mouke (Machine, Awake), and invites many other artists: with the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo records “Lullaby” and “Weeping”, with the American jazz pianist Herbie Hanhok “Machine”, and English singer Imogen Heep “Now or never”. Almost all the songs this time written for Josh, the exceptions are "Un gorno per noi" ("A time for us" from the movie Romeo and Juliet) and "The smile" (music by Charlie Chaplin), included only in the online edition of the album. "Un gorno per noi" was later used by Swiss figure skater Stefan Lambiel on demonstration performances.
In December, Groban performs at the annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony dedicated to Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. On it, the singer performs “The Music of the Night” from the musical “The Phantom of the Opera”. In February 2007, the singer went on tour. With "Awake" he visits America, Europe, Australia and Africa. At the same time, Grobana takes part in the recording of the album of African singer Angelique Kijo “Djin Djin”: together they perform the song “Pearls”, in which Santana played the guitar part. And on July 1, at a concert in honor of Diana in a duet with Sarah Brightman, Groban performs "All I Ask of You" from "The Phantom of the Opera."
On October 9, Groban’s Christmas album Noël is released, featuring songs from around the world – from England (What Child is this), France (Angels We Have Heard on High), Germany (Silent Night), Italy (Panis Angelicus) and the United States (Little Drummer Boy). The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the first Christmas album to be at number one on the chart for four consecutive weeks in 50 years. In 2008, the album took second place in the United States.
In early 2008, Groban again performs a duet with Celine Dion "The Prayer" for a special issue on the American channel CBS and Canadian CTV, and a little later Josh performs the same song in a duet with Bocelli at the Grammy ceremony.
The Awake tour continues in March: Josh is going to South Africa.
After the tour, Groban performs at various events: on April 23-27, Josh participates in the program of his idol Paul Simon “American Tunes”, on May 12 and 13, Josh again plays the role of Anatoly in the musical “Chess” at the Albert Hall in London, on July 27, Groban sings at a concert in honor of Nelson Mandela’s birthday. Along the way, the singer releases a live CD-DVD "Awake Live!", which will be released on May 6, and records his new album, produced by Rick Rubin.
On September 21, Groban performs at the Emmy ceremony, where he performs excerpts from the soundtracks of television series and shows.
In November, Groban releases his first collection of best songs - a two-disc edition of "A Collection" (on the first disc the collection itself, and on the second six Christmas songs), in the same month Plácido Domingo's album "Amore Infninto", which includes the duet of Domingo with Groban "La tua semplicita". A little later (December 9), Charles Aznavour’s album Duos is released, where Josh and Charles perform La boheme.
On January 18, Josh attends a concert in honor of Barack Obama’s inauguration with Heather Headley’s “My Country This of Thee”, and on March 31, participates in Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C., which aims to highlight the importance of public policy development and funding for the arts and humanities, as well as education in this area. At the event, Josh spoke before a committee of the Lower House of Congress.
On June 2, the concert DVD "An Evening in New York City" is released, its release almost coincides with the release of the DVD "Chess in Concert" (June 17).