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Josh Groban Credit: Photo by Sami Drasin<\/p>\nJosh Groban Credit: Photo by Sami Drasin<\/p>\n
Between a new album, an engagement, and five upcoming dates in Vegas scheduled for this fall, Josh Groban has already had a hell of a year.<\/p>\n
Last month, the 45-year-old crooner dropped Cinematic, a 10-track record featuring some of his personal favorite songs from the silver screen. Not necessarily showtunes (read: 2015\u2019s Stages), but more like a stirring version of Adele\u2019s \u201cSkyfall\u201d and Ben E. King\u2019s \u201cStand By Me,\u201d the latter being an album-closing nod to the tragedy of Rob and Michelle Reiner.<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cI always knew that [these songs] were right in my wheelhouse to sing, but I think what surprised me[\u2026] is just how relevant the songs themselves outside of the films are to me and my life,\u201d Groban told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay during a recent phone call from Montreal.<\/p>\n He cites the record\u2019s collaborations with the Gay Men\u2019s Chorus of Los Angeles on Elton John\u2019s \u201cCan You Feel The Love Tonight?\u201d and his father Jack Groban playing trumpet for the first time in decades on \u201cMoon River\u201d as his most personal selections. The father-son piece saw the Groban clan mosey down to Sunset Sound\u2014where Louis Armstrong would often record<\/a>\u2014and witness the family patriarch sit on Satchmo\u2019s stool while laying down his tracks.<\/p>\n In terms of his stage life, just before Christmas last year, Mr. \u201cYou Raise Me Up\u201d took to \u201cThe Jennifer Hudson Show\u201d to help announce a limited, co-headlining tour with the EGOT host of the talk show. <\/a>And based on how well his baritone and Hudson\u2019s soprano blended together on \u201cUnchained Melody\u201d\u2014which also appears on Cinematic\u2014you\u2019d think that this summer tour was ages in the making.<\/p>\n The two met over a decade ago, but never did a serious collaboration until Groban\u2019s 2024 holiday special \u201cHome For the Holidays,\u201d where they duetted on \u201cO Holy Night\u201d and realized that they just had to collaborate again. \u201cIt was just two ships passing. We would be on the same bill, or we would just sing a little bit for fun backstage or on her show,\u201d Groban told CL.<\/p>\n Their joint tour rolls into Tampa next week, which marks Groban\u2019s first appearance in the area since a 2022 gala with The Florida Orchestra on the other side of the Bay. It\u2019s been a bit longer for Hudson, who hasn\u2019t touched ground in Tampa since she sang the National Anthem for one Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, being followed by a halftime show from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.<\/p>\n Tickets to see Josh Groban and Jennifer Hudson play Tampa\u2019s Benchmark International Arena on Friday, June 19 are still available and start at $71.30.<\/a><\/p>\n Read our full Q&A with Josh Groban below.<\/p>\n Hi Josh, how are you?<\/p>\n I\u2019m well, Josh. How are you?<\/p>\n I\u2019m so good. Thanks so much for doing this with me today. <\/p>\n Of course.<\/p>\n Are you in Quebec right now? <\/p>\n I am, yes. In Montreal.<\/p>\n Nice. Last day before the tour, huh? <\/p>\n That\u2019s right, yeah, exciting. Last rehearsal\u2019s today.<\/p>\n Wow. So, first of all, I wanted to congratulate you on your engagement at Disneyland<\/a> the other month. Speaking as someone whose parents got engaged at Disney World here in Florida, those photos were super sweet.<\/p>\n Oh my gosh, so you get it! Or they get it, at least. *laughs*<\/p>\n Yeah. Since your relationship with Natalie took off, do you think your views on success and happiness have changed or evolved? <\/p>\n Well, I mean, I started in this business really young and so obviously, the quest for finding the real balance in my life has been something that\u2019s been ongoing. I\u2019ve been kinda married to my work for a really long time, and so I think if there\u2019s anything that allows you to widen your lens in a way. Love is the thing that can do that more than anything. So yeah, of course, it goes without saying that finding your person, I think, makes anything bigger and better.<\/p>\n Going into this tour a little bit. How did you first meet Jennifer Hudson? Like, what made you guys hit it off so quickly?<\/p>\n Yeah, we kinda kept running into each other at a number of different events over the last, I\u2019d say 10, maybe even like 15 years. I\u2019d always see her at charity events and Grammy parties and things like that. I would always run into her backstage, and we would just have a hug and say, like, \u201cI\u2019m a big fan, let\u2019s figure something out one day,\u201d you know, these things happen in the music business, you meet people all the time, and you\u2019ve got a bucket list duet on your mind. But years pass, and schedules don\u2019t line up, and\u2014she has her talk show, and so being on the talk show, we got to sing together a little on her couch, and that felt really amazing.<\/p>\n And then, the real thing that kicked it off was a couple of years ago, I hosted a Christmas special called \u201cHome For The Holiday\u201d and she was one of the guests on there. We sang \u201cO Holy Night\u201d together, which is a very classical song, but it can be done in multiple different ways. We did that as a duet where our styles matched really well, we\u2019re hitting that high note at the end, and we looked at each other and kinda went, \u201cLet\u2019s please find a way to really do this and record something together.\u201d And obviously, making an album that\u2019s about the grandness of cinematic music, I just thought, \u201cThere\u2019s nobody I would like to blend voices with again more than Jennifer.\u201d Then, obviously, for our schedules to line up again for the summer tour, I just feel so lucky, and to be able to sing our song every night is gonna be a lot of fun.<\/p>\n I definitely want to get into Cinematic and \u201cUnchained Melody\u201d with you a little bit, but before I do, was \u201cO Holy Night\u201d the very first time you two ever sang together? <\/p>\n It was, yeah.<\/p>\n Oh, wow, so it wasn\u2019t that long ago.<\/p>\n No, it wasn\u2019t. I mean, it was just two ships passing. We would be on the same bill, or we would just sing a little bit for fun backstage or on her show. But yeah, that was our first, real song we sang together?<\/p>\n So, what made \u201cUnchained Melody\u201d the perfect collaboration for you two? Because those harmonies were just delicious. <\/p>\n *laughs* They are delicious, I agree. Um, honestly, it just came from both of us feeling a great, great love of that song. I sent her some song ideas that we were thinking of for the album and we both\u2014in the back of my head, I was thinking, \u201cgosh, I really hope she picks this one.\u201d And she was the first person to kind of raise her hand and say, \u201cplease \u2018Unchained Melody.\u2019\u201d The reason it wasn\u2019t an immediate idea was because I don\u2019t think I\u2019d ever really heard it as a duet before. Lyrically, it\u2019s usually about one person\u2019s very solitary longing for this unrequited love. And so, the idea of two people miles apart finding their way back to each other in the message of our version, and to blend our voices together was an amazing challenge, and it just came out of a lot of love for the song. We both love it very much and wanted to take on the challenge of figuring out how to make it ours.<\/p>\n Is there any personal meaning behind the other songs that you picked for Cinematic? What went into the selection process for you?<\/p>\n Yeah, a lot of personal meaning. I think probably even more personal meaning than I was expecting when I thought it would be a good time to make a concept album like this. I always knew I was gonna love the songs. I always knew that they were right in my wheelhouse to sing, but I think what surprised me\u2014and this happened when I did the theatre album [Stages] as well\u2014is just how relevant the songs themselves outside of the films are to me and my life, to the world. I think some examples of that are\u2014Greg [Wells] and I were looking at what songs we might want to sing one day, or what demos we might wanna try or lyrics we might wanna look deeper at, and we\u2019re looking at \u201cCan You Feel the Love Tonight.\u201d You look at and think of that song, you think \u201cElton, \u2018Lion King,\u2019 Elton, \u2018Lion King,\u2019\u201d going \u201cwhat could possibly be added to this that isn\u2019t there already?\u201d We were just doomscrolling and going \u201cwhat if we just focus on the love element of this, and the love that\u2019s needed in the world right now?\u201d Because that question I don\u2019t think has been asked stronger than any other time that I can remember! So we decided to just lean into the anthemic nature of the realness of that question. And collaborating obviously with the Gay Men\u2019s Chorus of Los Angeles, a community that very much needs to feel the love currently\u2014it just wound up having a real deeper meaning when we went into it.<\/p>\n Another example is \u201cMoon River,\u201d being able to collaborate with my dad on the trumpet for the first time in like, 50 years. Him kinda pulling out the ax and playing on the song was very nostalgic and very meaningful for both of us. It was like a real tearjerker of a recording session for me. Every single song, I could go down the list of every one of them and find the why, because if you can\u2019t find the internal why, then the list becomes paralyzing. I could go down a list of 100 of these songs and just say \u201chere\u2019s a beautiful version, here\u2019s a beautiful arrangement.\u201d I don\u2019t go into the booth unless there winds up being something about it that feels particularly right for my soul at that moment.<\/p>\n Nice. And you mentioned \u201cMoon River,\u201d you and your dad recorded that at Sunset Sound, right? Where Louis Armstrong used to record?<\/p>\n That\u2019s right, yeah.<\/p>\n That\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n And that was Greg Wells, he was the man. He knew that my dad was coming in, he\u2019s got a real connection with his dad as well and understands that. He said \u201cwell, let\u2019s make this really special. Let\u2019s not just have him pop over \u2014 let\u2019s get a really special room that has a lot of history for this moment.\u201d So, he called Sunset Sound and we got, I think it was like, Studio 2. It was one of the rooms that that Armstrong used to really record a lot in. And they even said, \u201cyou know, I think they\u2019ve still got Louis\u2019 stool that he used to sit on.\u201d \u201cYeah, we still have that in the closet.\u201d \u201cCan you guys bring that out?\u201d Greg set it up so well, and so, we made it a family day.<\/p>\n My mom was there, my brother, my sister-in-law, my two year old nephew is watching Grandpa play for the first time, my fianc\u00e9 was there. We just made a really special afternoon of it, and to watch my dad in his element\u2026like, he\u2019s been in business for 50 years and so, to watch him pick up the trumpet, for the ear to still be there, for the lips to still be there, for his musicality and improvisation skills to still be on full display? That\u2019s where I got my musical DNA from. It was a a really amazing day.<\/p>\n I was actually gonna ask you about that day, and if doing \u201cMoon River\u201d with your dad was considered a full circle moment for you. Like, would you consider him as someone who veered you towards the arts as a kid? <\/p>\n You know, it\u2019s interesting because I definitely got my ear from him. He was always musical in the house, right? He was always playing piano. We had a piano in the house, which was like, a super lucky thing. He was always whistling and just, my musical ear definitely came from him, but he was by no means a stage dad. Neither was my mom, There wasn\u2019t like a push to say, \u201cokay, well I\u2019m musical, so I want our kids to be artistic too.\u201d I don\u2019t think they knew what they were even doing. They were just saying, \u201clook, we\u2019re gonna put our kids in front of it,\u201d as every parent should do: Access to the arts, and making sure that young people experience the arts is one of the greatest gifts any parent can give their kids.<\/p>\n And so, what I did all by myself\u2014because it was just in me\u2014was that I would watch these concerts or theater performances or whatever they were, then I would come home completely transformed. I would come home and I would want to learn every song. I would want to sit at the piano and figure out the music. I\u2019d wanna learn a new image. So, they just kinda saw these these lightbulbs continue to go off, and they didn\u2019t have to push at all. What they did do was see that that was happening in me, and then said \u201cyes, and\u2026\u201d to those ideas. They would say, \u201cokay, maybe this class would be good for his excitement. Or this camp might be fun to kind of keep doing theatre because he loves theatre.\u201d So what they did was continue to support it when I got the bug, but they didn\u2019t push it at all.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s so important to do. I know we\u2019re running out of time, so I wanted to ask you about \u201cSweeney Todd\u201d real quick. During that run, how did you get into the headspace of a murderer every night before going on stage?<\/p>\n Well, I think the thing that interesting for me\u2014because the murder thing is the finish line\u2014is who was the human being that became that? And, under the right amount of pressure and trauma, what was the thing about Benjamin Barker, the man who became Sweeney Todd that is in everybody? What is the thing that made him a loving husband, a loving father, a small business owner? Somebody who, for all intents and purposes, nobody was pointing their finger going \u201cthat\u2019s the guy?\u201d You know, I love the true crime stuff on Netflix. I love watching profiles of these monsters, and the thing that is the most chilling when I watch them is the person who was just the guy next door. When you just have no idea what was going on, that\u2019s the thing that sends chill down your spine.<\/p>\n So for me, the act of what wound up happening after the snap occurs, is the final straw. But the thing that interested me, and the thing that our goal to make the character more human\u2014and that was a choice, because Sweeney Todd can for sure just lean entirely into this kind of Grand Guignol, heady, dreadful-style, like\u2014that\u2019s the monster. There\u2019s the bad guy, here are the clowns, you know. And I\u2019ve loved Sweeney versions that are that way. Tommy Kail and I, and Annaleigh [Ashford], we all had a vision to kind of try and find the people behind these characters, and to find a little bit more realism to how this might have happened. And that to me, was is always way scarier. Absolutely.<\/p>\n *This interview has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tFunny how the universe works.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tIncluding Displace\u2019s album release, the Andy Karpay memorial, Old Mervs, \u00d6ona Dahl and more.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tKatara and Antro Banks open this stacked bill.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n This article appears in June 11 \u2013 17, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/53132b4d-9976-4fc2-96d5-8e978427392b_source.webp\")
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