A crooner with serious cool

He has sold 25 million albums and featured in The Simpsonsand Glee. So why is singerJosh Groban is still outside the mainstream?

SO, WHO the hell buys Josh Groban’s records? I’m asking, because in an era where CD sales have dropped, this 29-year-old American has sold 25 million copies of his albums to date. Yet, ask sizeable swathes of the population here in Ireland who he is, and many would have difficultly naming any of his hit singles or picking him out from a line-up. Which is surprising, because there aren’t many modern singers who have featured in an entire episode of the TV hit series

Glee

, been name-checked on

The Simpsons

, or feature as performer of choice for everyone from reigning Popes to Presidents. If none of that rings any bells for you, then four other words should help jog your memory. You. Raise. Me. Up.

Groban recorded the Brendan Graham song in 2003, and it helped win him a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal performance. He got his first break in his late teens filling in for an ill Andrea Bocelli at a rehearsal with Celine Dion. Since then he has become one of the biggest classical pop performers on the planet, collaborating with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon and Barbara Streisand.

The singer has just released his fifth studio album, Illuminations, which was produced by Rick Rubin and features a cover version of Declan O'Rourke's Galileo. The album is impressive for the scale and breath of the songbook, with most of the tracks co-written by Groban and Dan Wilson, who is best known for his work with the Dixie Chicks. While it retains an operatic scale, the songs are sung with simple intensity, and highlights include a cover of Nick Cave's Straight to You and a moving track written by Rufus Wainright and his late mother, Kate McGarrigle.

Groban and Rubin appear a somewhat unlikely musical alliance. “Rick Rubin and I met unexpectedly and are the last people who thought we’d be in a room together,” says Groban, “I had been a fan of his work and he admired my singing from afar. I was terrified to meet the guy as he is the kind of guy you never see smile in pictures and is such a fan of heavy rock records. I expected him not to want to give my music the time of day, so I was surprised when we both started talking about albums almost immediately.” The result, Groban says, was an album that is a kickback to the days of Sinatra, with Rubin bringing a distinct personal intimacy to the recordings.

“Rick loves creating moments and is not about the perfect performance. He’ll be in the back of studio nodding back and forth, and if something sounds powerful to him and has emotion, then he trusts his ear,” Groban says, “Most producers are very type A, and like to be at the controls and on computers. A lot of them are self-compulsive and hear imperfections and try to zap them and make clean, sterile records. He’s not like that.”

Of interest to an Irish audience is Groban's version of Declan O'Rourke's Galileo, which is already proving a hit at his live shows. He says he has yet to meet the Irish singer, but when they do meet, he owes him a drink. "It is a wonderful song," he says, "It has been one of my favourites for the last few years. Someone sent me a You Tube clip and I played it for Rick and we did it. It's not a traditional love song – it is one that appeals to the over-thinker in me. I haven't met Declan yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Next time I stop in Dublin I have to invite him for a pint."

The thing about Groban that surprises me, in so far as I can judge from a 20-minute phone conversation, is that he is not afraid to take the mick out of himself. An appearance on the weekly BBC satirist show Never Mind the Buzzcocks last year suggested this (he guest presents this Christmas), and next year he takes a leading role in a comedy with Steve Carrell. “I love doing things like Never Mind the Buzzcocks and making people laugh. I was always the class clown, probably in an effort to make up for feeling less popular. So many people think I am a little odd in that I take the music very seriously but not myself. I am the guy who will absolutely have the focus of a cheetah when I’m with a 76-piece orchestra, but then want to go and tell pub jokes after.” He says he is fine with being consistently labelled a “crossover” artist, and doesn’t feel under pressure to pitch his tent permanently in either the pop or classical campsite.

He feels his lack or mainstream radio play has been something of a blessing. “I feel very lucky that I have fans who want to hear whole records. I don’t have many top 40 hit singles, my fans are interested in all tracks from one to 13.” Once the publicity for the current album is out of the way, he will sit down to plan a European tour, with a date in Ireland almost certain.

“I would absolutely love to play Ireland and my management team are excited about the prospect. We’ll sit down and look at it in January. Like all artists my fans inspire me. This record is a great challenge for me, and that’s the way I want it in every one I do.”

Illuminationsis out now

Groban on ...

Being a crossover artist

“I’m not on my way to more pop or on my way to grand opera. I live in that grey world and it is a world that is neither here nor there.”

The song You Raise Me Up

“I knew it was a beautiful song but I actually didn’t think it would get on radio. It’s very different to the type of song on radio now. But once I started singing it, fans started calling radio stations requesting it, and it went from there.”

His karaoke favourite

"I love to sing Guns 'N' Roses and Queen. You have got to go big or go home in karaoke, and rock music has that range. I usually sing November Rainor maybe Welcome to the Jungle. It's a good 10-minute epic song and it allows every one sit down and have a drink while I belt it out."

His first CD

"I think the first ever CD I got was Paul Simon's There Goes Rhymin' Simon.I had bought cassettes before that, but that was the first CD and I wore that record out and was very inspired by him."