Josh Groban will always remain a student — and that’s why he’s here to stay

When you’re 17, it’s only then that you start the process of figuring yourself out, and that’s normal. At this age, you spend most of your time exploring what you like and don’t like, what kind of clothes you love to wear, and what music you enjoy listening to. But what do you do when you’re suddenly thrust into a world where music becomes the center of your universe - and your immediate surroundings go from school halls to theaters filled with eager spectators? Perhaps acclaimed singer Josh Groban can answer that. Decades of growth and wisdom The first time Groban made a mark under the spotlight was when he was asked to fill in for Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli had fallen ill, and at the last minute, couldn’t make it to the 1999 Grammy Awards rehearsal where he was set to sing “The Prayer” alongside Celine Dion. The next best man for the job? A 17-year-old, it seemed. Dressed in a black suit, a smiling Groban had walked across the stage toward Dion, gave her kisses on both cheeks, and got down to business. It was Dion who started the duet, and when Groban let the public hear his tenor vocals for the first time, it was like watching the then-17-year-old begin cementing his legacy in the music scene in the years to come. But like anyone suddenly pushed into the limelight at a young age, pressure became an all too familiar feeling for Groban. “I didn’t know who I was at 17. I don’t think anybody really knows who they are at 17, and yet I was being given this platform and this style of music that was very grand and very emotionally deep. And I felt like I had this responsibility to be a pillar of those emotions for so many people and for so many audience members, many of which were so many years older than I was. And so, it’s like a puppy with big paws,” he added. His impact was global, and it had reached the Philippines by the time he released his self-titled debut album in 2001. His song “You Raise Me Up” would even become a mainstay in Filipino households, with budding young singers even performing it on stage at talent shows. Play Video Through it all, Groban had always just been trying his best - likening the experience of navigating all this at such a young age to wearing a coat that was too long for him. But it was all just part of the process. “I was doing the best that I could with the limited life experience that I had with my music early on. And as I’ve grown up in this business and as I’ve gotten older and actually lived a pretty nuanced life of ups and downs and love and loss, my music that I’ve found and sung and written and done theater with, I think represents those stories of my life,” he told Rappler. Soon after, it...

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