Josh Groban makes musical theater return in new album
On his latest album, Josh Groban returns to his love of the stage, with a collection of songs from celebrated musicals, reports CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason.
"It's been in the back of my head since I was first signed and in fact since I was a kid," he said Friday on "CBS This Morning."
Groban was just 17, singing in high school musicals, when he caught the ear of Grammy Award-winning composer and producer David Foster.
Foster called on Groban to fill in for Andrea Bocelli, who was unable to rehearse his 1999 Grammy duet with Celine Dion.
Groban started on his path for success when he signed with 143 Records, but his pursuit of theater took the back seat.
"When you're signed at 16, 17 and you have kind of an image, and I was always a really weird, goofy kid, and then all of the sudden I'm signed and I see myself staring back at me from a billboard in a very super serious manner, 'OK well I guess I have to be that guy now for a little while,'" Groban said.
Three years later, Groban released his self-titled, double-platinum debut album.
His voice is one of the most distinctive in music, but the four-time multi-platinum artist's style is difficult to pin down.
The singer, songwriter and occasional actor is celebrated for merging classical and pop music into a sound all his own.
Romantic ballads belted out in his unmistakable baritone led Rolling Stone to call the operatic pop singer "one of today's great vocal talents."
His soaring vocals on seven studio albums have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
But his theatrical roots have also planted him in movies and popular TV comedies as a guest star -- roles that often arise, he said, from members of those projects tweeting at him with the opportunity.
He's made cameos on a variety of films and shows -- including a recent stint singing Donald Trump's tweets on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" -- but noted one similarity between them all.
"They comb my hair the way my mom used to comb it in 6th grade," Groban said.
That all could change if Groban makes a move off screen and back onto the stage.
He said it's always been a goal and he's currently looking into something for 2016.
Groban said he can't rap, so a role in "Hamilton" is out of the question, but he's looking for something unique.
"I grew up admiring people like Michael Crawford, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, people who had originated great roles," Groban said. "So for me the excitement is about something new, maybe something people weren't expecting and something that takes me out of my comfort zone."
