Early Life and Education
Groban was born in Los Angeles, to Lindy (née Johnston), a school teacher and full-time mother, and Jack Groban, a businessman. He has a younger brother, Chris, who shares the same birthday, four years later. Groban's father was born Jewish, and is a descendant of Russian and Polish immigrants; he converted from Judaism to Christianity when marrying Groban's mother. Groban's mother's ancestry includes Norwegian (from Toten), German, and English; one of her own grandfathers had been Jewish. Groban's parents practiced in the Episcopal Church.
Groban debuted as a singer in the fifth grade. His music teacher chose him to sing a solo of "S'wonderful" at the school's Cabaret Night, where he sang alone on stage for the first time. At this time, he was more focused on theatrical arts. In the summers of 1997 and 1998, he also attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts Camp in Michigan, majoring in music theatre, and began taking vocal lessons. Groban went on to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a theatre major and graduated in 1999. He was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University, intending to study drama, but he left four months into his first semester. Offered a recording contract, he decided to pursue his singing career.
Read more about this topic: Josh Groban
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or education:
“In the early days of the world, the Almighty said to the first of our race “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread”; and since then, if we except the light and the air of heaven, no good thing has been, or can be enjoyed by us, without having first cost labour.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“I notice well that one stray step from the habitual path leads irresistibly into a new direction. Life moves forward, it never reverses its course.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“Do we honestly believe that hopeless kids growing up under the harsh new rules will turn out to be chaste, studious, responsible adults? On the contrary, by limiting welfare, job training, education and nutritious food, won’t we plant the seeds for another bumper crop of out-of-wedlock moms, deadbeat dads and worse?”
—Richard B. Stolley (20th century)