JOSH GROBAN DEALS IN GEMS, NOT HITS

The pop-classical singer readies his soaring baritone and repertoire of nearly 25 years for Hollywood Bowl solo shows

- BY MIKAEL WOOD

A FEW MONTHS after releasing his career retrospective, "Gems," Josh Groban will be performing some of his most popular songs alongside the L.A. Philharmonic.

Josh Groban views his pair of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend as a form of debt repayment.

In 2009, when he was a boyish 28, the Bowl “very generously put me in their hall of fame before I'd even performed there,” says the singer and actor known for the soaring baritone he brings to a repertoire spanning pop, Broadway and classical music. Four years later, Groban played the Bowl’s annual July Fourth Fireworks Spectacular — but only as part of a program long on patriotic orchestral tunes.

“So these are kind of my first two proper solo shows” at the iconic hillside amphitheater, he says. “I'm slowly working my way towards earning my induction.”

Scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights, the dates will pair Groban, now 44, with the L.A. Phil nearly a quarter-century after the release of his self-titled 2001 debut, which he made under the tutelage of his mentor David Foster (who also helped make global stars of Andrea Bocelli and Michael Bublé). In 2023, he played the title role in a Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's “Sweeney Todd”; this past May, he released a career retrospective called “Gems” and launched a residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Next month in New York, Groban’s Find Your Light Foundation will hold its annual benefit gala to raise money for arts education—a mission the singer says has taken on new importance amid President Trump’s aggressive cuts to government spending.

“It’s a huge call to action,” the L.A. native says over coffee on a recent morning in the Valley. “Now is a time when we need to remind people that the arts are a reminder of our humanity — and that we're losing who we are in this divisive climate.”

You're back in L.A. after a spell in New York.