KEEPING IT REEL

JOSH GROBAN TURNED TO THE MOVIES WHEN MAKING HIS NEW ALBUM, HE TELLS CASEY COOPER-FISKE

- CASEY COOPER-FISKE

Francis Ford-Coppola

LAST year American singer Josh Groban looked back at his 25-year career with a compilation of his work called Gems.

Now, having had his songs appear in numerous movies - including a duet with Miss Piggy in Muppets Most Wanted - he’s turning to the world of film.

On his new album Cinematic the 45-year-old star, best known for songs such as his version of You Raise Me Up, To Where You Are and The Prayer, has covered some of his favourite songs from the big screen.

Among the tracks selected by the five-time Grammy nominee are Can You Feel The Love Tonight from The Lion King (1994), Stand By Me from the 1986 film of the same name and Unchained Melody from Ghost (1990), but the idea for the album first came from Francis Ford Coppola, director of classic movies such as The Godfather (1972) and Apocalypse Now (1979).

“The nucleus of it at first was that I was asked by him to sing The Godfather theme, when he was awarded the AFI (American Film Institute) Life Achievement Award,” Josh says.