Early career

Groban left Carnegie Mellon after only one year when he was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through Foster's 143 Records imprint. With regard to signing Groban, Foster said: "I love his natural ability in the pop and rock arena, but I love his sense of classics even more. He's a true musical force to be reckoned with." Therefore, under Foster's influence, Groban's first album focused more on the classics with songs such as "Gira Con Me" and "Alla Luce Del Sole," the first ones decided on by Foster and Groban.

Soon after being picked up by Foster, Groban went on to perform "There For Me" with Sarah Brightman on her 2000-2001 La Luna Tour, featured on her "La Luna" Concert DVD. He made his recording debut by singing "For Always" with Lara Fabian on the movie soundtrack to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Groban also became involved in many benefit shows, including the following: "The Andre Agassi Grand Slam Event For Children", singing alongside Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Don Henley and Robin Williams; "Muhammad Ali's Fight Night Foundation" which honored Michael J. Fox and others; "The Family Celebration" (2001) which was co-hosted by President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and David E. Kelley and his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer; and Michael Milken's CapCure event, which raises funds for cancer research.


Groban played the role of Malcolm Wyatt in the May 2001 season finale of the television series Ally McBeal, performing "You're Still You." The series creator, David E. Kelley, was impressed at Groban's performance at The Family Celebration event, and, based on the audience reaction to Groban's singing, Kelley created a character for Groban in this finale. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular, with 8,000 emails from fans, that Groban was asked to return the next season to reprise his role and perform "To Where You Are."

The singer's eponymous debut album Josh Groban was released on November 20, 2001. Over the next year, it went from gold to double-platinum.

On February 24, 2002, Groban performed "The Prayer" with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, and by November, he had his own PBS special, Josh Groban In Concert (2002). In December he performed "To Where You Are" and then sang "The Prayer" in a duet with Sissel Kyrkjebø at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway. He then joined The Corrs, Ronan Keating, Sting, Lionel Richie and others for a Christmas performance at the Vatican in Rome, Italy. In 2003, Groban performed at the David Foster created concert for World Children's Day. He performed "The Prayer" with Celine Dion and the finale song, "Aren't They All Our Children" with artists like Yolanda Adams, Nick Carter, Enrique Iglesias and Celine Dion.