On Josh Groban’s new album Cinematic (out May 8), the chart-topping singer-actor pays tribute to movie music, covering silver screen classics like “As Time Goes By,” “Moon River” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”
Cinematic marks Groban’s first album of new material since his Tony Award-nominated turn starring in the 2023 revival of Sweeney Todd. And that show loomed large in the early stages of making Cinematic. He says, “having just come off of the grandest score of all time with Sweeney Todd, and really putting on my big boy voice for that… I wanted to keep riding that wave… I wanted to stay in that grand zone.” At the same time, he and his team were also brainstorming ideas for what a new album could be like, thematically, and “this word cinematic kept coming up,” he tells the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen to his full interview, below).
The “grand zone” and “cinematic” ideas combined into what Groban calls “MGM-escapism” on the album. Essentially, a collection of movie songs that he could perform and take the listener on a journey. It’s “that feeling of, you know, the lights are out, and the world out there is going to take a pause for a couple hours… that’s the vibe we wanted. We wanted to lean into that escapism.”
And while the set is comprised entirely of covers, Groban notes, “This album feels personal for an album that… was such a broad idea. It whittled down to a very specific and very emotionally personal album.”
On the project, Groban is joined by Jennifer Hudson (who duets on “Unchained Melody”), his dad Jack Groban (who plays trumpet on “Moon River”) and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (on “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”). Cinematic was produced by two-time Grammy Award-winner Greg Wells. And, in keeping with the “grand” theme, was recorded largely with an orchestra, and in multiple studios across Los Angeles, New York and London.
Groban says Hudson is “so multi-talented, and such an epic vocalist.” Their first team-up came in 2024 when they sang “O Holy Night” together on the CBS-TV special Josh Groban & Friends Go Home for the Holidays. He says he immediately knew there was something special in that collaboration. “We looked at each other, we went, ‘wow’.” So, when it came time to discuss Groban’s upcoming tour, he had a “bucket list of one person” that was his dream person to come out on the road — Hudson. The stars aligned and the two were able to not only join forces for a tour (which kicks off June 2 in Montreal) but also their “Unchained Melody” duet on Cinematic.
Regarding his father, Groban says “I owe so much of my introduction of the arts to his musicality.” While his dad is not a professional trumpet player, there is “one album that he made playing trumpet back when he was in his 20s,” Groban says, and “there’s a one of one copy that we finally digitized.”
Though Groban’s father had essentially put his trumpet away for the past 40 years, and had never recorded in the studio with his son, Josh knew the timing was right for them to come together on Cinematic.
“Watching my dad fly in that studio… was just, you know, something I will remember for the rest of my life. To have… a proper recording of his playing with me, I’ll never forget it.”
Here are excerpts from the Pop Shop’s interview with Groban, below, and listen to the full interview, above.
On how the Cinematic album is an “emotionally personal album”:
I didn’t want to just do, you know, the Josh Sings… here’s just a nice bunch of nice sounding songs. I want to be able to talk about these songs in a way that has meaning, even if it’s a song that’s been around forever. We wanted to have a really great why with them. So, from the collaborations we chose, from the meanings of the songs, when we really dove into those lyrics anew, it felt personal. This album feels personal for an album that… was such a broad idea. It whittled down to a very specific and very emotionally personal album.
On how his collaboration with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles on “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King came together:
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles was my idea, and the song itself was also my idea… I’m such a fan of Elton (John, the song’s co-writer and original performer) and such a fan of that of that movie. Again, you talk about the intimidation factor of, like, just tackling a song that everybody knows so well, and you want to honor it.
But I always say that when you honor a song that you love, you want to both honor what made it special to begin with, and you also want to bring something to it in the today that you feel resonates, and you want to honor it by yes-anding what the original did.
And as we were diving into just reading the lyric, and we’re reading the lyric and reading the news, reading the lyric and doom scrolling, and reading the lyric, and going in our car and driving…
The Pop Shop interjects: “it’s like, can you feel the love?”
Exactly. And so the next day, I got into the studio with Greg [Wells], and I was like, you know, I feel like there’s a call to action, to allyship, to support… sometimes in music, you have to sing it before you believe it, you know. And that’s the power of music.
Sometimes, as an artist, it’s very therapeutic to say, well, I want to sing the song I’d like the world to be. Even if that’s not the reality. And I felt more than ever that a song like that, a question like that, and an open hand like that, was important. And of course, you can talk about that just with, you know, as a song, I could have just talked about that, but the collaboration aspect and how you’re able to possibly accentuate that with the collaboration is always something that’s really important to me.
Now, I have always been a fan of the Gay Men’s Chorus. I sang with them in [Washington] D.C. during [President Barack] Obama’s inauguration. I love what they stand for. I love the sound of their voices. And being a native Angelino, I felt like the message of the song, what we were trying to put across, and then having them in the room to sing that song with me felt like A) a great message, and B) vocally like something that would be really powerful to hear. So, it was a really fun day at the studio. They were amazing.
Josh talks about how his dad, Jack Groban, joins him on Cinematic to play trumpet on “Moon River.” Had Jack ever recorded with Josh professionally before?
Never. He has one album that he made playing trumpet back when he was in his 20s, like 22-23 [years old] in college… There’s a one of one copy that we finally digitized, so if anything were to happen to it, you know, we have proof.
I did a song called “Old Devil Moon” on my Stages album, and I did it with Chris Botti on trumpet, and Chris wasn’t available to play with me at the Dolby — we did a concert at the Dolby Theatre [in 2015] — and so I asked my dad then, if he would come out and play the solo. And he crushed it. Again, he hasn’t played in 30 years. At that point it was, it was 30 years. Now it’s been 40 years. He puts the trumpet away. His mom said to him when he was young, you know, that’s not really the best way to make a living. Go into business. You know, he came from a conservative family. And he did, and he’s brilliant at what he does. He’s going to be 80 this summer.
By the way, I had the crème de la crème. I had Terence Blanchard and Wynton Marsalis saying to me, ‘send me in coach,’ for this song. Favorite song of theirs. And they both were telling me, ‘should you need me, we’re here if you want.’
And I’m talking to Greg, and I’m going, ‘oh it’s gonna be incredible, here’s what the trumpet could be.’ … And I’m talking to my dad about “Moon River.” And I went, God, you know, this is my 10th major album. You know, my dad is one of the most important people to me in my life, and his musicality is such a part of why I’m musical. His ear is why I have an ear. He’d sit at the piano and play when I was a kid growing up. I owe so much of my introduction of the arts to his musicality. I thought, I’m actually, you know, that my favorite trumpet player in the world is actually right in front of me.
…And we set up at Sunset Sound, in the room that Louis Armstrong used to record in, his favorite room in L.A., with his stool. And surprised my dad. We had Louis’ stool there waiting for him, and a microphone from like, the ‘30s. And, you know, it was just one of those days where watching my dad fly in that studio and play along with this Vince Mendoza arrangement was just, you know, something that I will remember for the rest of my life. To have, after all of my influence with him, a proper recording of his playing with me. I’ll never forget it.
On how Jennifer Hudson became part of the album, and their upcoming tour:
We were kind of mutual admiration society for a while. We had met at a bunch of things, and just, I just worshiped Jennifer Hudson. I think she’s so multi-talented, and such an epic vocalist. So, you know, I’ve always had my bucket list of like, ‘I’d love to sing this with Jen at some point.’ That was able to happen when I hosted this [Josh Groban & Friends Go] Home for the Holidays Christmas special on CBS a couple years ago, and we sang “O Holy Night” together.
And you know, it was one of those songs where there was a lot of bigness in the vocals, a lot of intimacy in the vocals, and it’s the kind of song where it could be interpreted different ways. So I was able to kind of do it in a little bit more classical fashion, and she was able to do it in her, of course, amazing interpretation. And then leading to us both singing that “Noel” big note at the end.
And my favorite thing about duets is when you have two people from two different universes vocally, but when they blend on a song that’s powerful, you’re doing something in the sonic-sphere that neither of you could do by yourself. We both felt it when we held on to that “Noel” [note]. We looked at each other, we went, ‘Wow.’
… We hugged each other off stage and we went, ‘again, please… more of more of that, please.’ We both got chills. We both loved just, you know, bouncing off each other, the dance of our vocals together, just felt natural. Didn’t feel like a stretch. And so, when we were coming up with the tour, I had my kind of like bucket list of one person who would be my dream person to come out and join me, and we’re on the same agency. [So it was a matter of] … reaching out and seeing [if she was available]. And it just so happened, we caught her between breaks of her talk show (The Jennifer Hudson Show), and said yes.
And so that was the first thing, which was, just like, ‘we’re going to have so much fun this summer, we’re going to find some things to sing together this summer.’
And then in that finding, you know, “Unchained Melody” was one of her favorite songs of all time, one of mine as well. And hadn’t really heard many of any duets of that song. And so we decided to give it a go. Which was on paper (is) kind of scary, because it’s, it’s not written as a duet, and finding the right key for both of our voices, finding harmony opportunities. We really wanted to nail it, and so we spent our time with that. But yes, it all started with that “Noel” leading to the big note in, you know, “Unchained Melody,” and it’s a big one.
In addition to the Pop Shop’s interview with Groban, hosts Katie and Keith chat about Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” returning to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
