Josh Groban Moves Crowd With Breathtaking Performance Of His Hit Song

Aug 01, 2020

Backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Rock Choir, award-winning singer Josh Groban covered Secret Garden's You Raise Me Up in front of a packed audience at BBC's annual open-air classical music festival Proms in 2018.

With its grand scale and massive Hyde Park audience, Groban’s 2018 performance is worth the watch due to its grandiosity alone. The stage is so crowded with other musicians — not to mention the huge video screen in the background — that it almost looked as if someone might fall off the edge of the stage into the packed audience. But Groban proves that however difficult it might be to coordinate so many musicians and perform on such a crowded stage, it’s worth it.

As Groban belts out the track, which was originally written by an Irish-Norwegian duo in the early 2000s, tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans raised flags and illuminated the park by waving their smartphones to the rhythm of the music. That’s not to mention that Groban’s performance benefits immensely thanks to the excellent orchestral accompaniment. Fans of the original are also sure to appreciate that Groban doesn’t take too many liberties with the emotional ballad. But it’s safe to say that Groban has a lot of experience singing You Raise Me Up. 

Early in his career, Groban found early success with the Secret Garden track. Groban’s rendition remained at the top of the adult contemporary charts for weeks in 2004, according to AllMusic. The American musician has also tried his hand at writing movie soundtracks with his single Believe, which he produced for Polar Express. And yet again, Groban’s track spent weeks on the charts. But Groban’s talent is not limited to soundtrack writing and covering other musicians’ work — he also has a highly successful solo career of his own.

It’s no wonder why BBC invited Groban to perform at the well-regarded Proms classical music festival that featured musical greats like Albert Hammond. With his smooth, baritone voice and his ability to combine the classical with pop, Groban has made a distinct name for himself as a leading vocalist both on and off the stage. According to AllMusic, his self-titled debut album, which came out in November 2001, went double platinum. Shortly thereafter, Groban also got his own PBS special and was invited to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway. Suffice it to say that Groban has had an adventurous, successful career that has had him perform with greats from pop star Kelly Clarkson to jazz legend Herbie Hancock.

For fans of covers, and to see more of Groban’s talent for transforming other artist’s music into something of his own, it’s also worth checking out Stages, which features a collection of broadway musicals that Groban covered in 2015.

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