By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
This is the story of an "odd couple" who threw caution to the wind, made a commitment and persevered.
REVIEW: 'Illuminations' yields glowing music
That's how singer Josh Groban describes his unlikely musical marriage with super-producer Rick Rubin, who manned the boards for Groban's new album, Illuminations, out today. It's Groban's fifth album, and his first since 2007's quintuple platinum holiday collection, Noël.
Like many couples, Groban, 29, and Rubin, 47, were fixed up by a mutual friend. Groban was having lunch with Guy Oseary, Madonna's manager, when Oseary suggested he reach out to Rubin. A meeting followed, and before long, the producer for the Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Johnny Cash was in the studio with the classically trained purveyor of lush pop ballads.
"Then the honeymoon was over," says Groban, laughing. "We didn't get to where we wanted to without a period of awkwardness." That was part of the idea, though: "We both thought it would be nice to be scared for a minute, to do something out of our comfort zones."
Granted, Rubin's previous clients also include artists who have shared space with Groban on adult-contemporary playlists, among them Neil Diamond and Justin Timberlake. It was the producer, in fact, who encouraged Groban, a passionate rock fan, to further emphasize his lustrous baritenor, by no means a natural rock instrument.
"Rick told me, 'Don't shy away from how your fans view you — and don't play a game that isn't yours,' " Groban recalls. "He said, 'If you want to rock out, do it with orchestral percussion; do it with Brazilian and African drums.' If it didn't sound like it belonged at Carnegie Hall, he didn't want it."
This is the story of an "odd couple" who threw caution to the wind, made a commitment and persevered.
REVIEW: 'Illuminations' yields glowing music
That's how singer Josh Groban describes his unlikely musical marriage with super-producer Rick Rubin, who manned the boards for Groban's new album, Illuminations, out today. It's Groban's fifth album, and his first since 2007's quintuple platinum holiday collection, Noël.
Like many couples, Groban, 29, and Rubin, 47, were fixed up by a mutual friend. Groban was having lunch with Guy Oseary, Madonna's manager, when Oseary suggested he reach out to Rubin. A meeting followed, and before long, the producer for the Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Johnny Cash was in the studio with the classically trained purveyor of lush pop ballads.
"Then the honeymoon was over," says Groban, laughing. "We didn't get to where we wanted to without a period of awkwardness." That was part of the idea, though: "We both thought it would be nice to be scared for a minute, to do something out of our comfort zones."
Granted, Rubin's previous clients also include artists who have shared space with Groban on adult-contemporary playlists, among them Neil Diamond and Justin Timberlake. It was the producer, in fact, who encouraged Groban, a passionate rock fan, to further emphasize his lustrous baritenor, by no means a natural rock instrument.
"Rick told me, 'Don't shy away from how your fans view you — and don't play a game that isn't yours,' " Groban recalls. "He said, 'If you want to rock out, do it with orchestral percussion; do it with Brazilian and African drums.' If it didn't sound like it belonged at Carnegie Hall, he didn't want it."
