What You Need To Know About The Josh Groban Gems World Tour

**A month before the Manila leg of his Gems World Tour, Josh Groban reflects on the musical and personal “gems” that have shaped his storied career.**

Josh Groban has been collecting gems for over two decades now. Not the precious stones, but moments that have defined an extraordinary career. Discovered as a teenager by legendary producer David Foster, Groban quickly found success as a recording star, later expanding his reach to film, television, and Broadway. This journey has led to more than 35 million records sold worldwide and an impressive list of accolades, including multiple Grammy nominations, a Tony nomination, and two Emmy nods.

His latest 18-track album, appropriately titled Gems, is a carefully curated collection of career-defining moments; greatest hits revisited and performed with the emotional depth that has endeared him to fans across the globe.

Manila is set to experience these gems live as the city becomes one of the stops on Groban’s upcoming Gems World Tour. Presented by Wilbros Live, the concert will take place on February 18, 2026, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Ahead of his one-night-only performance, Lifestyle Asia caught up with the superstar to talk about the gems that have shaped his life, how acting continues to influence his music, and what he’s most looking forward to during his visit.

Josh Groban’s Real Life Gems

“I love Filipino food,” Josh Groban says over a Zoom call, seated at home with instruments lined up behind him (a small glimpse into the private world of a global superstar). Having visited Manila twice before on tour, he’s eager to return: not just for the performance, but for the cuisine he’s genuinely grown fond of. “We’ve got some great Filipino restaurants in Los Angeles as well, and I’m a big foodie, so that’s something that I’m really excited to do, to explore some stuff that I don’t know about yet in that regard,” he adds enthusiastically.

Despite being one of the most recognizable faces in the entertainment industry and possessing a once-in-a-generation voice, Groban comes across as genuinely kind and refreshingly sincere. He shares that he’s hoping to carve out some time during his hectic Manila schedule to visit local music spots and indulge his inner fanboy. There’s no performative humility here; he seems truly curious about others and the world around him.

Perhaps that groundedness comes from the real-life gems he turns to for balance. He lists them off: “In my day-to-day life, my gems are my family who keep me grounded; my teachers who took a shy kid and said ‘I’m going to give you your first solo’; My love, I’ve got an incredible girlfriend who keeps me where the light is every single day; and my friends. Those gems are the reason why I’m here today.”

And as for his legion of devoted fans, Groban hasn’t forgotten them for a single second. He admits he’s still in disbelief that his career has endured for as long as it has. Remaining relevant more than a quarter of a century later, he says, is entirely because of his listeners. It’s why he continues to push himself creatively, striving to grow as an artist while finding new ways to excite and inspire the people who have stayed with him all these years.

“My gratitude for my fan base, especially in the Philippines, for being by my side all this time; that’s not something I can force,” he explains. “That’s something that they’ve chosen to do, and it’s unbelievably meaningful to me that with the chaos of the world and everybody’s insane lives every single day, that they’ve chosen to have that loyalty to my music and that they’ve allowed me into their lives to keep rolling along with them is a very, very special thing.”

Acting Through Music

A great artist grows over time, and that’s exactly how Josh Groban has sustained such remarkable longevity. While he first made his name in the late 90s and early 2000s as a singer with one platinum album after the next, his career has since expanded far beyond music. He ventured into television with his satirical and scene-stealing turn as an exaggerated version of himself on Glee, followed by memorable film appearances, including a comedic cameo in Muppets Most Wanted. More recently, he took on a starring role in Netflix’s The Good Cop, before delivering a celebrated, Tony-nominated performance as the titular Sweeney Todd in the recent Broadway revival. (Side note: his Tiny Desk performance of Sondheim’s score is genuinely chilling.)

So why revisit all of this? Because Groban never originally set out to become a recording star. In fact, acting was his first love.

A musical theater devotee from an early age, he was always the kid at the piano singing songs, attending acting camps and schools, and eventually joining numerous troupes, from comedy ensembles to Shakespearean groups. His goal was always to become an actor, making it all the more surprising when, at just 17 years old, he was approached about launching a recording career. “That was not in the cards for me at all,” he says with a laugh. “I was thinking to myself that this is something I wouldn’t do. I’m still surprised, by the way.”

Today, Groban considers music and singing his top priority. Part of that, he admits, is simply because it’s what he has devoted most of the last 25 years to. But beyond longevity, he’s drawn to the connective power of music itself. He approaches his singing much like acting. Lyrics express thoughts or emotions he wouldn’t voice in everyday life: each time he steps into a role, he delivers every song with a sense of ownership, shaping it into something that belongs to the specific character he inhabits.

As he explained this, I was reminded of another musical legend. Barbra Streisand shared a similar philosophy in her doorstop memoir, which made me reconsider the nature of great singers altogether. Perhaps the world’s most enduring vocalists approach their craft as a form of acting performance, using that specific muscle to fully transmit emotion, and in doing so, achieve the kind of staying power Groban has sustained.

A Celebration Of A Remarkable Career

In many ways, everything that has shaped Josh Groban’s career across music, television, stage, and film culminates on the Gems World Tour stage. That full-circle journey is reflected in the carefully crafted set list he prepared. Fans can expect to hear the songs that have defined his career, including “You Raise Me Up,” “To Where You Are,” and “You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up).” Groban will also perform “She’s Out of My Life,” a Michael Jackson classic he recorded years ago during a period of heartbreak. He was later surprised to learn that the song had become one of his strongest-performing tracks in the Philippines, and now considers it a special offering for Manila.

His love for theater and film will also find its way onto the stage. Groban hints that Sweeney Todd may make an appearance during the tour (“I might do…” he says), and he’s also giving Filipino fans an exclusive preview of his upcoming album, currently in the works, which features songs from what he describes as “the great films.” Taken together, the Gems World Tour feels like a celebration of every chapter of his storied career.

And yet, Josh Groban himself doesn’t frame it that way. For him, the work is never about legacy, but rather, staying present in the act of creation. “There’s so much to making art and to making music that you can’t think about the result,” he says. “You just have to do it from your heart and hope for the best.” Which, perhaps, is the real reason his gems continue to shine.

Josh Groban’s “Gems World Tour” will take place on February 18, 2026, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. For tickets, visit www.smtickets.com.

Banner photo courtesy of Josh Groban’s official Facebook page.