21-year-old Josh Page was an unknown singer when he asked Josh Groban if he could join him on stage at Madison Square Garden. The classical star took a big chance on the kid and invited him onstage to sing “The Prayer,” which had famously kicked off Groban’s own career back in the day. History was about to repeat itself, as once the world heard Page’s beautiful tenor voice, the young man was destined to kick off his own music career in a big way.
The segment started with Groban reading a note from Page onstage, which mentioned that the young man had won a singing competition founded by “The Prayer” songwriter David Foster. Page laid it on even thicker by mentioning that he and Groban share the same birthday. Groban then asked, “If we do this, can you bring it to Madison Square Garden, Josh? This is a lot of pressure.” Page wasn’t about to let Groban down, though, and definitely was going to go big on this one, as you can see below.
The pair then laid into “The Prayer” with only the most sparse piano backing, with absolutely nowhere to hide as a vocalist. Groban sang the first line, then handed the mic to Page, who showed off a honey-soaked classical tenor voice. Groban held up his hands in triumph when he realised the kid was going to slay it onstage and the whole thing was going to be a hit with the crowd.
The two singers then traded lines before Page let his voice really soar, leading into the pre-chorus and getting an enthusiastic cheer from the crowd. Seeing two such huge vocal talents duke it out together onstage is a real treat, and the video unsurprisingly went viral. It’s since been viewed 11.7 million times on Page’s YouTube channel. At age 18, Groban kicked off his own career by singing “The Prayer” with Celine Dion at the 1999 Grammy Awards as a fill-in for Andrea Bocelli.
Page’s duet with Groban was also going to help out his journey in the music industry in a big way. The video was his first introduction to a wider audience, and Page would springboard off this with success on season eight of America’s Got Talent. As part of Trio Forte, Page progressed to the finals and eventually finished in fourth place. The group then began a recording career with a self-titled album released on Columbia Records.