Josh Groban is nominated in a marquee category at the 2023 Tony Awards on Sunday June 11. The singer/actor is nominated for best leading actor in a musical for his performance in a revival of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This is his second nod in that category.
Groban has also notched three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Groban is just the sixth person to accomplish both of these feats — to top the Billboard 200 with an album of their own and land a Tony nomination for performing in a musical.
Before we look at the full list, here’s a little fine print: Tony winner Jackie Gleason (Take Me Along, 1960) and Tony nominee Sammy Davis. Jr. (Golden Boy, 1965) both topped a Billboard albums chart prior to the March 1956 inception of the Billboard 200 (which was the first regular, weekly album chart).
Several more Tony-nominated (or Tony-winning) performers have had top five albums on the Billboard 200, though they have yet to reach No. 1. These include Bette Midler (a winner for Hello, Dolly!, 2017), Harry Connick Jr. (a nominee for The Pajama Game, 2006), Heather Headley (a winner for Aida, 2000), Al Green (a nominee for Your Arms Too Short to Box With God, 1983) and Robert Goulet (a winner for The Happy Time, 1968).
While Groban is a strong contender in his category, he faces stiff competition from Ben Platt for Parade and J. Harrison Ghee for Some Like It Hot. The category is rounded out by Christian Borle, also for Some Like It Hot; Brian d’Arcy James for Into the Woods and Colton Ryan for New York, New York.
Here’s a complete list of the six performers who have both topped the Billboard 200 and landed a Tony nomination for performing in a musical. They are listed in reverse chronological order.
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Josh Groban
No. 1 albums: 3 (Closer, 2004; Noel, 2007-08; All That Echoes, 2010)
Tony nods: 2 (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, 2017; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 2023)
Notes: Groban has landed several nominations, but no wins yet, for EGOT-level awards. In addition to his two Tony nods, he has amassed four Grammy nods and two Primetime Emmy nods.
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Sara Bareilles
No. 1 album: 1 (Kaleidoscope Heart, 2010)
Tony nod: 1 (Into the Woods, 2023)
Notes: In addition to her one Tony nod as a performer, Bareilles has received two nods for best original score for Waitress (2016) and SpongeBob SquarePants (2018). Groban and Bareilles co-hosted the Tonys in 2018. They received two Primetime Emmy nods for their work on the telecast – outstanding variety special (live) and outstanding original music and lyrics for co-writing a piece of special material, “This One’s for You.”
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Linda Ronstadt
Image Credit: Images/Getty Images No. 1 albums: 3 (Heart Like a Wheel, 1975; Simple Minds, 1977; Living in the U.S.A., 1978)
Tony nod: 1 (The Pirates of Penzance, 1981)
Notes: Ronstadt’s performance in this Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, opposite Rex Smith in the accompanying photo, kicked off a decade of creative risk-taking. In the 1980s, she also explored the Great American Songbook and music of her Mexican heritage and recorded a high-profile collab with country queens Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. We always knew Ronstadt had talent. In the ’80s, she proved she also had uncommon artistic courage.
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Barbra Streisand
No. 1 albums: 11, including three that were devoted exclusively to Broadway songs – The Broadway Album (1986), Back to Broadway (1993) and Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway (2016).
Tony nods: 2 (I Can Get It for You Wholesale, 1962; Funny Girl, 1964)
Notes: Streisand received an honorary Tony in 1970, but has yet to win one in competition. How could she not have won for Funny Girl, when hers was one of the most star-making performances in Broadway history? Chalk it up to unfortunate timing: Funny Girl went up against Hello, Dolly!, the most successful musical of the decade, in which its star, beloved Broadway veteran Carol Channing, found the role of a lifetime.
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Davy Jones
No. 1 albums: 4, all with The Monkees (The Monkees, 1966-67; More of the Monkees, 1967; Headquarters, 1967; Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, 1967).
Tony nod: 1 (Oliver!, 1963)
Notes: Jones was just 17 when he was a Tony nominee for playing The Artful Dodger in this smash musical. A little more than three years later, he was part of a group that, for 18 months or so, gave The Beatles a serious run for their money as the hottest group in pop.
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Harry Belafonte
No. 1 albums: 2 (Belafonte, 1956; Calypso, 1956-57)
Tony nod: 1 (John Murray Anderson’s Almanac, 1954)
Notes: Belafonte won a Tony as best featured actor in a musical, becoming the first African American to win in the category. He was also No. 1 on the very first Billboard 200 chart.
