Sarah McLachlan had one of the biggest gigs of her life at Live 8, and she knew just the man to help her take it to the next level. The Canadian star invited none other than classical crossover hitmaker Josh Groban to sing her timeless hit “Angel,” and their heartfelt duet had fans tearing up. The song is a haunting remembrance of late Smashing Pumpkins keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, and many listeners said the emotional performance brought to mind their late nearest and dearest.
McLachlan opened the song with a deft piano performance and a poignant vocal. Groban made his entrance in the chorus just after the one-minute mark, and wow, their voices were made to sing together. McLachlan’s smoky mezzo-soprano blended so beautifully with Groban’s honeyed baritone as the pair traded lines from the second verse onward. Normally, at this point, The Music Man would point out some vocal highlights, but on this duet, the entire song is a vocal highlight.
McLachlan and Groban’s duet at Live 8 in Philadelphia drew 10 million views on the Live 8 YouTube channel, which made it her most popular performance on the entire platform. Fans remembered their late loved ones below the video and also praised the duet with comments such as “Emotionally overwhelming! Still wiping the tears from my eyes” and “She has a hauntingly beautiful voice! This duet is angelic.”
Both McLachlan and Groban have sung several memorable duets on “Angel.” Another classic performance from McLachlan on the ballad came at the American Music Awards in 2008, when she teamed up with none other than Pink. It’s no secret that Pink is a vocal powerhouse, and her solo verse that starts shortly before the two-minute mark is a masterpiece.
McLachlan released “Angel” on September 28, 1998, as the fourth single from her fourth studio album Surfacing. The Music Man readers might be interested to learn that the piano ballad was one of the first songs McLachlan wrote for the album, and she recalled that writing it came quite easily, and that “the bulk of it came in about three hours.” McLachlan was inspired to write the song after reading in Rolling Stone about several musicians of that era who were lost to overdoses. The song was, in particular, inspired by the death of Jonathan Melvoin at age 34 on July 12, 1996. At the time of his death, Melvoin was the touring keyboardist for the Smashing Pumpkins. He was also previously a member of Prince’s band The Family. McLachlan did not personally know Melvoin, but his life and passing nonetheless helped form the inspiration for “Angel.”