Under the glare of red-carpet lights, Josh Groban paused between interviews to talk about a memory that still feels monumental: working with rob reiner on the Stonehenge concert film tied to Spinal Tap II. He called it “a tremendous learning experience, ” and the image he offered — a live shoot at Stonehenge with the original quartet nearby — cut through the usual awards-night chatter.
What did Rob Reiner teach Josh Groban on the Stonehenge set?
Groban described an intense, hands-on apprenticeship. “Spinal Tap was on the tour bus every step of my journey, ” he told Zuri Hall on the Oscars red carpet, and he credited the director with opening a door into the creative process. “To be able to do that with Rob and Michelle and the incredible guys in Spinal Tap, the funniest people on the planet, ” he said, framing the experience as part mentorship, part sheer joy.
How did the Stonehenge shoot come together and what remains unresolved?
Groban said the Stonehenge sequence was filmed on location and that organizers “opened” the site for the production: “We did that at Stonehenge, which they opened. We did it live there. ” That work was part of a concert movie tied to Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. He added that the project currently has no release date in the wake of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer’s deaths. The director is also identified in coverage as the When Harry Met Sally director, and the Spinal Tap performances involved Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer as the band members with Reiner serving as their documentarian.
What did Groban say about the Oscars performance tied to this moment?
While the film’s fate is unsettled, Groban is present on the awards stage. He noted both the seriousness of the moment and a wink toward silliness: “It sounds very serious. I’m on stage with some of the most brilliant singers and musicians of all time, ” he said of performing with the Los Angeles Master Chorale during the Conan O’Brien-hosted show. Then, with a lighter note, he added, “it wouldn’t be Conan if we weren’t doing something unbelievably silly, and I’m excited for that. “
The personal context around the Stonehenge shoot has been sharpened by tragedy. Coverage notes that Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer were killed at their Brentwood, Calif., home, and that their son Nick Reiner has pleaded not guilty to the murders. Those events have complicated the timeline and public expectations for the concert film tied to the Spinal Tap continuation.
Groban’s recollections — that “Spinal Tap was on the tour bus every step of my journey” and that working on the Stonehenge sequence was something “I’ll always remember working with him” — make clear why the project matters to him personally. They also highlight how creative collaborations can become enduring reference points for performers long after a camera stops rolling.
As the Oscars night moved on, the unfinished film and its uncertain release date remained a quiet undercurrent, a reminder of both art’s fragility and its persistence. For Groban, the experience with rob reiner seems to have left a lasting imprint on his craft and his memory — a lesson he carried from the tour bus to the red carpet.
