The dramatic story of the auctioning of the Gold Album began in January, 2003, when David Foster generously donated his own copy of Josh Groban's first Gold Album to the Grobanites’ 2003 Birthday Auction for the David Foster Foundation. (A Gold Album is awarded when a total of 100,000 albums are sold in the U.S.)

David announced his generous donation in a post on Josh Groban’s message board on January 8, 2003. He wrote, "i'm writing this without a lot of thought so please don't expect anything profound--first, let me say a huge huge thank you for all you have done for our foundation. words escape me (i write music not lyrics) but you know you've made a difference and my whole town of victoria now knows where grobania is. i think it's only fitting that i put up for auction my 21st century most prized possession--my j.g. gold album. it's my only one and i will not replace it but it truly belongs in groban land. it means a great deal to me as you can imagine. josh's rise and success has been one of the most rewarding pieces of my career puzzle." (To read the entire thread, go here :david foster on the grammies)

Little did David Foster know how much controversy his gift would create! The thread he started was soon filled with replies from Grobanites who were both touched that David would donate something so close to his heart and horrified at the thought that anyone but him might possess it. Many people pleaded for David to keep his gold album, while others said they would try to win it so they could return it to him.

A post from Diane sums up what many people felt: "PLEASE KEEP your gold record....You deserve to keep it and your offer to auction it was unbelievably kind. The last thing any Grobanite wants is for it to fall into the wrong hands. We would ALL just die if it wound up on e-bay."

The auction team found themselves facing an unexpected dilemma: David Foster’s desire to give the Grobanites his Gold Album was being counteracted by the Grobanites' desire for David to keep the album for himself. Some people advised the auction team to refuse the gift while others believed it would be ungracious to do so. After much discussion, the auction team decided to accept the Gold Album and move forward with the auction.

Soon afterwards, a group of Grobanites, led by Kathi S, initiated an effort they called the “Grobanite Gold Trust,” which involved pooling money from the Grobanites to win the album in the auction and return it to David. They sent out mass emails and posted their plea on the message board for people to send in their donations from around the world. The Grobanites rallied around this unified effort and the response was overwhelming, but the GGT team kept the total amount raised and the number of contributions secret until after the auction ended.

The auction began on February 8, 2003. During the next 7 days, each time someone would bid on the Gold Album, the GGT team would bid higher. By the final hours of the auction, the bids had reached about $2500. Soon the bids starting coming in faster… $3000… $3500…. $4000…. $4500. Grobanites everywhere were on the edge of their seats, watching and waiting to see what the GGT team would do and how high the bids would go. In the final minute of the auction on February 16, the last bid came in – it was from the GGT team for $9505.39. They had bid every penny they had raised, and by doing so, they won the Gold Album for David Foster to keep for the Grobanites!

After the auction ended, a plaque was made with the names of each of the 157 donors, which was sent to David Foster along with a letter stating the GGT’s intentions for the album to remain with him. The plaque reads,

In honor of the support and friendship David Foster has given Josh Groban in the making of his debut album, the Grobanite Gold Trust places the Josh Groban Gold Album in the care of David Foster.

Grobanite Gold Trust

In the Fall of 2003, both David Foster and Josh Groban expressed their appreciation for the Gold Album effort in a special video which they developed for the Grobanites. David proudly showed off the Gold Album on the wall of his new studio next to the plaque with the names of the donors (and nothing else)!

Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved in the Grobanite Gold Trust, $9505.39 was raised for the DFF families, and Josh Groban’s first gold album now remains safely on the wall of David Foster's studio.