Michael Bublé is a Canadian singer of Italian origin, but also an actor. His crooner’s voice has already toured the world and propelled him very early on to the front of the stage. He is considered to be one of the worthy heirs of the jazz singers of the 50s and 60s. Many compare him, moreover, to Franck Sinatra or even Dean Martin. He just released a new album titled: Higher.
franceinfo: This eleventh album silences the rumors that you want to retire. What does this new record represent, which still marks quite a few years of career?
Michael Buble: I think it represents happiness. It represents 20 years of career, 75 million albums sold and twenty years later, here I am releasing this record. It’s a great pleasure for me.
There is Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke and also Paul McCartney who, moreover, produced the title elsewhere: My Valentine which features on his 2012 album, Kisses on the bottom. How was this collaboration with the legend of the Beatles decided?
I’ve known Paul for many, many years and I think he thought I could do a great job on a song that meant a lot to him.
Sam Cooke is reborn in your interpretation of the title: Bring it on home to me, released in 1962. Through it, we hear the 50s and 60s which have always been, ultimately, a setting for your voice. It’s also a nice way to bring your grandfather back to life. He is always there, close to you, he instilled in you this musical culture of jazz, made you want to sing and even more with this style of music.
Thank you for mentioning it, because by mentioning it, you keep it alive and it means a lot to me. Of course, he is always with me, I always think about him. He brought me all the love for this music and if only I could have made him see what I am, that his grandson has become one of those greats, one of the Frankies, one of the Deans, one of the Tony Bennetts of today, that would have been, truly, even more extraordinary for me.
I would like to talk about the song: Mother, an extremely powerful song on this new album. You talk about mothers and therefore about your mother too, saying that she worked tirelessly, without taking time for herself. She too, she was part of what allowed you to build yourself?
In my family, it’s not patriarchy, it’s matriarchy.
Michael Bubleat franceinfo
Absoutely. She is my anchor, no matter what. At home, it is the women who hold this family, my mother, my sisters, my cousins, children. It’s the women who make the law in my house and it’s very good like that.
A word with this cover: You’re the first, the last, my everything by Barry White, another huge crooner. You offer us another reading, another interpretation of this essential. It is also for you?
Yes, for me it is always important to have a single vision. This song is obviously a monument and represents joy. It’s a song I often sing to my wife in her happy moments or when I want to bring joyful moments. We sing it all the time, whether in the kitchen, around the house, while dancing, we love this song.
You have received Grammy Awards, Juno Awards. How do we protect ourselves against so much success? How do you protect your family life? You are a father and married.
It’s a wonderful question. I manage to protect myself from it by never making a mistake between who I am and what I do.
So who are you?
I am above all a father, a husband and a son. And then, just a human being who loves music and who, from time to time, puts on a costume and goes to practice his passion for music in front of a few people who are nice enough to come see him.
Finally, I would like you to tell me about the song: I’ll never not love you which is really the single that launched this album and says a lot about who you are.
For a few years now, the world has plunged into a kind of torpor and I wanted to write her a love letter.
Michael Bubleat franceinfo
Yes, there are several songs in this album like Smile, which are songs in which I really wanted to bring hope to the people, to the world. Something that brings and brings back hope and happiness in the eyes of people and that they can look precisely at the future with excitement and more with fear.