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Michael Buble extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Michael Bublé
Background information
Birth name	Michael Steven Bublé
Born	9 September 1975 (1975-09-09) (age 34)
Origin	Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada 1
Genres	Vocal, big band, jazz, easy listening, soft rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actor
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1996 – present
Labels	143/Reprise
Associated acts	Naturally 7, Jann Arden, Laura Pausini, Boyz II Men, Chris Botti
Website	Official website

Michael Steven Bublé (pronounced /ˈbuːbleɪ/; born 9 September 1975) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actor. He has won several awards, including two Grammy Awards²³ and multiple Juno Awards.⁴ His first album reached the top ten in the UK and Canada. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was an even bigger success, reaching number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and the European charts. Bublé has sold more than 18 million albums worldwide.⁵

Contents 1 Early years 2 Music career 2.1 Career breakthrough (2000–2002) 2.2 Michael Bublé debut album (2003–2004) 2.3 It's Time (2005–2006) 2.4 Call Me Irresponsible (2007–2008) 2.5 Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden (2009) 2.6 Crazy Love (2009) 3 2010 Winter Olympics 4 Personal life 5 Discography 5.1 All Albums 6 Tour 7 Filmography 8 Awards and nominations 9 Touring band members 10 Former touring band members 11 References 12 External links

Early years

Michael Bublé was born in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada to Lewis Bublé, a salmon fisherman, and his wife Amber Bublé.⁶ He has two younger sisters⁷, Crystal (an actress) and Brandee.⁸⁹ He attended Seaforth Elementary School and Cariboo Hill Secondary School.¹⁰¹¹¹² The first time that his family noticed his singing talent was at Christmas time when Michael was 13 years old and they heard him singing "White Christmas."¹³

His first singing engagements were in nightclubs at the age of 16 and were facilitated by his Italian grandfather,¹⁰ a plumber originally from the small town of Preganziol, about 20 kilometres from Venice, Italy, who offered his plumbing services in exchange for stage time for his grandson.⁷ Michael's grandfather also paid for his singing lessons. One of his vocal instructors was Joseph Shore, the opera baritone.¹³ His paternal grandfather never stopped believing that he would become a star. Bublé's grandmother was also Italian, from Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi, Italy.¹⁴

At the age of 18, Bublé entered a local talent contest and won. But after winning, he was disqualified by organizer Bev Delich because he was underage. After that, Delich entered Bublé in the Canadian Youth Talent Search, which he won. Following that win, Bublé asked Delich to be his manager. Delich signed on and represented Bublé for the next seven not-so-fruitful years. According to Delich, Bublé would do every gig imaginable; including talent shows, conventions, cruise ships, malls, hotel lounges, bars, clubs, corporate gigs, theatres, music revues, and even the occasional singing Santa Claus gig.¹³¹⁵¹⁶

In 1996, Bublé appeared in TV's "Death Game" (aka Mortal Challenge) as a Drome Groupie. Also in 1996, he appeared (uncredited) in 2 episodes of The X-Files as a Submarine Sailor.¹⁷

Bublé's first national TV performance was on a 1997 award-winning Bravo! documentary titled Big Band Boom!, directed by Mark Glover Masterson. Bublé received two Genie Award-nominations in 2000 for two songs he wrote for the film Here's to Life (I've Never Been in Love Before, Dumb ol' Heart).¹⁸ He recorded three independent albums (First Dance, 1996; Babalu, 2001; Dream, 2002).¹⁹ But by 25 years of age Bublé had moved from British Columbia to Toronto, Ontario and was ready to give up the dream of professional musicianship to move back to Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue a career in journalism when his lucky break came in 2000.¹³²⁰

Music career

Career breakthrough (2000–2002)

In 2000, Bublé's career breakthrough came from a surprising chain of events. Michael McSweeney saw Bublé's performance at a business party¹³ and received a copy of Bublé’s self-financed independent album from Bublé. McSweeney, an aide to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, showed the album to Mulroney and his wife. Subsequently, Bublé was invited to sing at the wedding of Mulroney's daughter Caroline, where he sang Kurt Weill's "Mack the Knife".¹³ At the wedding, Bublé was introduced to David Foster, a multi-Grammy Award winning producer and record executive who had worked previously with artists such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Céline Dion, Barbra Streisand, Kenny G., Cher, Josh Groban, and Andrea Bocelli.¹³²¹

Initially, Foster was reluctant to sign Bublé to his 143 Records label because he “didn’t know how to market this kind of music.” Bublé moved to Los Angeles for a brief period, with his agent, to convince Foster to sign him. Eventually, Foster agreed to produce an album for him if he raised $500,000 to cover the costs of the production, which Bublé did. Foster ended up covering the costs of production in the end under his label, with no assurances of support from Warner Brothers, and after Bublé received the personal stamp of approval and support of Foster's friend Paul Anka. After David Foster agreed to produce Bublé’s debut album, Bruce Allen, whom Bublé had pursued for years to be his manager, also signed Bublé.²²²³

Bublé did some acting in this period; in 2000, as a karaoke singer in Duets opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis, and in 2001, as Van Martin (a club owner), in Totally Blonde.¹⁷

Michael Bublé debut album (2003–2004)

Michael Bublé, the singer's debut album, was released 11 February 2003 by 143 Records/Reprise Records. The album features a range of standards from various eras including "Fever", "The Way You Look Tonight", "For Once in My Life", "Moondance" and "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". Also on the album is "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?", with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees singing back up vocals. The album went to the top 10 in Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa and reached #1 in Australia. It was #33 on the ARIA Top 100 Albums of 2003.²⁴ It achieved marginal success in the United States reaching the top 50 on the Billboard 200.²⁵ Three tracks from the album (Kissing a Fool, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?, Sway) reached the top 30 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.

Bublé appeared nationally on NBC television in the United States on the Today program on 14 February 2003.²⁶ A campaign featuring "Fever" was launched before Valentine's Day with a quirky marketing campaign that simply stated "You pronounce it Boo-blay." The album went Gold there. Then he began to travel all over the world to promote the album. The tour included Singapore, South Africa, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Canada, South America, and eventually the United States.

In November 2003, Bublé released a Christmas EP Let It Snow, containing 5 previously unreleased tracks, that peaked at 56 on the Billboard 200.²⁷ The title track reached the top 40 of the Australia singles chart. A live DVD/CD called Come Fly with Me was released in early 2004. The Come Fly with Me CD was #99 on the Aria Top 100 Albums of 2004.²⁴ The DVD included live footage and behind the scenes footage of Bublé's first world tour. The CD included 3 new studio tracks, 2 live recordings of new songs, and 3 live recordings of songs from the album Michael Bublé. The album peaked at 55 on the Billboard 200.²⁸ In November 2004 the Christmas edition of his debut album was released as a 2-disc set that included both the Michael Bublé and the Let It Snow EP.²⁹

Bublé won the "New Artist of the Year" award at the 2004 Juno Awards and his album was nominated for "Album of the Year", but lost out to Sam Roberts.

Bublé appeared in the 2003 movie The Snow Walker. Also in 2003 he portrayed a lounge performer on an episode of Days of Our Lives.²⁶ In 2004 he appeared as himself in Las Vegas.¹⁷

Songs from Bublé's debut album ("For Once in My Life", "Kissing a Fool") were released on the soundtrack for the movie Down with Love (2003).³⁰ The soundtrack also included a previously unreleased duet with Holly Palmer of the movie's title theme. The Junkie XL remix of the theme for the 60s TV cartoon version of Spider-Man from Bublé's Babalu album was played during the closing credits of Spider-Man 2 (2004), and this version was also released as a single. A CD was released in 2003 of the 7 songs that Bublé sang for Totally Blonde, calling it Totally Bublé.³¹ After the success of Michael Bublé's self-titled debut, DRG Records belatedly released the jazzy soundtrack from the 2001 film Totally Blonde in which Bublé had a co-starring role as a nightclub singer/club owner. Capitalizing on Bublé's newfound stardom, DRG Records basically ignored the music's connection to the film by altering the title and putting a shot of Bublé on the cover making it appear as if this was a proper Michael Bublé release. The slight misrepresentation was not lost on Bublé who has stated on his website that he did not want these songs released, but that it was out of his control.³² His version of "Come Fly with Me" is used in Looney Tunes: Back in Action.

It's Time (2005–2006)

	Feeling Good A sample of the song Feeling Good.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Bublé’s second studio album, It's Time, was released 15 February 2005, again by 143/Reprise Records. The album included standards from a variety of eras including "You Don’t Know Me", "Feeling Good", "Can’t Buy Me Love", "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Song for You", and "Quando, Quando, Quando" (a duet with Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado). It also included an original track, "Home", co-written by Bublé, his musical director Alan Chang, and Amy Foster-Gilles (David Foster’s daughter).

The album reached # 1 in Canada, Italy, Japan, and the Billboard Top Jazz chart, #2 in Australia, and #7 on the Billboard 200. Additionally it reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Austria, and Sweden. The album spent 104 weeks on the Billboard Top Jazz Charts, including a record-breaking 78 weeks in the #1 spot.³³ It’s Time was Billboard’s Top Jazz Album in both 2005³⁴and 2006³⁵ The first single, "Feeling Good", was met with little commercial success. However, the second single from the album, "Home" reached #1 on Billboard Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and #72 on the Billboard Hot 100.³⁶ The third single “Save the Last Dance for Me” reached the #5 of the Billboard AC Track Chart and #99 on the Billboard Hot 100.³⁶

In 2005, he also appeared in a commercial for Starbucks Frappucino line, singing his single "Come Fly with Me". The single appeared as a bonus track for a Starbucks edition release of It's Time.³⁷

In 2008, Blake Shelton reached pole position on the Country charts with his cover of "Home" (making it the first song to occupy the top slot of the AC and Country charts in versions by different artists since 1992, when Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" led the AC list after Dolly Parton reached #1 on the Country chart with her own composition in 1974 and 1982).

Bublé won four Juno Awards in 2006 for Pop Album of the Year – It’s Time, Single of the Year – "Home", Album of the Year – It’s Time, Artist of the Year, and was additionally nominated for the Juno Fan Choice Award, but lost out to the Canadian pop band Simple Plan.⁴ Bublé was nominated twice for a Grammy in the category Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album in 2006 (It's Time) and 2007 (Caught in the Act) but lost, in both cases, to Tony Bennett. In 2007, Bublé received 1 Juno nomination, for Fan Choice, but lost to Nelly Furtado.³⁸

Call Me Irresponsible (2007–2008)

Bublé's third studio album, Call Me Irresponsible, was released 1 May 2007 by 143/Reprise Records. His third effort included songs from different eras such as Always On My Mind, Dream, I've Got The World On A String, and Comin' Home Baby (a duet with Boyz II Men). In the U.S., the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and rose to number one in its second week. Only a few artists have been able to accomplish this, like Michael Jackson and Sugarland.³⁹ The album has sold nearly 2 million copies in the US alone. Internationally, the album also fared well. In Australia, the album debuted in the top position, and was the best-selling album of the year 2007. In the UK, both the standard version and the Special Edition were best-selling albums, with the latter outselling the former (Standard: 300,000; Special Edition: 462,000). Additionally, the album was certified 2x Platinum in Europe with over 2 million copies sold. Call Me Irresponsible has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.^{citation needed}

The first single off the album "Everything", which carried a more adult-contemporary sound rather than his usual big band style, was released in May 2007. The song became one of Bublé's biggest hits ever, reaching #46 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 in the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks⁴⁰ and #10 in Canada. "Me and Mrs. Jones" was set to be released as the second single off the album, but was soon cancelled, despite a music video being made. The next single released in November 2007, "Lost", also entered the Hot 100 at position #97 and #19 in the UK. "It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio Stasera)" was released mainly as a remix single, with many mixes by Eddie Amador. The song reached position #89 in Canada. The final single from the album, "Comin' Home Baby", was released in April 2008.⁴¹

Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden (2009)

Michael Bublé's third DVD (after Caught in the Act and Come Fly with Me) titled Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden was released on June 16, 2009.⁴² An exclusive trailer premiered online at his website. The DVD is a recollection of events building up to Bublé's most important live performance yet.

The standard CD contains 10 live tracks and has an orange cover. The Online Edition contains two additional tracks (Sway and That's Life) and has a blue alternate cover. In America, the blue edition can only be purchased through his online store—however, everywhere else the special edition is available for purchase anywhere.

On January 31, 2010, the CD took home the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Crazy Love (2009)

Bublé's fourth studio album, Crazy Love, was due from 143/Reprise Records on 13 October 2009.⁴³ However, an early release in the United States occurred on 9 October 2009.⁴⁴ The album contains 12 tracks (and 1 bonus track), including two original songs.⁴⁵ Its first single, "Haven't Met You Yet" was released 31 August 2009.⁴⁶ The album was promoted in an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos at The Hour on 17 October 2009,⁴⁷ and on the December 22nd episode of The Glenn Beck Program.⁴⁸ The album will be supported by the current Crazy Love Tour. During the tour, Michael will perform 2 nights at the brand new Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland which will be the first concerts to take play at the venue. The stadium holds 50,000 and all tickets sold out in one day.

Bublé took part in series 6 of The X Factor in 2009. He was the celebrity mentor for the finalists in week 3 and also appeared on the finale, dueting with Stacey Solomon.⁴⁹

Bublé was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on January 30th, 2010. He sang "Haven't Met You Yet", "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" with Sharon Jones, and did a sketch with Jon Hamm for "Hamm & Bublé Restaurant".

2010 Winter Olympics

External videos
	Video of Michael Bublé singing "Maple Leaf Forever" at the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.50

Bublé also took part in 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay in Vancouver before the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.⁵¹ He performed on NBC Today on February 12, the day of the opening ceremony and during the broadcast on Grouse Mountain.⁵² Bublé appeared in a TV special Michael Bublé's Canada which aired on Australian cable televison, ahead of the 2010 Winter Games, with co-host Sophie Faulkner.

Bublé performed alongside other huge Canadian names (including Michael J. Fox) at the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony singing a version of the song "Maple Leaf Forever", originally appearing as a 'Mountie', but subsequently having the uniform torn off to reveal a white tuxedo underneath.⁵³

Personal life

Michael Bublé was engaged to long-time girlfriend Debbie Timuss, a stage actress, dancer, and singer. Both were in the musicals Red Rock Diner in 1996⁵⁴ and Dean Regan's Forever Swing in 1998.⁵⁵⁵⁶ Timuss was listed as one of the dedicatees in Bublé's self-titled album Michael Bublé and It's Time, and as background vocalist on It's Time. While away in Italy, Bublé co-wrote the hit single "Home" for Timuss.⁵⁷⁵⁸ Timuss was also featured in the music video for "Home".⁵⁹⁵⁷ Their engagement ended in November 2005. Their breakup inspired Bublé to co-write the hit original song "Lost".⁶⁰

During an appearance at Australian television's Logie Awards in 2005, he met British actress Emily Blunt and again a few months later at his concert backstage in Los Angeles, eventually having a relationship. He thought she was a BBC television producer.⁶¹⁶² She also provided background vocals on the cover of "Me and Mrs. Jones" on the album Call Me Irresponsible. The hit original song "Everything" was penned by Bublé for Blunt.⁵⁹⁶³ Bublé's publicist confirmed on 11 July 2008 that he had broken up with Blunt.⁶⁴

Bublé became engaged to girlfriend Luisana Lopilato in November 2009. She is an Argentine actress, model and singer.⁶⁵ Bublé co-wrote the hit single "Haven't Met You Yet" for Lopilato,⁶⁶ and she also appears in the music video.⁶⁷

Since 2005, Bublé has had dual Italian-Canadian citizenship. ¹⁰⁶⁸

Since December 2008 he has been co-owner of the Vancouver Giants.⁶⁹

On 12 February 2009 Bublé pledged a donation of AUD 50,000 to the victims of the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia.⁷⁰

Discography

All Albums

• 1996: First Dance
• 2001: Babalu
• 2003: Michael Bublé
• 2003: Totally Buble
• 2003: Let It Snow!
• 2004: Come Fly with Me
• 2005: It's Time
• 2005: Caught in the Act
• 2006: With Love
• 2007: Call Me Irresponsible
• 2009: Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden
• 2009: Crazy Love

Tour

• 2010-?: Crazy Love Tour

Filmography

• 2000: Duets
• 2001: Totally Blonde
• 2003: The Snow Walker
• 2004: Las Vegas - Catch of the Day

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result
2001	Genie18	Best Achievement in Music – Original Song – "I've Never Been in Love Before"	Nom.
2001	Genie18	Best Achievement in Music – Original Song – "Dumb ol' Heart"	Nom.
2004	Juno4	Best New Artist	Won
2004	Juno4	Album of the Year – Michael Bublé	Nom.
2005	World Music Award71	World's Best Selling Artist/Canada	Won
2005	World Music Award71	World's Best Selling Male Pop Artist	Nom.
2006	Juno4	Pop Album of the Year – It's Time	Won
2006	Juno4	Single of the Year – "Home"	Won
2006	Juno4	Album of the Year – It's Time	Won
2006	Juno4	Artist of the Year	Won
2006	Juno4	Juno Fan Choice Award	Nom.
2006	ECHO72	Jazz Production of the Year - It's Time	Won
2006	ECHO	International Newcomer of the Year – It's Time	Nom.
2006	Grammy	Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – It's Time	Nom.
2006	MuchMusic Video Awards	MuchMoreMusic Award – "Save the Last Dance for Me"	Won
2006	MuchMusic Video Awards	MuchMoreMusic Award – "Home"	Nom
2006	American Music Awards	Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist	Nom.
2007	National Jazz Awards	Male Vocalist of the Year	Won
2007	MuchMusic Video Awards	MuchMoreMusic Award – "Everything"	Won
2007	Gemini18	Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series – How About You? (with Lou Pomanti)	Nom.
2007	Grammy	Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Caught in the Act	Nom.
2007	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Remake – "Save the Last Dance for Me"	Nom.
2007	Juno4	Juno Fan Choice Award	Nom.
2008	ECHO	International Pop/Rock Male Artist of the Year – Call Me Irresponsible	Nom.
2008	Brit Awards	International Male Solo Artist	Nom.
2008	Grammy2	Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Call me Irresponsible	Won
2008	Grammy73	Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – "Everything"	Nom.
2008	Juno4	Artist of the Year	Nom.
2008	Juno4	Album of the Year – Call Me Irresponsible	Nom.
2008	Juno4	Pop Album of the Year – Call Me Irresponsible	Nom.
2008	Juno4	Single of the Year – "Everything"	Nom.
2008	Juno4	Juno Fan Choice Award	Won
2008	Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards74	Best Male Vocalist	Won
2008	Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards74	Best Original Composition – "Everything"	Won
2009	Juno75	Single of the Year – "Lost"	Nom.
2010	Grammy	Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden	Won
2010	Brit Awards	International Male Solo Artist	Nom.
2010	Meteor Awards76	International Male Solo Artist	Won
2010	Juno	Juno Fan Choice Award	Nom.

Touring band members

• Alan Chang – Piano
• Robert Perkins – Drums
• Craig Polasko – Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass
• Justin Ray – Trumpet
• Mark Small – Tenor saxophone
• Jumaane Smith – Lead Trumpet
• Nick Vayenas – Trombone
• Rob Wilkerson – Alto saxophone
• Jacob Rodriguez – Baritone Saxophone
• Josh Brown – Trombone
• Bryan Lipps – Trumpet
• Rob Castillo – keyboards, Guitar, and percussion
• Brian Green – Lead Guitar
• Dino Meneghin – Guitar

Former touring band members

• Frank Basile – Baritone saxophone
• Massimo Biolcati – Bass
• Lyman Medeiros – Bass
• Jason Goldman – Alto Saxophone
• Randy Napoleon – guitar
• Peter Van Nostrand – drums
• Bill Wysaske – drums

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Buble

• Official Michael Bublé site
• Biography Discography
• Michael Bublé at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Bublé at Last.fm

v • d • e Michael Bublé Studio albums Michael Bublé (2003)  • It's Time (2005)  • Call Me Irresponsible (2007)  • Crazy Love (2009) Live albums Come Fly with Me (2004)  • Caught in the Act (2005)  • Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden (2009) Other albums First Dance (1996)  • Babalu (2001)  • Dream (2002)  • Let It Snow! (2003)  • More (2004)  • With Love (2006)  • A Taste of Bublé (2008) Singles "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" • "Kissing a Fool" • "Spider-Man Theme" • "Sway" • "Feeling Good" • "Home" • "Save the Last Dance For Me" • "Everything" • "Me and Mrs. Jones" • "Lost" • "It Had Better Be Tonight" • "Haven't Met You Yet" • "Hold On" Related articles Discography • "Cry Me a River" • "Gracias a la Vida"