17 Little-Known Facts About Michael Bublé’s Unconventional Road to Stardom
It’s hard not to love Michael Bublé. On top of having a voice that melts your mom’s heart into a puddle and a family so cute it hurts, the 41-year-old “I Believe You” singer is a very interesting guy. Ever since Michael, who recently confirmed that his son Noah beat cancer, scammed his way into a music competition at the age of 17, his life and career have been full of truly fascinating tidbits. Whether you’re a card-carrying member of the Bublé fan club, or you only know him from his “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” cover, check out the coolest, most surprising facts about him below.
- He was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada, but he’s also an Italian citizen. In 2005, Michael became a naturalized Italian citizen because of his grandfather, Demetrio Santanga, who is from a village near Padua.
- He kinda, maybe, sorta cheated in the first talent contest he participated in. With his grandfather’s encouragement, 17-year-old Michael decided to enter a local singing competition. Although he won the whole shebang, the organizer, Beverly Delich, later discovered that he wasn’t the required age of 18 and disqualified him. Fortunately she was so blown away by his talent that she helped him enter the British Columbia Youth Talent Search, instead.
- His first big break was winning a competition show. Thanks to Beverly’s suggestion, he entered and won the British Columbia Youth Talent Search in 1992 by performing some of his grandfather’s favorite jazz classics. “My grandfather was really my best friend growing up. He was the one who opened me up to a whole world of music that seemed to have been passed over by my generation,” he said.
- He got a record deal after performing at a wedding. Michael was just about to give up on his dreams of being a singer and begin going to school for journalism when he was hired to perform at Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s daughter’s wedding at age 25. He belted out Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife” at the reception, and fortunately the bride and groom weren’t the only ones impressed. Music industry executive David Foster (yes, Gigi Hadid’s former stepdad) happened to be attending, and Michael asked him for a record deal. David told him that he’d need $500,000 to make it in the business, which Michael quickly pulled together from some investors and released his first album by 2003. He and David are still close to this day.
- He has an irregular heartbeat problem. “They call it Holiday Heart Syndrome,” he said in a 2012 interview with The Daily Mail. “I noticed that when I had a few drinks I could feel my heart race. A lot of people get it, but my problem was that I hated it. I could feel it. The doctors said, ‘Mike, you don’t even have to think about it. People live with this all their lives — it’s normal.’ I was being a hypochondriac, but I was really sensitive to it. If you’re partying too much, any kind of stimulant can have an affect on taking your heart out of rhythm.”
- He and wife Luisana Lopilato are raising their children to be bilingual. Michael met the Argentinian model and actress backstage at a concert in her home country…
[fbcomments count="on"]