Skip to content
The Diary of a CEOThe Diary of a CEO

Michael Buble: "I Will NEVER Be Carefree Again!", Rejection, Cancer & Stealing!

If you enjoy hearing about Michael’s life story, check out my conversation with musical innovator, will.i.am, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m-2QhqdlfI&t=899s 00:00 Intro 02:12 Michael Bublé's beginnings 04:24 Your Father. 09:24 Your Grandfather. 12:11 Music Has Been Ingrained in You from a Young Age. 15:21 The First Time Got a Reaction for Your Voice. 17:08 Stealing Elements from Other Artists. 20:37 Ten Years of Being Told No. 23:02 Why Did You Continue After Ten Years of Failure? 27:06 Getting Signed and Releasing Your First Record. 37:16 When Did You Actually Think You'd Made It? 38:46 Have You Ever Been Scared You'll Lose It All? 41:59 Your Son's Cancer Diagnosis. 49:00 What Effect Is This Having on You Now? 51:22 Your Brand: Michael Bible vs. Mike. 59:38 Your Whisk Brand. 01:06:01 Does It Bother You That You're So Synonymous with Christmas? 01:09:15 Starting to Write Original Songs. 01:16:01 What Is the Nature of Living a Good Life? 01:18:41 The Power of TikTok. 01:28:33 The Last Guest's Question. Michael’s Instagram: https://bit.ly/48mwLOv Try Michael’s new Whisky available to buy here: https://bit.ly/48hntmW The Conversation Cards: https://bit.ly/4amtNew My new book! 'The 33 Laws Of Business & Life' is out now: https://smarturl.it/DOACbook Listen on: Apple podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-diary-of-a-ceo-by-steven-bartlett/id1291423644 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7iQXmUT7XGuZSzAMjoNWlX Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGq-a57w-aPwyi3pW7XLiHw/join FOLLOW ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steven/ Twitter: https://x.com/StevenBartlett?s=20 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-bartlett-56986834/ Sponsors: Huel: https://my.huel.com/daily-greens-uk ZOE: http://joinzoe.com with an exclusive code CEO10 for 10% off

Michael BubléguestSteven Bartletthost
Dec 21, 20231h 31mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 2:12

    Intro

    1. MB

      Another summer day has come and gone away in Paris or Rome, but I wanna go home 'cause this place sucks.

    2. SB

      (laughs)

    3. MB

      I shoulda, I shoulda that- that should've been the lyric.

    4. SB

      Michael Buble, smoothest singer in town. The king of Christmas.

    5. MB

      Have a holi-jolly Christmas. Everything I did was music. I would listen to Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin. I don't know why. I just do. Emulate them, and then I would steal it all, 'cause if you steal from one person, you're just a thief, but when you steal from everybody, it's research. But there's 10 years of clubs, 10 years of every agent saying the exact same thing: "We will never sign you." But the reason I didn't stop in those 10 years was because if the right person sees me, I am one of the greatest entertainers on Earth. I could play 50,000 people, and if there's one looking at their watch, I will play to that man. I'm not leaving here until I break you. And I'm a-feeling good. But in a moment, my son's cancer diagnosis was a sledgehammer to my reality. And I remember saying to myself, "If we get out of this, um, if we get out of this, I'm living a different life." And I feel like I'm at, uh, this point where I wanna do something different.

    6. SB

      Michael, you're, you're not gonna quit music, are you? Quick one. This is really, really fascinating to me. On the back end of our YouTube channel, it says that 69.9% of you that watch this channel frequently over the lifetime of this channel haven't yet hit the subscribe button. I just wanted to ask you a favor. It helps this channel so much if you choose to su- subscribe. Helps us scale the guests, helps us scale the production, and it makes the show bigger. So if I could ask you for one favor, if you've watched the show before and you've enjoyed it, could you please hit the subscribe button? Thank you so much, and I will repay that gesture by making sure that everything we do here gets better and better and better and better. That is a promise I'm willing to make you. Do we have a deal?

  2. 2:12 – 4:24

    Michael Bublé's beginnings

    1. SB

      Michael, what do I need to know about your earliest context to understand the way that you are now? 'Cause you are a unique individual personality-wise, talent-wise. Your life is full of uniqueness. So where is the, what is the oven? 'Cause I always think about humans like an oven.

    2. MB

      Yeah.

    3. SB

      Um, you know, they get cooked in this oven when they're young. What is that oven? What is that environment?

    4. MB

      Well, the environment was probably having the most incredible family, and everybody says that. Everybody says... And of course, that's beautiful that people always think their family is the most special, but if you met them, you'd like them all more than me. And then for me, personally, I think being the first child who, um, got way too much attention, pre- you know, prob- (laughs) probably got told like, "You're amazing, and you're good at ev-" and like, uh, it's probably the reason I talk so much.

    5. SB

      (laughs)

    6. MB

      But everything I am, everything I have, every decision I make is based on that family. Even deciding, you know, "I wanna be a singer. This is where I'm gonna do it," 13, 14. You know, by the time I was 16, my grandfather was already taking me to nightclubs and... When I started playing in the nightclubs at 18, 19, they were full. And I was raw, but they were full, full, and people were like, "H- what, who is this kid? Like why did... How did he fill up Babalu's or how did he fill up the Purple Onion or how did he fill up, you know, this theater?" Well, they didn't know, but it was my cousins and aunts and my, my grandparents and my mom calling all of our friends and saying, "Come to the club." So this was a strange family affair because, uh, we had no connections. I wish I had nepotism to lean on, but, uh, I didn't. And, uh, so instead it took all of these incredible people just loving me and going, "Yeah, let's go. Let's..." I mean, I was shocked. I was a fisherman. You know, my fa- my great-grandfather immigrated from Italy. He was a ship builder. Um, my grandfather was a commercial seine salmon fisherman on a seine boat. Um-

  3. 4:24 – 9:24

    Your Father.

    1. MB

    2. SB

      That took him away a lot, right? Your father?

    3. MB

      Yeah.

    4. SB

      Family from you.

    5. MB

      For sure, for sure, yeah, which is something that we understood. And, uh, it's interesting because, um, who knew that after leaving that life and having that thing where your father's gone quite a bit would be the life that I ended up le- leading, you know, where I had to be gone quite a bit. And, um, the only difference was I could say, "Dad, why are you leaving?" And he would say, "Son, this is my, this is my job. This is how I put food on the table. This is how, um, this is how Dad pays for, for our house and for the, for the holidays that we go on and everything." And it changed for me after a certain amount of success because my kids would say, "Poppy, why are you going?" And I couldn't say, "You know, it's to pay to put food on the table." You know, because obviously he was... You know, we'd p- passed that point. Got very lucky, so.

    6. SB

      How do you answer that question?

    7. MB

      Uh, I answer it by... Well, I don't just answer it w- with language. I, I answer it with action. So, um, I have probably, I've probably made my tours, uh, I would say financially (laughs) maybe one of the most irresponsible tours in, in all of touring. Um, so I started a rule where I said, "I will do three weeks on, two weeks off, two weeks on, two weeks off," so that I could come back or I would literally sit with my wife, and she's a tremendous actress, you know, and she has a great career, and I, I know how fulfilled she is by it.And so I would say to her, "Let's sit down at the beginning, you and your manager, Pepo, and me and my manager, Bruce, and, uh, let's go through the calendar. So when are you making those two films?" "Okay. June, July, (snaps fingers) I'm done. I come with you, and it can't happen if I tour in a financially (laughs) responsible way."

    8. SB

      It's so interesting to me because I'm coming into that phase of life now-

    9. MB

      Yep.

    10. SB

      ... where I'm gonna be starting a family soon, and I'm gonna be getting married. And it, it's interesting to hear from you about the trade-offs you have to make, and you have more experience in both sides of the r- cost and the benefit of those trade-offs.

    11. MB

      Yeah.

    12. SB

      Did you miss your father growing up?

    13. MB

      Oh, man. Of course, I miss my dad. I remember I used to... And this is the t- You know, it's interesting 'cause I am so lucky that, to have been born when I was born because my nights on tour away from them, like tonight, I mean, last night, for example, last night was doing a Zoom. And, uh, they put their iPad in their room, and I sat with them, and I watched a Christmas movie.

    14. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    15. MB

      And, uh, we, they ate popcorn, and Poppy was there. I was just there. I was, you know... They were walking around and wrestling and, um, they... (laughs) I thought... It's really strange to say this, but, uh, I did this thing. Have you ever heard of Calm?

    16. SB

      Yeah, yeah.

    17. MB

      The Calm app?

    18. SB

      Yeah, I know the founder, Michael.

    19. MB

      So, yeah, th-

    20. SB

      Yeah.

    21. MB

      That, it's, it's the be- Like I... So I used to listen to this Calm app to go to sleep. My wife hated it, and, um-

    22. SB

      Same with me and my poppy. (laughs)

    23. MB

      I was, I was on the Graham Norton show, and Matthew McConaughey was a guest. I was so excited. And Graham was like, "Why, why are you so excited? Well, everyone loves McConaughey." I said, "Oh, no, no, no, I, I love McConaughey."

    24. SB

      (laughs)

    25. MB

      Because my wife would hate it, but every night I would listen, "Hi. It's Matthew. Hey, hey, hey, I got a sleep story for you." And I would, like, listen every night, and I was like, "Matthew, you sleep with my wife and I."

    26. SB

      (laughs)

    27. MB

      (laughs) I was, I was like... And, and, uh, I was like, "I listened to your Calm sleep story," and it became a th- You know, he li- He, he was a very good sport, and he thought it was funny. And then Calm called, and they were like, "Hey, you wanna do a sleep story?" I was like, "Hell yeah, I wanna do a sleep story."

    28. SB

      (laughs)

    29. MB

      But I didn't know... So last night, that's... Every night's the same. So we chill, and then I put on Poppy's sleep story.

    30. SB

      Oh, wow.

  4. 9:24 – 12:11

    Your Grandfather.

    1. MB

      dad.

    2. SB

      Your granddad played a huge role in your life, didn't he?

    3. MB

      Yes, sir.

    4. SB

      Grandpa Mitch.

    5. MB

      Grandpa Mitch, yeah. Huge, huge, massive. As a ma- as a matter of fact, yesterday I did one of the probably scarier things that you can do in this entertainment business. I, uh, I was asked to be a surprise guest, uh, to sing a song as a tribute to Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees in his induction, uh, into the Kennedy Center Honors, which I, I think is, in my opinion, maybe if not the pinnacle, one of the pinnacles of, of, uh, Americans, uh, celebrating culture. But, uh, weirdly enough, my grandpa, um, he passed away five years ago yesterday.

    6. SB

      Oh, wow.

    7. MB

      And so, um, more than anything, I was standing backstage and, um, I could hear my introduction, and I was like... My mouth was dry, and my heart, I could hear my heart beating in my ear. And, um, I just took a big breath, and I said, like, "Wow, Grandpa, okay, this is us, man. This is us." And, um, I always think about my kids and say like, "Okay, be strong. Don't let your kids ever see you weak. Don't let your kids ever see you scared." And weirdly, it just brought this wonderful calm over me, and, um, it was really nice, man. Like, I, I... It just brought me calm. And I went out there, and I thought I killed it. I thought I was very charming. (laughs)

    8. SB

      (laughs)

    9. MB

      He was my hero, is my hero. Um, at 13 years old... We were be- always best friends. I don't know why. You know? You know, dude. Sometimes certain people, (snaps fingers) you connect, and it's like you were made for each other. And that was my best buddy. We talked about hockey, and we talked about music, and even at a young age, I was fascinated by, by the Great American Songbook. I was just... I didn't know h- How... I didn't understand, and I remember being confused why I was the only one too. How could other people not understand that Nat King Cole is that unbelievable? What's wrong? How could they... How, how does someone my age not hear Ella Fitzgerald and just shit a brick and realize that that is stupid? That's just too good. Or that that gorgeous, uh, orchestral arrangement of that song and those horns doing that thing and that, that swinging. R- Like, I know hip hop is great but, no, th- the, that beat that I just heard in that Dre song, that isn't close to being as phat as the one I just heard, um, backing up Bobby Darin.... in Mack the Knife.

  5. 12:11 – 15:21

    Music Has Been Ingrained in You from a Young Age.

    1. MB

      Like, that's smoking.

    2. SB

      You were what age that-

    3. MB

      I knew.

    4. SB

      ... 13 years old?

    5. MB

      Oh, dude, even before that. For me, music was... it wasn't even a question. It was, it was a defining part of my, the essence of me. Like I, everything I did was music, was just, you know, a fascination. And, uh, it's funny when many times parents will go like, "My daughter is 14 and she's... and do you have advice? You know, she wants to be a singer." And I always, I have advice and it's like, listen to as much music and all of it. Like go across the board of every genre and download it and process it and steal all of it. Steal the best parts of all of it and you will find yourself. But another thing I always say is fantasize. Like, dude, that... for me, I would fantasize about being on stage. I would fantasize about singing in front of a crowd. Every shower was another opportunity-

    6. SB

      (laughs)

    7. MB

      ... to go and fucking kill Madison Square Garden and, you know, know that the, uh, you know, that that crowd in the shower was just loving-

    8. SB

      Madison Square Garden?

    9. MB

      Oh, wherever.

    10. SB

      In the shower?

    11. MB

      You know, like, you know what I mean? Like I was 14. Absolutely. And like thank God there wasn't like The Voice or American Idol because if I was 13, I would have been in the shower saying like, "Hey, Simon, check this out."

    12. SB

      (laughs)

    13. MB

      Um...

    14. SB

      Did you sound good at that age? Do you have recordings?

    15. MB

      (laughs)

    16. SB

      Do you have like rec- ... You know?

    17. MB

      Yeah, man, I do.

    18. SB

      Okay.

    19. MB

      I do have recordings.

    20. SB

      'Cause I'm wondering how much of your talent was-

    21. MB

      I have a recording when I'm 14 and it tripped me out because I sound ex- ... I don't know if it's good, but-

    22. SB

      Exactly the same?

    23. MB

      Exactly the same.

    24. SB

      What?

    25. MB

      And I think it was like, << It had to be you >> I sound like that.

    26. SB

      Jesus Christ.

    27. MB

      I sound exactly like that, the same way. And, um, what's weird is like it wasn't like I put on an effect. That's what... that's how the voice sounded. And, uh, my buddies used to make fun of me, be... having... One of my best friends, Brad, would be in the bus and he'd go, "There's Buble singing with that fake voice again."

    28. SB

      (laughs)

    29. MB

      "There's back." And even today, and he's still my, one of my back... literally one of my best friends-

    30. SB

      Fake voice. (laughs)

  6. 15:21 – 17:08

    The First Time Got a Reaction for Your Voice.

    1. SB

      song, the first time you performed in front of people and got a reaction?

    2. MB

      The first song weirdly was, uh, was I think it was a Christmas song.

    3. SB

      Really?

    4. MB

      Well, it was because it was Christmas Eve. We were coming home from, uh... this is... I've told this story many times, but it's... Uh, we were coming home from, uh, my grandma and grandpa's on Capitol Hill, and, uh, I think it was like White Christmas or something. And my little sisters... I would have been 12, maybe 11, 12. My voice was just starting to change and, um, and the girls were in the back. My two sis- ... My sisters are great, beautiful voices. And they were like, << I'm dreaming of a white Christmas >> You know? << With every Christmas card I write >> And I think from the back I went, << May your days be merry and bright >> And it was like the whole car went, "Who?"

    5. SB

      (laughs)

    6. MB

      And I think that was the first time they were like, "What the fuck is that? Where did that just come from?" And, uh, (laughs) , what's interesting is I think if I really am honest with myself and I look back, that Bing Crosby was the first... because that was like... that was the first record in that style, and that played through the house at Christmas. That was my introduction to big band. That was my introduction to jazz. That was my introduction to, um, those... that swinging feeling. And then with that relationship with my granddad, he used to... we used to have a... so my shag... he has like a green shag carpet and he had a, well, a record machine that he attached to a cassette machine. And we would sit down and we would just for... I'm not kidding you man, hours. I loved it. I loved it. And I used to go with those cassettes and a Walkman,

  7. 17:08 – 20:37

    Stealing Elements from Other Artists.

    1. MB

      and I would just sit in bed and I would listen over and over. And then I would, I would listen to each of these singers and, um, and I would learn the song for grandpa and grandma so I could come over the next day and I could s- ... I could sing for him and I'd sit at the table with him and we'd... you know. But I started to just steal. I mean, steal, full on steal. And, uh, and I started to like almost impersonate each of them. And I would listen to Frank Sinatra with The Pied Pipers. There was ways that he would sing and I would try to emulate. So I would sit there and then I would... it would be like I was a record player, you know. I'd come home and grandpa would say, "Okay, what's today? Stormy Weather." And I'd say, << Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky. Stormy weather >> I can't do it now, but... And then the next day would be-

    2. SB

      Please do carry on. (laughs)

    3. MB

      ... okay, he'd go, "Dean Martin. Dean Martin." And, uh, I'd say, << I don't know why I love you like I do. I don't know why, I just do >> And I would emulate them.... God, man. I'd like, listen to the Mills Brothers. And- and when I'm saying all of this, you probably have no idea sometimes what I'm talking about, because-

    4. SB

      Used to be.

    5. MB

      Yeah. It's the way the Mills Brothers would sing. There was this weird, "I want to buy a paper doll that I could call my own. A doll that other fella..." Where Nat just, he would- the way he would open up and everything was so, "The very thought of you. And I forget to do." And there was all these things that I would just, like, "Oh my God, I love that and that," and then I would steal it all, and I would try to emulate all of it. And then one day, you know, sitting with Grandpa, I started realizing, "Okay, I'm starting to... Wow, Grandpa, I'm starting... This is the way I do it now." Taking all those things and...

    6. SB

      And that's what creativity is, right?

    7. MB

      It is, man. And I met- I'm- I've told this story too, too many times. But I remember the first time I met Tony Bennett. I said, uh, "You know, Tony, I'm obviously, you know, I'm a huge fan. I've stolen so much from you, and Bing and Frank, and... S- all of them." And he said, uh, "Good," he said, "'Cause if you steal from one person, you're just a thief. But when you steal from everybody, it's research."

    8. SB

      (laughs)

    9. MB

      And I thought that was amazing. And I've told that story a million times too, but it was everything, man.

    10. SB

      (laughs)

    11. MB

      Like, Elvis was a big part of it, and, you know, I just... All of those things that I loved, but, um...

    12. SB

      Why was your grandfather doing that, in hindsight? Why was-

    13. MB

      Are you kidding me, dude?

    14. SB

      Yeah.

    15. MB

      Like, are you kidding me?

    16. SB

      So-

    17. MB

      It was better than crack.

    18. SB

      For who?

    19. MB

      For both of us. It's my happiness. It's my, it's my passion. It's my thing. And, you know, and, like, I- I love... Um, he would have died to know that his grandson was continuing the legacy of our heroes. You know, 'cause he- if he was being honest, when I played Madison Square Garden for the first time and I said, "Did you think I'd get here?" He said, "Oh, no. No, definitely not."

    20. SB

      (laughs)

    21. MB

      (laughs) He's- there's a clip of him on a, on a documentary. He goes, "No, I thought you'd be good. You know, maybe Vegas."

    22. SB

      (laughs)

    23. MB

      Um, but I just think it was because, how could I? We were this... My grandpa was a plumber and we came from... We're fishermen. We didn't know anybody. We're never gonna get... We're never gonna get to there. We didn't even... We're from Vancouver. We didn't even know anybody. How are we going to get to there?

  8. 20:37 – 23:02

    Ten Years of Being Told No.

    1. MB

    2. SB

      Your story is not a straight line because you went and-

    3. MB

      Mm-hmm.

    4. SB

      ... worked on those fishing boats as well. Like, so it's not-

    5. MB

      Yeah.

    6. SB

      ... just you started singing at 13.

    7. MB

      Dude, my story isn't even a straight line from, from fishing boats to Chuck E. Cheese to working at restaurants to singing. It's... There's ten years of clubs. There's ten years of me moving to Toronto. There's ten years of me going into every record company, not getting in the door. There's ten years of every agent saying the exact same thing. Every manager. I thought they had a fucking note that they would send each other. The note that said, "You're really talented. You're a great young kid. I-i-i-i... We just don't know what to do with you." Over too much... Dude, to a point where I was like, "You know what? Okay, I'm 26. It's too late." And in this business, you can, people can say, "Oh, 26..." No, dude, it's late. If you haven't been signed or you haven't made a bunch of noise at 26, 27, I don't think it's right. I think there should be late bloomers. But it's... It isn't the usual. You know, like, the record companies will be like, "Mm-mm." And, uh, so I was gonna go back to Canada. I was gonna go back to Vancouver, and I was thinking about going to SFU, or Douglas and taking up journalism. So even then, once I- I was in Toronto, I got, I got, you know, connected to, um, the prime minister of our country, who... Their daughter was getting married and she asked if I would sing at the wedding, and 'cause I'd given an independent CD to another guy at some corporate gig I'd done. Um, and, um, they sa- I, I, I was like, "Yeah, okay." You know? Like, "What an honor," you know? And she was like, "You know, David Foster will be there." And this one- this producer who... And he's, uh, one of the biggest producers in the world. Billions of... I mean, half a billion or a billion records, I think. Okay, this is my chance. This is the shot for somebody to see me. But even then, after he saw me, this story didn't... It wasn't like... (snaps fingers) He didn't... David Foster didn't say, "You. I found my guy." He said, "Come to LA and, uh, you're on my..." He actually said, "You're on my radar now," is what he said. Well, I didn't know that he had another 18 kids that were on his radar.

    8. SB

      Mm.

    9. MB

      You know, I was... Uh, you know, man, I got... I was good. I was gonna... I was in the atmosphere now. You know, I was closer than I'd ever been to a real guy.

    10. SB

      Ten years in.

    11. MB

      Ten years in. That could make it, Mike. And I remember,

  9. 23:02 – 27:06

    Why Did You Continue After Ten Years of Failure?

    1. MB

      he had this-

    2. SB

      I think... I have to say, Michael, I think it's really very important not to brush past this ten years because that is the no man's land that only passion could make someone wade through.

    3. MB

      Yeah.

    4. SB

      And that is where 99% of people quit. And it's the bit that no one ever gets to see. So it's maybe the more, more important part of, of, of, th- the journey, which is, why does someone continue doing something for ten years of their life when there's- there's no Madison Square Gardens-

    5. MB

      Mm.

    6. SB

      There's no million dollar checks, and there's no fame and fortune? Like, that- that's the ask- 'cause it's a- it's a recurring theme on my show.

    7. MB

      Yeah, I know.

    8. SB

      That these very, very successful people, they- they did something which is objectively dumb. (laughs)

    9. MB

      Yeah.

    10. SB

      Which is like, they gave up their amazing chance at being an academic and they-

    11. MB

      Uh-

    12. SB

      ... went and played Magic on a restaurant card table.

    13. MB

      I know.

    14. SB

      Comedians.

    15. MB

      Yeah.

    16. SB

      You go, "You could have been a lawyer."

    17. MB

      Yep.

    18. SB

      And now they're, you know-

    19. MB

      It's funny. I- I was gonna tell you today. Like, I've watched your sh- I watch your show religiously.

    20. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    21. MB

      And I always like, "What if you just call yourself Failure: And Why It's So Great?"

    22. SB

      (laughs)

    23. MB

      (laughs) Because it's like, so many of the stories that are told across this-

    24. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    25. MB

      ... table are, "I failed, I failed, they said no." Um, "Over and over again, and over again."

    26. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    27. MB

      "And uh, I just continued to, to go forward."

    28. SB

      These people seem like they had no choice though. And when I say no choice, I mean because of passion.

    29. MB

      Mi- listen to me, man. I'm gonna say... It's gonna sound like it directly, um...... it, it's sort of ... I don't want it to be condescending at all. But, um, half of that 10 years ... was, gave me humility, gave me appreciation for when it would happen. I would be appreciative and I would still have humility and I would, you know, still be able to be, uh, present and aware enough of how lucky I was, you know?

    30. SB

      Mmm.

  10. 27:06 – 37:16

    Getting Signed and Releasing Your First Record.

    1. SB

      why wouldn't, why wasn't the industry letting you in?

    2. MB

      Why would they? I didn't do anything that was mainstream. I mean, I used to do, it was like I had an indie record. I would do indie festivals. Um, it's so funny, man (laughs) , I talk about it now, it's like, you know, I am so, like, mainstre- or whatever you want to call it, like, where I could probably, you know, you know ... But I was, like, an indie act. It was a full-on indie act. It was, like, doing weird shit that no one else was doing. And, uh, um, I think it was just so outside. Even, listen, David Foster, that David Foster producer guy I'm talking about, um, it's funny, he doesn't remember it this way, but I, I, I, I remind him-

    3. SB

      (laughs)

    4. MB

      ... many times that, like, Dave, I said, "Dave, when are you gonna, you know, when are we gonna do this? You gonna produce my record?" And he said, in quotations, "I will never produce your record and we will never sign you. Never." He had a very sweet assistant named Neil, who's a beauty, the sweetest kid. And, um, when I see him once or, I mean, I would see him and he would laugh and he would go, "Dude, I remember that I would, like, say to you, 'Just walk away 'cause this isn't gonna happen for you.'" You know, he's not, you're not, you're not the one. I remember he said to me, y- I got- he got pissed with me 'cause I had again said to him, "Hey, man, come on, like, sign me." And he was like, "Uh, you need to get out. You need to go." He said, like, "Listen, dude, I told you you're on my radar. You and another 19 kids are, you know ... It's just not happening." And it, and it's funny because the reason it happened, when it came down to it, was I was like, "What do I need to do? Surely this is not impossible." And he went, "Okay. Uh, it's this much a track and six tracks minimum and, uh-"

    5. SB

      Money.

    6. MB

      Money. And I was like, "Okay." And so this manager and I literally went back to Vancouver, and she was an amazing woman and she went door to door, bank to bank, and we found this incredible dude who underwrote and, and we brought the money. We brought the check. And I went to David's in Malibu and said, we said, uh, "We got it. Here's the money." Um, David's a massive producer. I think it was 100,000 a song. And, uh, (laughs) I think poor David.

    7. SB

      (laughs)

    8. MB

      I remember sitting up here at this room in Malibu and he had, like, all the Grammys all over his piano and, and I remember we were like, "We got it." And he was like, "You got it?" Like, I was like, "Well, okay." You know? "Okay," he said, "but Warner will get the first right of refusal." And even that wasn't the end of the story. We started making a demo and that we ended up, uh, going ... He got Paul Anka. Do you know Paul Anka?

    9. SB

      No.

    10. MB

      Okay. Well, Paul is ... I'll remind you of who Paul Anka is if you don't know. Paul at 16 or maybe 15 had written, um, a song, uh, called Put Your Head on My Shoulder. << Put your head on my shoulder >> Or Diana, << I'm so young and you're so old >> He wrote another song called My Way. << And now, the end is near >> Huge, massive star.

    11. SB

      Of course I knew who-

    12. MB

      He is Justin Bieber, okay?

    13. SB

      Yeah, I, of course I knew who the song was.

    14. MB

      And he's still a huge star. He's still a ...

    15. SB

      Yeah.

    16. MB

      But he got involved and then he was like, "You don't need that money. My guys will get the money." And for whatever reason, when we started making the record, that deal somehow fell through and David was like, "It's over."

    17. SB

      The money deal fell through.

    18. MB

      Yeah, the money deal fell through and he was like, "Uh, it didn't work out and somebody else will do this." And I was like, "Dude," you know? And there was a, another producer named Umberto Guttita who was another massive producer.... beautiful guy. And he said- (laughs) he took me into the car. I was destroyed 'cause I was this, I wa- I was there. I was making the record. It was, I was four songs in to making a record. And, uh, and then it was done. And David was like, "I'm really sorry, Mike. You know, it's just, it's just not gonna happen."

    19. SB

      Why didn't you quit like Neil told you to?

    20. MB

      Well, it was, a big, a big deal was, uh, Umberto. And he said, um, he was a, he's a Chilean guy, and he said, "Hey, Buble, man, you need a..." He said, "You need a, I drive you to your apartment." And I was d- I was dead. Like, I was, I, I had it. I was there, dude. It was there in my hand. It was there, and then it was gone. And he drove me home, and I remember he parked. I lived in Westwood. I'd rented this little place in Westwood. And Umberto parked the car outside, and he looked at me, and he said, "Okay, Miklito." He said, "David Foster is a strong guy, but he doesn't like confrontation at all." He said, "Here's what you're going to say to him." And he literally told me what to say. And about three days later, uh, David had brought me in, hired me to do something. I think was for Kenny G and his wife at the time, at a anniversary party. And I said, "David, can I speak to you?" And he said, like, "Okay." And, uh, I took David to this other little room beside the banquet hall, and literally regurgitated word for word, you know, what Umberto had told me to tell this guy. You know, David was my hero, right? David is a scary guy. You in your, you know, you're look, "Wow, this is..." And, uh, basically the gist of the conversation was, um, "We have done something incredible. We have four or five songs here that are, you know, they're amazing. Please give me one opportunity to go to Warner Brother Records and to speak to the president and play my case. And if he doesn't want me, I will never ever bother you again. You'll never hear from me again. You want me to show up and do stuff for you, I'll do it, but I'll never ask that question again." And, uh, he was like, "Okay." And he, I don't think he did love confrontation. And, uh, I remember he called me about a day, two days later, and he said, "Let's see what a 26-year-old kid knows about the record business." And, uh, I went into Warner Records in Burbank, maybe, probably the scariest day of my life, of my life.

    21. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    22. MB

      And, uh, wood building, you know, look up on the wall, and, and it's Prince, and Tom Petty, and Madonna, and, uh, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and like, pooh. You know, holy shit, you know? And, uh, I sat in the meeting with Wally, Tom Wally is the president, and he's, like, real good-looking dude. Like, like, imagine, like, Eric Stoltz or something. But, you know, as the, you know, the executive and, you know, um, I s- he sat down in the office, and I think he said, uh, "Well, why should we sign you? We have Sinatra on Reprise." I think it's one of the first things he said.

    23. SB

      Sinatra on Reprise, what does that mean?

    24. MB

      Uh, there, so Reprise was a subsidiary of, of Warner that, that Frank had started.

    25. SB

      Ah.

    26. MB

      And, and they had Frank in, on the label, you know? They had Sinatra on Reprise, you know? And, uh, he said, "Why should we sign you? We have Frank." Must be like getting to the pearly gates and having one opportunity to get in. And I said, "With all due respect, Mr. Wally, Frank's dead, you know? Don't bury the music." I said, "I will keep it alive. I love it, I cherish it. I will break my ass for you. I will go out there, and I will will this to be great." And, uh, he sat, he listened to the four demos, and then two days later, I, I had flown my grandfather down to LA, 'cause I, I mean... I had, and it's funny, when I walked out with David that day, I say, "Thank you, David, for putting your balls on the line for me like that." I said, "So what do you think?" And he looked at me, and he said, "I think you did a great job. Uh, but Mike, I, I have no idea what that man is..." Like, he had no idea. And he honestly, I don't think he had any concept when we walked out of those doors what Mr. Wally was gonna say, you know? And then two days later, I flew my grandfather down. I said, "Grandpa, I, I can't do this. I need you, man." So he flew down to LA, and, uh, in that little Westwood apartment, and I was down on the, on the treadmill. And, uh, the door sort of flung open, and he and the manager at the time, Bev, they opened the door, and they were just crying, you know? They said, you know, "Come up-"

    27. SB

      Your granddad.

    28. MB

      Yeah. "Come upstairs, come upstairs, come upstairs." You know? And so, uh, we took the elevator up, and I grabbed the telephone, and, uh, said, "Hello?" And David said, "Hey, Mike, man." And I said, "Hi, David." He said, uh, "Hey, Mike, man, I wanna welcome you to Warner Brothers Records, and I want you to know we have your back, and you're never gonna have to worry again." And it was like, man, it was... I, I don't know. And again, dude, it sounds like that's the end of the story, but that wasn't the end, because the record came out, and it was awesome, but I believe I debuted at 198 (laughs) on Billboard.

    29. SB

      (laughs)

    30. MB

      And, uh, I had a manager named Bruce Allen. Uh, he was known as the, one of the greatest managers in the business and still is. And he said to me, "Kid, you're an American-signed act, but, um, you know, it's not, it's n- it's not, you're not killing it. There's not, there's not a ton of interest." He said, um, "Would you consider going to Southeast Asia and Africa?" And I was like, "Yeah, I'll go anywhere you want." And I did, dude. I just started going to all the... And man, that's where it happened. I made it in... My first big hit was in the Philippines, South Africa. I started to do pretty good. I had sold couple million records. And my manager Bruce would call, and he would say, uh, "Hey, kid-"... "You want to go to Germany?" I said, like, "What's in Ger-" "Well, they, they, they got, uh, about eight journalists there, and, uh, you'd be singing in the Hyatt lobby doing a showcase." And, uh, you know, and I guess there might have been a thought at even that point maybe that's beneath, and I was like, "No shit, man. Go, yeah." And I did it, dude. I just went literally, man. I did that in all over Asia, Switzerland, Ger- Pol- like, dude, you name the country, and I showed up and did a showcase,

  11. 37:16 – 38:46

    When Did You Actually Think You'd Made It?

    1. MB

      and-

    2. SB

      What age were you when you thought, "Shit, this is, you know, this is big now"? W- w- w-

    3. MB

      Oh, pft- probably, (sighs) probably 30.

    4. SB

      So you're from-

    5. MB

      20, 29. So like, it's happened late for me, man. Like, it, this whole, this whole thing happened late. I was really... For, for what isn't the norm-

    6. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    7. MB

      ... yeah, man, I, I didn't know what I, I... I had my first taste of fame at maybe 28.

    8. SB

      Hm.

    9. MB

      That is so ???. And it was in the Philippines, and I went to get sushi at a mall in Manila, and the s- there was this security guy. He was like, "Don't go without me." And I was like, "Yeah, sure," and I went in and went and bought sushi. And then all of a sudden, I was, like, surrounded by all these beautiful Filipinos speaking Tagalog and asking for pictures, and I was like... And, uh, (laughs) and I remember he was really pissed with me. He was really upset that I hadn't taken him, the security. I was like, "Why? I don't need security." And then he took me, we went up to my room, and I was like, "Dude, I'm sorry. Like, that was crazy. Like, I've ne- this is crazy. I feel like a fucking Backstreet Boy or something, you know?"

    10. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    11. MB

      Like, they were, they...

    12. SB

      (laughs)

    13. MB

      And then he, I remember that he opened the curtain, and this curtain opened, and it was a building facing us. And the f- dude, the full building was just my face.

    14. SB

      You're joking (laughs) .

    15. MB

      Yeah, and I was like, "Oh, shit. I understand now. This is, uh..." But, dude, it was so new,

  12. 38:46 – 41:59

    Have You Ever Been Scared You'll Lose It All?

    1. MB

      you know?

    2. SB

      When you've had to fight to get there-

    3. MB

      Yeah.

    4. SB

      ... for say, 14, 15, 16 years-

    5. MB

      Yeah.

    6. SB

      ... whatever it is, is there a part of you that is sort of innately scared of losing it in a way that someone who just got it like that (fingers snap) might not appreciate?

    7. MB

      Yeah, there was. There for sure there was, man.

    8. SB

      And does that result in work holism and-

    9. MB

      There is for all those. There is for-

    10. SB

      Yeah.

    11. MB

      I'm sure you sit and go like, "I'm kicking ass right now, but you know what?"

    12. SB

      (laughs)

    13. MB

      Well, but you know why? Because naturally, everything that goes up must come down. No, there's no s- there is no career, I don't give a, I don't care if you're a school teacher or you're a doctor.

    14. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    15. MB

      I mean, nothing just continues to go. I mean, um, you have to understand that there are peaks and valleys, and that there are times when, um, you might not be the hottest, but those are the times when you continue to, uh, stay true to the brand, you know? You don't panic. It's hard not to panic. Like, I was talking about Paul Anka, but, you know, Paul is very sweet. Like, he'll call me just out of the blue, and he'll go like, "Hey, dude, you're the man. Don't, don't trip. You know? Whatever you're feeling, if you're feeling it's up or down, just keep doing your thing, man. Be true to yourself. Don't panic." And it's beautiful. It's a beautiful... You know, and listen, for me, having four kids and a, an inc- like, a wife that is my favorite human being in the whole planet, that made-

    16. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    17. MB

      ... it makes the process of that worry easier because, you know, it's funny, dude. I, I was terrified yesterday at that event. Terrified, man. I, I wanted to be great, and it's scary to be in front of your peers at something you know is so important. And, uh, this morning, I woke up, and I was brushing my teeth, and I was on FaceTime with my wife and the kids, you know? And, uh, and she said, "Okay, how are you? How do you feel?" And it was like, I say, "Listen, Lou," I said. "Faith, number one, my family, number two, and my career are really, you know, a distant third." And so for me, I'm, I'm blessed to f- to really feel that, because of course I get scared, man. I don't want to lose it, and there's a million ways to lose it, and... But I also haven't put all of my eggs into that one basket.

    18. SB

      Has it always been as clear, the priorities?

    19. MB

      No, man. Pffft. No. Of course not. Absolutely not. And by the way, there can be times where my false self allows that to change.

    20. SB

      My false self?

    21. MB

      Yeah, my false self, my, my, I would say the ego. Um, I, I, you know, I, I, you know, I should read more Eckhart Tolle and-

    22. SB

      Hmm.

    23. MB

      ... Power of Now and he tells stories about the hockey team that I'm a part owner of, the Vancouver Giants.

    24. SB

      Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

    25. MB

      He talks about e- the ages-

    26. SB

      Yeah, yeah.

    27. MB

      ... how, how substantial that, that is. But, uh, he is a big part of my life too, you know? And by the way, practicing to get to this place where it's really easy to let your fears and, and your, uh, your false self give you these negative messages, and, and, um, it wo- it, it was helpful for me to understood- to understand that I could control that, you know, not, not allowing those negative things to get ahold of me.

    28. SB

      One of my

  13. 41:59 – 49:00

    Your Son's Cancer Diagnosis.

    1. SB

      sort of deep, I think, existential fears is that I'm not gonna have my priorities in the right order, and I'm gonna find out too late. I've said this a few times on this show.

    2. MB

      Yeah.

    3. SB

      I'm scared that as a guy who's, like, spent, I don't know, tw- 12 years building businesses and d- Yeah. ... pursuing success in whatever form, that life is gonna tell me, "Steve, at the moment when you needed to have your priorities in order, they weren't," or maybe you want to have a family or a wife or something, you know? What was it that changed, illuminated the true nature of what your priorities should be?

    4. MB

      I n- I, listen, I had, like I said to you before, this whole thing starts with family, and I, I, I have never been so out of touch because I have too good of a family. My mom and dad are just, they just, they're just two beautiful people, and my grandparents, and, um... Listen, I may not do it, but I know what the difference is between-... right and wrong and, and, um, and putting ego first. Um, the, I don't wanna get too deep into it 'cause it's, it's not, uh, it's not that it isn't comfortable for me, but my son has his own life and his own story.

    5. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    6. MB

      Um, my son's cancer diagnosis rocked my world. It pulled the curtain from over my eyes and, um, I don't wanna get deeper into it, but I can tell you that, um, I don't think that I had what you're talking about. I don't think I had context. And that was a sledgehammer to my reality. And, um, I will, I will never be carefree again in my life and that's okay. Um, it is a privilege for me to, to exist and, uh, and that, that pain, the fear, the suffering that comes with those sort of things is, I guess, it's part of that beautiful, this life, you know? It's, uh, but it, I, if I wasn't clear, and I wasn't clear, and it's interesting because when it actually happened, I was going through, I think, a crisis. Like really, like the crisis that you're talking about. You know, um, I don't think I had my priorities straight. I mean, I, I, I, I always l- my family was always a love of, you know, I think, I don't think I was a terrible guy, but, um, dude, car- it was blinders, career, you know, ambition. How do I become the baddest, biggest, best, uh, you know, more ego, more power, more money, more... And, um, on Halloween, however many years ago that was, dude, it's like life was lived with like a curtain in front of me, like a filter.

    7. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    8. MB

      And the moment that they said, "This is what's happening," um, I, that reality hit me, um, (snaps fingers) filter gone. Filter gone and I mean, in a moment, in one moment, gone. And I went, "Okay, this is it. This is life. This is, this is it. This is what's important." Um, and that's when, that's when, it's just not like I thought about it. I didn't. There was no time to process it. It was, um, you have your priorities, uh, this, this is what your priorities are and they, this is what your priorities must be in order to be happy in your life. And, um, it is.

    9. SB

      I just can't imagine. I just can't imagine.

    10. MB

      Yeah. It's fa- it's faith, family, and, and ...

    11. SB

      A member of my family got diagnosed with, um, a very similar illness.

    12. MB

      Mm-hmm.

    13. SB

      And I remember where I was and where I stood when I got that call and again, I'd been running, you know, just in my own little world, hadn't called them in a while.

    14. MB

      Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    15. SB

      Wasn't really in touch with them.

    16. MB

      Yeah.

    17. SB

      And then in that exact moment, it made me realize the true reason why I do what I do.

    18. MB

      Mm-hmm.

    19. SB

      Like I, I, you know?

    20. MB

      Yeah.

    21. SB

      And that my life should never have been so focused on self in such a way, if that makes sense.

    22. MB

      Yeah, of course, absolutely. Absolutely. Dude, I remember being at CHLA. I remember peeing in a stall. I know it sounds weird and it's not sexy, but I remember just sitting in the stall, standing there, you know?

    23. SB

      The Children's Hospital?

    24. MB

      Yes, sir. And, uh, and I remember closing my eyes and saying to myself, "If I get, if we get out of this, um, if we get out of this, I'm living a different life, a better life." And I did. I made that promise to myself in like a moment, you know? "I wanna be kinder, I wanna be more empathetic. I don't ever wanna allow that ego and that false self to take over. I wanna know how lucky I am." And dude, I'm a lucky man. Like I, you know, I just look at, I look at my wife like, you know, it's like how the f- h- w- how did that happen? How did I get, you know, this incredible human being who's the best of all of us, you know, to, to have sort of lead me through and, and carry me through these things, you know?

    25. SB

      Mmm. (sighs)

    26. MB

      Yeah.

    27. SB

      Yeah. It's a, it's a, it's, it's, um, I was just thinking about, um, goes back to what I was saying about how I don't want life, life to show, show me my priorities, um, especially as it relates to my romantic relationships where-

    28. MB

      Mm-hmm.

    29. SB

      ... you know, you can end up in divorce court or you lose something and then you think-

    30. MB

      Mm-hmm.

  14. 49:00 – 51:22

    What Effect Is This Having on You Now?

    1. MB

    2. SB

      I, on this podcast so many times, I've spoken to parents about, about grief. But I've never really shone a- shone a light on just the trauma of going through m- moments like that, and really the, like, blast radius of, of knock-on effects to that person's life that it can have, implications to their mental health. Your son, Noah ... Is that Noah?

    3. MB

      Yeah, yeah.

    4. SB

      And you've got four wonderful kids, I hear.

    5. MB

      Yeah. Yeah.

    6. SB

      Um, is doing great. 10 years-

    7. MB

      Yep.

    8. SB

      10 years old?

    9. MB

      10 years old.

    10. SB

      10 years old?

    11. MB

      Yeah.

    12. SB

      But for all the, all the priorities and the, the curtain that it pulled back, is there still a healing process there that, that needs to have happened that you'd typically see similar to grief, if you know what I'm saying?

    13. MB

      Oh, no, no, no. Because you already ... I think any parent, I mean, I've, now I've become ... I, I, I've had such great relationships with so many parents and people who have not just gone through this. I mean, listen man, going through any kind of thing with, like, you know, you're gon- you're not gonna get away without it, man. I don't know if you have already, but-

    14. SB

      Haven't had kids yet, so um-

    15. MB

      No, I'm not talking about kids. I'm talking about your siblings or your mom and dad or-

    16. SB

      Oh, yeah.

    17. MB

      ... we're all gonna go. I mean, it's just a part of life. It takes a piece of us, you know. Like my grandpa, man, I miss my grandpa every day. But that's just, that's life. That's a part of life. And, um, I don't know that any of us even have the capacity to deal with it. I think it's why obviously we, we move to faith. You know, something feels good about hoping that there's something more.

    18. SB

      But men in their mental health, we don't talk about these things.

    19. MB

      No, dude. You must be soft. Don't be soft and no crying.

    20. SB

      I'm gu- I'm guilty of this more than anyone-

    21. MB

      Mm-hmm.

    22. SB

      ... especially as, like, a CEO, and I've been a CEO since I was 18-

    23. MB

      Yeah.

    24. SB

      ... and I had hundreds of employ-

    25. MB

      Yeah.

    26. SB

      So I would, I can't f- I felt like I couldn't flinch.

    27. MB

      Yeah.

    28. SB

      You know?

    29. MB

      But how do you ... Can I ask you, how do you ... Because you are a brand now, man. Okay, I know you're a beautiful, nice guy, a human being. But dude, there's a brand. It's a brand-

    30. SB

      Mm-hmm.

  15. 51:22 – 59:38

    Your Brand: Michael Bible vs. Mike.

    1. SB

      it comes back to this point about authenticity. You know. You know when something is you and when it's in line with you, and you know when you're kind of abandoning yourself. Some signal inside of me goes, "Hey, you know you're f- you know this isn't right."

    2. MB

      (laughs)

    3. SB

      You know, especially if someone offers you a lot of money to do something-

    4. MB

      Yeah, sure.

    5. SB

      ... and you go, "Oh, god. Oof. I know that's not me."

    6. MB

      Yeah.

    7. SB

      So fortune-

    8. MB

      Mm-h- Go ahead. Sorry.

    9. SB

      No, I was gonna say e- fr- eh, this show's a good example, which is, the good question is what are the sponsors? The sponsors are companies that I, uh, are in line with my values. So-

    10. MB

      Yes.

    11. SB

      ... you know, my Woo, my, my Zoe, my, you know-

    12. MB

      Yeah.

    13. SB

      ... the products that I ... And also I'm a shareholder in those companies. They're sponsoring-

    14. MB

      Okay.

    15. SB

      ... the podcast, and I'm in the team.

    16. MB

      Yeah.

    17. SB

      That's a good example of it. Whereas-

    18. MB

      Yes.

    19. SB

      ... some brands aren't, aren't aligned.

    20. MB

      Yeah.

    21. SB

      But ...

    22. MB

      I think what I meant even more than just brands is like, you know, I'm ... you don't understand. I'm, I'm, I'm two different people, right?

    23. SB

      Who's, who's the other guy?

    24. MB

      Well, the other guy is, this is me. I'm Michael Bublé.

    25. SB

      Yeah.

    26. MB

      Um, I'm an idiot who is, I think, sweet and, um-

    27. SB

      So the guy I met.

    28. MB

      Little bit. Well, yeah.

    29. SB

      Well, I knew the other guy from stage.

    30. MB

      Oh. Yeah. That, that's, that's a completely different dude. That guy, that's Michael Bublé. This, I'm Mike. Uh, fantasy football hockey loving idiot who, you know, um, you know, is a bigger idiot than you, than I'm, you're seeing here. Even I'm bec- I'm a little bit more of the suit guy re-

  16. 59:38 – 1:06:01

    Your Whisk Brand.

    1. SB

      you out on your bullshit.

    2. MB

      Oh God, I love you that you're opening it. Are we allowed to drink this?

    3. SB

      We are allowed to drink it if you wanna drink it. So Fraser-

    4. MB

      God, my morning, my morning just got way better.

    5. SB

      I just found this on the floor. No, I didn't really.

    6. MB

      (laughs)

    7. SB

      Um, Fraser & Thompson.

    8. MB

      Yes, sir.

    9. SB

      This is a whiskey brand that I'm holding in my hands-

    10. MB

      Yes, sir.

    11. SB

      ... that you have built in a building with an incredible team of whiskey experts

    12. NA

      (instrumental music)

    13. MB

      I know nothing.

    14. SB

      Uh, they've told me that you're in- you're driving this business and incredibly involved, which is atypical.

    15. MB

      Oh, yeah. I mean, like-

    16. SB

      Yeah.

    17. MB

      ... I'm involved in, in this, this... I'm, you know... But like, what do I know about whiskey?

    18. SB

      No, I mean, what do you know about Fraser & Thompson? I mean, this is-

    19. MB

      I know, I, I know that... Listen to me. I know that if you don't know what you're doing, you, (laughs) you hire and bring in the greatest people in the universe-

    20. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    21. MB

      ... who literally hold your hand and, uh, tell you what to do. And you know that when you find a guy like Paul Sirka, who is one of the greatest whiskey, you know, connoisseurs in the world, and he... And then you ask him how big his brewery is and he tells you, "Idiot, it's called a distillery, not a brewery," you realize that you don't know what you're talking about.

    22. SB

      But this-

    23. MB

      Yeah.

    24. SB

      ... is you.

    25. MB

      You wanna know what-

    26. SB

      You've worked with Paul, phenomenal expert, but this is you.

    27. MB

      Three years, dude. We-

    28. SB

      Three years?

    29. MB

      Three years. I tell you what, I worked three years because I wasn't gonna be part of something that I didn't love. And, uh, the truth, man-We tried to reverse engineer a whiskey for people that may not love whiskey. And, um, you know, I know that there's highfalutin, fancy, dancy whiskeys that we can talk about the oakiness of the barrel, and, uh, they've been aged 47 years. And, uh, this isn't that. This is an approachable drink that truthfully I love. And as you're opening it, my mouth is going like... (laughs) And, uh, my wife loves it, and my friends all love it, and all the whiskey snobs I know like it, and I'm so proud of it, and Paul Serka. Uh, you don't know who that is, but he's a star.

    30. SB

      Oh, I read about him.

  17. 1:06:01 – 1:09:15

    Does It Bother You That You're So Synonymous with Christmas?

    1. SB

      really incr- it's really incredible. So, you know, one of the things I always think about people that become really successful, I always wonder if it's a curse in a way because you've been such a successful artist. You've been ... I mean, your Christmas record was released in 2011.

    2. MB

      I'm so sorry about that.

    3. SB

      And I'm so, I'm told it is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.

    4. MB

      Isn't that crazy? You know what's cute? Yesterday, when I was on the bus, I was driving to the White House 'cause of the Kennedy Center Honors, my first time, you know. Uh, I think I was the only Canadian, and, uh, Sigourney Weaver was behind me. And I was sitting with Sheila Easton, and, uh, there was all these fancy people on the bus. And I got on the bus, and, um, and got to the White House, and the first thing that I heard was me going, "Have a holly jolly Christmas."

    5. SB

      (laughs)

    6. MB

      "It's the best time." And I was like, "Oh shit. I am so sorry."

    7. SB

      Has that ever bothered you that you're so, you were so successful at, with that Christmas album-

    8. MB

      Yeah.

    9. SB

      ... that you hear yourself every Christmas everywhere?

    10. MB

      No, it, uh, at first, do you know what's funny? Like, about seven years into it-... I was like, I was like... 'cause, you know, it, all I would get was calls at, like, especially through, come October, it was like, if you were a famous person with a movie or a, or a record, I was, you were calling me. Like, I'm not even exaggerating. Like, it was, you know, and I would get so excited. It was like, "Oh my God," you know, this, "Oh my God, my hero's call. Are they gonna ask me to be in their film? Are they gonna... a duet?" And it would be like, "So we're doing a Christmas," and I'd be like, "Oh, shit."

    11. SB

      (laughs)

    12. MB

      Um.

    13. SB

      (laughs)

    14. MB

      I, it's actually funny. Jack, Jack Whitehall, you know Jack?

    15. SB

      Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    16. MB

      He called me the other day. He's like, "Mike, I have this idea," and I was like, "You're gonna say Christmas, aren't you?" And he was like, "Yes."

    17. SB

      Aw.

    18. MB

      And I was like, "Jack, uh, uh, I love it." Dude, um, it's interesting. We were talking about my son and that moment.

    19. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    20. MB

      But that, again, was an epiphany moment for me, where I was sitting in the hospital room and I was like, "Oh my God, I am now synonymous with this beautiful time of year where people don't treat each other like assholes."

    21. SB

      Mm.

    22. MB

      And, um, and there's kindness and goodness and that's... This is, I get to be a part of this?

    23. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    24. MB

      And then people invite me into their homes at a time that is, is everything to them, and their connection with the people they love and their memories and, and then I started getting deeper. And I was like, "Oh my God, oh my God. They're not gonna... The people aren't gonna remember shit when I die. They're not gonna remember Home or the duet or this whiskey."

    25. SB

      Home is my favorite song, excuse me.

    26. MB

      That, yeah. Right, you know what I mean?

    27. SB

      You've said that 15 times today.

    28. MB

      But like, it, it goes, you know what I mean?

    29. SB

      Today.

    30. MB

      But I'm like, dude, 200 years from now when I am deader than dead, you know, people are gonna be singing, <<Have a holly, jolly Christmas>> I'm gonna be there. It's so cool.

  18. 1:09:15 – 1:16:01

    Starting to Write Original Songs.

    1. SB

    2. MB

      Thank you.

    3. SB

      What's your favorite song?

    4. MB

      Of the Christmas stuff?

    5. SB

      No, no, no.

    6. MB

      Oh, of anything?

    7. SB

      Yeah. No, of the, of songs that you sing and that you... Yes, songs that you sing.

    8. MB

      Songs that I sing? Of the standards?

    9. SB

      Your own or s- someone else's?

    10. MB

      Oh my God, there's so many.

    11. SB

      Just one.

    12. MB

      It's impossible.

    13. SB

      Could you sing us Home?

    14. MB

      It's impossible, man. It's impossible.

    15. SB

      Could you sing us Home for me?

    16. MB

      Home?

    17. SB

      Yeah.

    18. MB

      Oh, yeah. <<Another summer day has come and gone away in Paris or Rome, but I wanna go home. Bah, bah, because this place sucks.>>

    19. SB

      (laughs)

    20. MB

      I shoulda, I shoulda, that, that shoulda been the lyric.

    21. SB

      (laughs)

    22. MB

      I was, yeah. I, that's, uh, it's so weird, you know, like, not to get too deep into like-

    23. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    24. MB

      ... weird, but, uh, I have this friend, Dion, and I do his, I love doing his accent, he's South African. And, uh, before I wrote that song, um, I remember he used to say, "Oh my God, (Afrikaans) He's from South Africa.

    25. SB

      (laughs)

    26. MB

      He'd say, "Oh my God, you know what? The greatest artists in the world just open up their mind to the universe and they let the universe in. So when you're writing, just open up your mind to the universe." And I was in the shower, and I was like, and I was thi- I was like, "You know what I'm gonna open up my mind to?" It's so weird, but I was like, "Hmm, you know, enter." And, uh, I think, weirdly enough, for whatever reason, I had like Canon in D-

    27. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    28. MB

      ... in my head. <<Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da.>> And I just went, <<Another summer day has come and gone away, woo hoo, in Paris or Rome, but I wanna go home.>> And the whole th- literally, almost the whole... I mean, that and the pre, whew, in, in two minutes. And I remember getting out of the shower with a towel and, at those days, we didn't have the iPhone or anything, right? I had like a, one of those little tape recorders.

    29. SB

      Mm-hmm.

    30. MB

      And I remember singing a tape recorder and listening back and going, "Oh, no, no, I've most definitely stole this from somewhere. I stole this from somewhere."

  19. 1:16:01 – 1:18:41

    What Is the Nature of Living a Good Life?

    1. SB

      Four kids, Michael.

Episode duration: 1:31:18

Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript

Transcript of episode 2bUfUN9wUrs

Get more out of YouTube videos.

High quality summaries for YouTube videos. Accurate transcripts to search & find moments. Powered by ChatGPT & Claude AI.

Add to Chrome