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Michael Steven Bublé (pronounced /'bu?ble?/) born 9 September 1975 is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actor. He has won several awards, including two Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. 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 25 million albums worldwide.
His first singing engagements were in nightclubs at the age of 16 and were facilitated by his Italian grandfather, 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. Bublé's grandfather also paid for his singing lessons. One of his vocal instructors was Joseph Shore, the opera baritone.Bublé never stopped believing that he would become a star but admitted he was probably the only one who believed in his dream, saying that even his maternal grandfather thought he was going to be "an opening act for somebody in Las Vegas". Bublé's grandmother was also Italian, from Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi, Italy. Bublé has stated he never learned to read and write music, using only emotion to drive his songwriting ability.
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, musical revues, singing telegrams, and even the occasional singing Santa Claus gig.
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.
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"). He recorded three independent albums (First Dance, 1996; Babalu, 2001; Dream, 2002). 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
2000, Bublé's career breakthrough came from a surprising chain of events. Michael McSweeney saw Bublé's performance at a business party 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". 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.
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
Bublé's fourth studio album, Crazy Love, was due from 143/Reprise Records on 13 October 2009 However, an early release in the United States occurred on 9 October 2009,[in which Bublé appeared on Oprah that same day and performed the album's first single "Haven't Met You Yet". The album was also promoted in an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos at The Hour on 17 October 2009, and on the 22 December episode of The Glenn Beck Program
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. It achieved marginal success in the United States reaching the top 50 on the Billboard 200. 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’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. It’s Time was Billboard’s Top Jazz Album in both 2005 and 2006 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. 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.
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. 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
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