How Brian Mulroney helped Michael Buble land his big break

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“The truth is, man, Wikipedia’s not right.”

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In a late November interview, Michael Buble and I were chatting about all things Christmas and his new holiday-themed bubly drink. But as our conversation neared to a close inside a board room at Toronto’s Eaton Centre, I asked Michael Buble about his big break.

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My mother had told me it was an interesting story that involved the late Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who died this week in Palm Beach, his daughter Caroline and one of music’s most well-known producers — David Foster.

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Even though we had spoken before, I didn’t know it.

“Ask him about it,” my mother urged.

Buble had a tight schedule and our time was up. “It’s a huge, long story,” he said. But he indulged me.

“People say, ‘He was a wedding singer that got discovered,’ but it isn’t true,” Buble recalled. “I worked from when I was 16 years old. I sang in nightclubs and I moved to Toronto.”

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But his career as a jazz vocalist and standards crooner wasn’t taking off. At 25, he had decided he was going to go back to school.

“I was going to Simon Fraser University or the University of British Columbia to take journalism,” he said.

At one of his last gigs he handed one of his CDs to a guy named Michael McSweeney, who happened to be a a close friend of Mulroney.

Unbeknownst to Buble, McSweeney had passed along the album to the Mulroneys.

The former prime minister and his wife Mila heard it and they were hooked. They reached out to hire Buble to sing at their daughter Caroline’s wedding in September 2000.

“McSweeney gave it to Mulroney, who hired me to sing at Caroline’s wedding,” Buble said of the lucky break that changed the course of his life.

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“My first reaction was to say to Mila, ‘Look, you’ve already put together a magnificent wedding, with bands galore.’ Our friend, David Foster, was going to perform and Kathie Lee Gifford was going to sing. And she said, ‘But take a listen to this CD,’” Mulroney told writer David Hayes for a Saturday Night profile of Buble in 2005. “When I did, I couldn’t believe it. I said right away, this guy’s a cross between Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra.”

At the nuptials, Buble met producer Foster. “Foster said, ‘Great, kid, you’re on my radar,’” Buble recalled to me.

Most versions of the story charting Buble’s rise to the top stop there. Foster, who had an established name in the music business having worked with artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Madonna and countless others, went on to produce Buble’s multi-platinum 2003 self-titled debut.

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He eventually became the king of Christmas. The rest is history. End of story.

But not so fast.

“The truth is Foster had no intention of ever signing me or ever producing my record,” Buble said. “For years, I worked for him doing little things. Finally one day I asked him, ‘Are you going to produce (my record),’ and he said, ‘Get lost. It’s not going to happen. Literally, get out of my house. I love you, you’re on my radar kid, just like all these other young kids who are trying to get in there.’”

Undeterred, after self-financing a 2001 album all on his own, Buble pressed Foster to help him land a record deal with a major label.

Half-a-million dollars. That was what it was going to take for Foster to produce Buble’s record.

“He priced out how much a song and said, ‘You’d have to come up with all that money and maybe then, if you can come up with the money, I would do it and Warner Bros. Records would have first right of refusal,’” Buble said.

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Home in Vancouver, Buble went from one bank to another to raise the money. When he finally came up with it all, there he was back on Foster’s doorstep.

Foster brought Buble to Las Vegas where he opened for comedian Jay Leno. One day, pop icon Paul Anka was in town. Buble got the Canadian crooner’s seal of approval.

Buble was recording in Los Angeles, well on his way. Happy ending, right?

But Foster again got cold feet.

“‘I’m not going to do this with you. Don’t worry, you’re going to make it somehow with someone else,’” Buble recollected him saying.

In a last-ditch effort, if he was a cat this is the part where he’s down to his ninth life, Buble pleaded with Foster to let him make his case to the president of Warner Bros. Records directly.

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“He brought me to Warner Bros. and I met with Tom Whalley (who was then chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records). Tom sat down and said, ‘Why should we sign you? We have Frank Sinatra on Reprise.’ I said, ‘All due respect sir, he’s dead. Let me be a part of keeping this music alive. I’ll work my ass off for you.’”

Two days later he got a call from Foster welcoming him to Warner Bros.

With four hit singles, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Kissing a Fool, Sway and Spider-Man Theme, his debut CD was a hit and Buble became a “five-year overnight sensation.”

But it all started with the late Brian Mulroney listening to Buble’s music and being convinced he was hearing a star being born.

“That’s the really short version, but that’s kind of how it went,” Buble said, smiling.

During Mulroney’s 80th birthday bash in 2019, Buble was a special guest to the man who helped give him his first big break.

“Not only did he show up, he showed up with his orchestra and he put on a show that just blew it away,” Mulroney told The Globe and Mail about his special night. “For an old frustrated saloon singer like me, I just loved it because he’s so good.”

[email protected]

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“The truth is, man, Wikipedia’s not right.”

Article content

In a late November interview, Michael Buble and I were chatting about all things Christmas and his new holiday-themed bubly drink. But as our conversation neared to a close inside a board room at Toronto’s Eaton Centre, I asked Michael Buble about his big break.

Article content

My mother had told me it was an interesting story that involved the late Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who died this week in Palm Beach, his daughter Caroline and one of music’s most well-known producers — David Foster.

Article content

Even though we had spoken before, I didn’t know it.

“Ask him about it,” my mother urged.

Buble had a tight schedule and our time was up. “It’s a huge, long story,” he said. But he indulged me.

“People say, ‘He was a wedding singer that got discovered,’ but it isn’t true,” Buble recalled. “I worked from when I was 16 years old. I sang in nightclubs and I moved to Toronto.”

Article content

Article content

But his career as a jazz vocalist and standards crooner wasn’t taking off. At 25, he had decided he was going to go back to school.

“I was going to Simon Fraser University or the University of British Columbia to take journalism,” he said.

At one of his last gigs he handed one of his CDs to a guy named Michael McSweeney, who happened to be a a close friend of Mulroney.

Unbeknownst to Buble, McSweeney had passed along the album to the Mulroneys.

The former prime minister and his wife Mila heard it and they were hooked. They reached out to hire Buble to sing at their daughter Caroline’s wedding in September 2000.

“McSweeney gave it to Mulroney, who hired me to sing at Caroline’s wedding,” Buble said of the lucky break that changed the course of his life.

Article content

“My first reaction was to say to Mila, ‘Look, you’ve already put together a magnificent wedding, with bands galore.’ Our friend, David Foster, was going to perform and Kathie Lee Gifford was going to sing. And she said, ‘But take a listen to this CD,’” Mulroney told writer David Hayes for a Saturday Night profile of Buble in 2005. “When I did, I couldn’t believe it. I said right away, this guy’s a cross between Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra.”

At the nuptials, Buble met producer Foster. “Foster said, ‘Great, kid, you’re on my radar,’” Buble recalled to me.

Most versions of the story charting Buble’s rise to the top stop there. Foster, who had an established name in the music business having worked with artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Madonna and countless others, went on to produce Buble’s multi-platinum 2003 self-titled debut.

Article content

He eventually became the king of Christmas. The rest is history. End of story.

But not so fast.

“The truth is Foster had no intention of ever signing me or ever producing my record,” Buble said. “For years, I worked for him doing little things. Finally one day I asked him, ‘Are you going to produce (my record),’ and he said, ‘Get lost. It’s not going to happen. Literally, get out of my house. I love you, you’re on my radar kid, just like all these other young kids who are trying to get in there.’”

Undeterred, after self-financing a 2001 album all on his own, Buble pressed Foster to help him land a record deal with a major label.

Half-a-million dollars. That was what it was going to take for Foster to produce Buble’s record.

“He priced out how much a song and said, ‘You’d have to come up with all that money and maybe then, if you can come up with the money, I would do it and Warner Bros. Records would have first right of refusal,’” Buble said.

Article content

Home in Vancouver, Buble went from one bank to another to raise the money. When he finally came up with it all, there he was back on Foster’s doorstep.

Foster brought Buble to Las Vegas where he opened for comedian Jay Leno. One day, pop icon Paul Anka was in town. Buble got the Canadian crooner’s seal of approval.

Buble was recording in Los Angeles, well on his way. Happy ending, right?

But Foster again got cold feet.

“‘I’m not going to do this with you. Don’t worry, you’re going to make it somehow with someone else,’” Buble recollected him saying.

In a last-ditch effort, if he was a cat this is the part where he’s down to his ninth life, Buble pleaded with Foster to let him make his case to the president of Warner Bros. Records directly.

Article content

“He brought me to Warner Bros. and I met with Tom Whalley (who was then chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records). Tom sat down and said, ‘Why should we sign you? We have Frank Sinatra on Reprise.’ I said, ‘All due respect sir, he’s dead. Let me be a part of keeping this music alive. I’ll work my ass off for you.’”

Two days later he got a call from Foster welcoming him to Warner Bros.

With four hit singles, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Kissing a Fool, Sway and Spider-Man Theme, his debut CD was a hit and Buble became a “five-year overnight sensation.”

But it all started with the late Brian Mulroney listening to Buble’s music and being convinced he was hearing a star being born.

“That’s the really short version, but that’s kind of how it went,” Buble said, smiling.

During Mulroney’s 80th birthday bash in 2019, Buble was a special guest to the man who helped give him his first big break.

“Not only did he show up, he showed up with his orchestra and he put on a show that just blew it away,” Mulroney told The Globe and Mail about his special night. “For an old frustrated saloon singer like me, I just loved it because he’s so good.”

[email protected]

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