logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2016
34m 6s

Michael Bublé

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Kirsty Young's castaway is the singer, Michael Bublé. Born in Burnaby, British Columbia, as a young boy he spent hours listening to his grandfather's record collection which featured the stars of the Great American songbook - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald. At sixteen he was singing at venues often in exchange for the free plumbing services his grandad offered to get him on stage. But it took ten years of plugging away at restaurants, clubs, and corporate gigs before he met David Foster, a music producer at Warner Brothers.

His released his first eponymous debut album in 2003. Since then he has won four Grammy Awards and sold 55 million records. He is married to Argentinian actress Luisana Lopilato and they have two young sons.

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

Up next
Jul 5
Professor Lucy Easthope, emergency planner
Professor Lucy Easthope is an adviser on disaster recovery and planning. She’s an expert in planning for and reacting to major incidents: natural disaster, terrorist attacks, pandemics and fires, and is the visiting Professor of Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of ... Show More
51m 36s
Jun 29
Romesh Ranganathan, comedian and broadcaster
Romesh Ranganathan is a comedian and BAFTA-winning broadcaster who has been a fixture on British television screens for the past decade. In addition to his TV shows and stand-up tours he presents the Weakest Link on BBC One, Radio Two’s Saturday morning show and another weekly Ra ... Show More
50m 23s
Jun 22
Abdulrazak Gurnah, writer
Abdulrazak Gurnah is emeritus Professor of Post-Colonial Literatures at the University of Kent and the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Born in Zanzibar in 1948, the second of six children, Abdulrazak grew up in the dying days of the island’s status as a British protectorat ... Show More
51m 17s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2004
Engelbert Humperdinck
Sue Lawley's castaway is the singer Engelbert Humperdinck. Engelbert Humperdinck is one of Britain's most successful entertainers. He is known as the King of Romance and has been at the top of the showbusiness ladder for nearly 40 years - selling more than 130 million records inc ... Show More
35m 8s
Jun 2024
Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser
Michael McDonald’s husky baritone is one of the most instantly recognizable voices from the ‘70s and ‘80s. As a member of The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and a hitmaking solo artist, Michael McDonald’s career is one for the books. Enter Paul Reiser—the comedic actor and writer b ... Show More
1h 4m
Jun 2022
Music is abstract, lyrics are concrete, with Elvis Costello, Marisa Monte, Jorge Drexler and Leo Sidran
Elvis Costello, Marisa Monte, Jorge Drexler and Leo Sidran discuss how to create emotional lyrics, shouting to make yourself heard, arriving at the idea of a song through its title, competing with the scale of music, and working in multiple languages.Elvis Costello is a singer, s ... Show More
41m 54s
May 2023
When Marimba Rhythms Start To Play
Michael Bublé, born on September 9, 1975, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor who has captivated audiences around the world with his smooth vocals and charming stage presence. Known for his timeless interpretations of classic jazz and pop standards, Bublé has become one o ... Show More
7m 48s
Jan 2022
Musical collage with Mad Professor, Suzanne Ciani, Matthew E. White and Georgia Anne Muldrow
Mad Professor, Suzanne Ciani, Matthew E. White and Georgia Anne Muldrow discuss how listening to music lets you travel through time, packaging their work into album form, and which part of the music-making process they enjoy the most.Matthew E. White is a singer, songwriter, prod ... Show More
29m 57s
Aug 2006
Simon Cowell
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the television star Simon Cowell. Simon Cowell is one of our most successful pop music moguls. He is the mastermind behind more than 100 number one songs in Britain and abroad and Westlife, whom he signed, holds the record for having seven conse ... Show More
34m 38s
Oct 2021
All my instruments have names with Esperanza Spalding, Marcos Valle, Patrick Paige II and Tom Misch
Esperanza Spalding, Marcos Valle, Patrick Paige II and Tom Misch discuss why playing music is dangerous, the sound of your first love, why drinking on stage is a bad idea, first takes v lots of practice, and recording an orchestra in one take.Grammy-winning bassist, singer and co ... Show More
31m 41s
Jul 2023
Becoming the people we want to be, with Gina Birch, Kathleen Hanna, Mark Moore, and Stephen McRobbie
Gina Birch, Kathleen Hanna, Mark Moore, and Stephen McRobbie how their teenage years influenced their path into music, how it felt to be doing something creative and combative for a living, and being at peace with themselves later in life.Gina Birch was inspired to form post punk ... Show More
29m 24s
Sep 2023
Idols and clowns with Devendra Banhart, Phil Elverum, Jenny Hval and Bedouine
Devendra Banhart, Phil Elverum, Jenny Hval and Bedouine discuss eating on tour, how art is intimacy exposed, and what can be learned from terrible shows.Devendra Banhart, was born in Texas and raised between Venezuela and California, where he attended the San Francisco Art Instit ... Show More
32m 12s
Apr 2020
Music therapy with Kane Brown,Holly Macve and Olivia Lane
Young country stars Kane Brown, Holly Macve and Olivia Lane discuss writing songs as therapy, recurring themes, and being put in a difficult position by their lyrics.Kane Brown is a superstar in the making from Tennessee, and has been called the ‘Justin Bieber of country’. He has ... Show More
26m 1s