Michael Bublé's Dad Told Him to Avoid This Risky Career: “Listen, I Was Supposed..."
“It was definitely a dangerous job," The Voice Coach said of his father and grandfathers' profession.
Whether they’re influencing his music or inspiring his tattoos, Michael Bublé’s family means everything to him — starting with his parents.
Over the years, The Voice Coach has emphatically talked about how his mom and dad shaped him into the man he is today and how much he appreciates them. Read on to learn all about Bublé’s parents, the Grammy winner’s childhood, and why his father urged him to not follow in his career footsteps.
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Who are Michael Bublé’s parents?
Bublé was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada by his parents, father Lewis and mother Amber. Bublé also has two younger sisters, Brandee and Crystal, who he described as “the two best friends any lucky guy could ask for” in a sweet post on Instagram.
In addition to being Canadian, Bublé’s parents are also both of Italian descent. And the singer is so proud of both his Canadian and Italian roots that he obtained his Italian citizenship in 1995.
Bublé’s father worked as a commercial salmon fisherman and his mother was a stay-at-home mom, raising him and his sisters. “Our house was boisterous and at times loud, compared to my friends’ homes, which might not be too surprising, considering our Italian heritage,” Bublé wrote in his 2011 book Onstage, Offstage, via an excerpt published in TODAY.
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Michael Bublé’s dad did not want him to follow in his profession
Bublé has described his father’s profession as a commercial salmon fisherman as “dangerous” and similar to the long-running reality series Deadliest Catch. “It was a dangerous job, you’re out in the high seas, in the middle, ya know, going up and down the coast of British Columbia,” Bublé said during an interview on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast. “It was definitely a dangerous job.”
Fishing was a family business; not only was Bublé’s father a fisherman who’d be out at sea for months at a time, but so were his uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather, who immigrated from Italy and built ships. And Bublé himself spent six years working as a fisherman with his dad. While Bublé told Mandel he just “loved it out there” on the ship, his father urged him to pursue a different career path.
“Listen, I was supposed to be a fisherman. I was supposed to go out there and sort of continue [the business],” Bublé said. “My dad would say to me over and over again, ‘Son, I want you to work with your head not your hands ... Don’t do what I’m doing, this is too hard, it’s too this, too dangerous, too volatile.’”
So when Bublé started performing in nightclubs as a teen, he said his parents “were thrilled” to see him succeeding in another profession. “Even though it was, like, singing, I think they felt I had enough talent to make a living at it,” he said. “I think my dad was happy that I wasn’t going to be a fisherman, honestly.”
While he didn’t become a fisherman, Bublé wrote in his book that he “learned to act like a man” on his father’s boat: “My dad Lewis taught me that if I acted honourably with people, they would act honourably with me.”
Michael Bublé discovered singing as a kid after his dad taught him a clever lesson
In his book Onstage, Offstage, Bublé shared that his journey with singing started when his father came up with a creative way for him to memorize their home address.
“It all began when I was a little kid, when I learned my family’s address. My father taught me to sing it, because he knew that by singing it, I’d remember it. I’ll never forget the little tune I composed to sing those four numbers and the name of the quiet street where I grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia,” he wrote. “That little song was my first foray into music, and it came to me as naturally as shooting a hockey puck.”
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Michael Bublé says his mother is “everything” to him
Bublé often talks about the impact his parents have had on his life and credits his mother as being a source of guidance for their family. “That woman is everything to me,” he told Parade in 2022. “She's a pillar of strength for all of us and the matriarch of our family.”
Bublé also said that his mother taught him a valuable life lesson that’s only benefited him as an entertainer. “My mother was always full of love. She was tough. She demanded her children respect their elders, try to be gracious and lead with humility and empathy,” he told Parade. “Another thing she also taught us was to never, ever take someone's dignity. That didn't just turn me into a better person, it made me a great entertainer. I genuinely care about the people who come see me perform.”
In his 2011 book, Bublé admitted that while he “wasn’t an easy kid to raise,” his mother made him feel safe through rules and discipline. “When I was growing up, she was the perfect blend: a mother I was afraid of, who was also a great guiding presence for my two sisters and me. It was a healthy fear … She was a good, fun young mom, but she could put me in my place with one look,” he wrote, adding that he believes “kids need boundaries to make them feel safe.”
While Bublé is a grown man, husband, and father of four, he wrote to his mother in a silly TikTok that “I’ll always be your baby boy” — and also asked her to help find his favorite belt.
Michael Bublé’s parents: His “superman” and “role model”
Bublé credits his upbringing and his parents for shaping him into the person he's become. And he certainly doesn’t hesitate to gush about how amazing they are.
For example, in a touching Father’s Day post on Instagram, Bublé captioned a childhood photo of him with his dad, “When I was a kid, I thought my dad was superman. Now that I'm grown up, I realize I was right.”
In another Instagram post for Mother’s Day, Bublé thanked his mom for “being my rock and my role model” — and teaching him how to “feather my bangs” for a perfectly, wispy ‘80s hairstyle.
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