Michael Bublé: How He Overcomes Self-Doubt Daily & The Ugly Truth About Fame

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Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness.

Very excited about our guests.

We have the inspiring, the funny, the very talented Michael Bouble in the house.

Mama, thanks, Louis.

Good to see you, brother.

Man, it's nice to be home.

Nice to be with you.

Good to see you, man.

Nice to see you, too.

There's so many young artists out there that are great musicians, or singers, or performers, or artists in general

who have such incredible talent, but they're missing something.

Like they're missing something from breaking through.

What's the thing that usually great artists are missing from where they are when you're like, you've got the talent, but you're missing something?

What is that missing that a lot of them have to get that opportunity, that breakthrough that next level?

I don't know because I can't break through.

You tell me.

You can't break through.

Listen, dude.

You've broken through.

I was driving yesterday and I was listening to,

I think it's 103.5.

103.5.

Is that what it's called?

KT Kayuk?

Not sure.

LA Station.

And

the DJ

said,

love this song.

Not sure why it wasn't a bigger hit.

This is Michael Booblaze.

Come on.

I'll never not love you.

And my wife was driving.

And my wife looked at me.

And she was like, she goes, what do you think?

And I was like, my heart was like, oh.

And I was like, oh, my heart hurts and I was like

it's a I wrote a great song that song was written with Michael Pollock Michael Pollack wrote flowers for Miley Cyrus and this a hit song damn we wrote a hit song and you know what I made a music video where I spent a ton of dough and and the music video was my wife and I going through our and it was a sequel this music video was a sequel to the music video for haven't met you yet that i had made with my wife you know and i was like i was like i have a hit song i was like i'm gonna make this music video and people will remember the haven't met you video and then when they see this that that it ends and the surprise ending of this i'll never not love you music video is that it's this it's part two

they're gonna go crazy like i was like this could be a hit i'm gonna have a huge hit i got a big record company you know i mean i got lots of support this is going to be big for me like how could it not um it's funny man i listened to the song on the radio yesterday on um coast it's called coast

and i was like uh

i was like this is good man and my wife is like well why wasn't it a hit and i said like i don't know wow i said i don't know maybe

i don't know can i blame

it was it my fault for spending so much on a music video and not using that money to do online marketing because I'm too old and stupid to know that that's how it's done now.

And people told me, by the way, they said, hey, do more TikTok, do more TikTok.

Yeah, don't do it.

And I was like, but I can't do more TikTok because my TikToks, they don't go out to like,

you know what I mean?

Like they're reaching the people I have, but they're not reaching other people.

Yeah.

And, you know what I mean?

Like, it's

so the answer is, I don't know, dude.

And it's not working for me, man.

Like, I put out stuff and you're like, this is a hit.

And it doesn't go like higher, dude.

Derek Huff, we did a music video.

I got a music video with Haley.

Yeah, it was a great music video.

And by the way, I wrote that with Ryan Tedder, and we won the Grammy.

It's a great song.

Didn't do shit.

What was it?

That's a dream for any artist to be able to hit a Grammy and do

hundreds of millions of dollars.

I understand, but it didn't.

It didn't reach billions.

It didn't.

It's not.

Listen, if you ask the people in my record company or my management company, you're thinking.

If you ask them and go, was it a hit?

They go, nope.

On a different standard that you guys have.

But any artist.

Well, you're asking me about

being successful.

Stop breaking through.

I'm not breaking through.

I'm not breaking through.

You've broken through, though.

You've broken through your sellout arena tours,

you're on the voice.

That's breaking through.

And you've been broken through for 20 plus years.

I guess it never, it never I hear you on the songs here and there.

I get it.

I get it.

But you're breaking through personally in a massive way.

Yeah.

And most people will never break through who have talent.

I don't know.

Like, and they ask me.

People ask me all the time.

I'm like, I don't understand.

I don't understand.

understand i don't understand how it works i don't understand with all the options that we have why someone

um

blows up or

and then i get it's even deeper then i'm like okay so your song blew up now what do you have a do you have a follow-up song do you have a follow-up song or more importantly

um

Do you have a sustainable business model that you can you like I feel like if you can sell two seats today and two seats tomorrow even just that two seats a day, like there's a sustainable business.

But how, how does that young person?

Yeah.

There used to be like, dude, when I was coming up, that's what I did.

I played clubs.

I played clubs.

I played restaurants and bars.

230 people.

Yeah, yeah.

Anything.

But you know what?

I could go and they would pay me 120 bucks and I could 250 bucks and I could pay a couple sidemen and get, you know, my trio.

And it's not there.

So now it's like the voice.

Listen to me.

I love you, the voice, but but you should not.

That should not be where people have to come to get their break.

Like the voice is a really, is, is, it's lovely, but what a shipping for any, like no musician should ever have to come out on stage

with someone's back facing them.

You know, thank God we're not judges.

You know, the other show is judges.

Oh my God.

I would be a judge.

Thank God we're coaches where it's like, we don't need to give them critics, critique, critiques that we can just say, how can we help you?

I'm curious about you.

How do you deal with criticism when you put all your money, heart, and soul into a new song, a new album, a new project, and you think this is a hit?

But for whatever reason, in your interpretation,

it doesn't break the goals that you wanted to break.

How do you deal with criticism in your career?

and not take it too personally.

I do.

I just, I will, sometimes I'll just bite my right here.

i'll bite right there and i'll just cry

i was like

show me something else like what is this

do you take it personally

does it hurt you though when of course it does it really sucks yes you want to be i want to be loved man everybody wants to be loved and by the way i'm really good at what i do because i'm insecure because i'm sensitive like dude I will look out to that arena and there's 15,000 people, but I'm not playing to the 14,999 that are grooving.

I'm looking at that one dude who's like, who's on his phone or who's not?

Yeah, yeah.

And it's like,

that's me.

And I'm like, I want to break that guy.

I'm going to break that guy.

You know what I mean?

I'm going to break that guy.

And that,

but I'm sensitive.

And by the way, I'm the same way at the dinner table.

If you take me and hang out with your buddies and

I feel like there's a silence or there's someone who's not comfortable.

I can't handle it, man.

I got to make sure that like.

Everyone's feel good.

Everybody's feeling good.

And like, that's wham, you you know, and my wife tells me that I have a problem with boundaries.

She tells me that people

take advantage of me,

that I'm too kind and that I can still be kind, but I, you know, but that I need to.

You need to be kind, but firm like,

yeah, like like Riba.

And I'm like,

yeah, but it's just not me.

You know, I try my best, man, but it's,

yeah, dude.

It's just, I get, of course I get hurt by it.

I want to, I want every, you know, and it's funny.

I look at my son, my, my son, Noah, my oldest, and it's like I look at him, I'm like, oh, dude, you're me.

I'm like, you're me, dude.

You are, you know, and he'll say things like, no, I didn't let this catch up to me and I was going to punch him in the head.

And I'm like, I'm like, no, yeah.

And I'm like, I'm listening to him.

I'm like, you are going to have a punch him in the head.

You know, you love to talk tough.

And it's one of those things where, and then I would have said, and I could have said, you didn't.

I'm like, no, you didn't.

You didn't.

You're just like me.

Instead, you said something nice and tried to de-escalate.

And then you walked walked away and went oh kill him um yeah it's just me man yeah it's just me so how do you stay present with four kids your wife who's all demand your time and attention in a beautiful way not in a negative way how do you stay present with

continuing to strive to accelerate your career and strive to flourish and develop your family life at the same time.

I am failing miserably, miserably, you know, because I'm not as present as I should be.

And I'm so ambitious and I work so hard that I'm on my phone too much and I'm thinking too much and I'm working too much.

And

so there's that part of it that's definitely negative, you know, it's like, I wish that I could put my phone down more.

I wish that I could,

and weirdly at the same time,

I'm also,

I also think it's a positive thing.

that my children can watch their dad work his ass off.

Like for me,

words are so cheap.

And, you know, you want your kids to exercise?

Well, go to the treadmill, get on the treadmill every day.

And like, they see you do it, they'll do it.

You know, and it's like, I want them to know that, that being ambitious and working hard is a positive thing.

Like, and by the way, mom is way better at taking that time and really putting her phone down.

But mom works hard too.

My wife, my wife is not only acting, but she's producing and she's putting together these films and she's writing some of the the films.

And like,

and so she just does it better than I do, you know, but

I

am not ready to stop.

You know, it's important to me, my, my career,

the creative process, whether it's me making a record or a movie or writing a song, it still fulfills me so much.

that I have to do it or I'll be unhappy.

And if I'm unhappy, probably my wife will will be unhappy.

And if we're unhappy, the kids will be unhappy.

So I'm doing my best, man.

It's interesting because, yeah, we, you know, I'm going to be a dad in a few months.

Because you don't know right now.

Exactly.

You think you know.

Exactly.

And so it's shifting in certain ways already because

I didn't tell you this before, but I'm pursuing the Olympics to play in the Olympics for a sport

for a sport called team handball, which you've probably never heard of.

It's kind of like water polo on a basketball court.

Yeah, I know exactly.

No water.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've seen it.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's big in the Olympics, big in Europe.

Yeah.

But I've was on the pretty big court, too.

Yeah, bigger court than the basketball court.

Yes.

Yeah.

Like kind of soccer with yourself.

It's awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, it sounds exactly like I would want to go and hang with my dudes and get wasted.

It's fun.

It's fun.

And so the reason I'm saying this is because I've been planning to go back and forth from Spain to LA to play professionally, to get back on the USA national team to go to the Olympics, which is here in three years in LA.

And I'm already starting to be like, oh, I can't go as much when

I'm a dad, you know, and I need to really figure out the time.

I can't be gone for six weeks.

Maybe I can be gone for 10 to 12 days.

So it's already learning how to.

I love hearing you talk about this.

You know what I mean?

Well, no, what I love is that you have this sort of plan in your head, which is all going to go away.

Because you just don't know what you're saying.

I don't know what you're talking about.

I'm going to tell you you're wrong about all of it.

I'm sure I am.

Oh, you're completely.

No,

it's not what you're saying.

It's how you're saying it.

Tell me, give me me some advice.

Well, because you're saying that.

Because you've got the career.

Because exactly what you said was, you know, I know that I should go for this long and then I should, and this, because I shouldn't be gone for more than this time.

So how do you deal with it?

Here's what you're not understanding.

Give it to me.

You're not going to be, you're not going to want to be gone for that long.

Yeah, exactly.

And that's where this is all going to turn to shit for you.

Because what you haven't, what you can't know, because you haven't met the love of your life yet.

And that little girl or that little boy will be the greatest thing that ever happens to you in your life.

you have no idea because it's impossible to know it's like telling someone what jumping in a pool of water feels like if they've never felt water in their you know

you are about to fall in the deepest way and you are not going to want to go away for that long and by the way the older that little meat popsicle gets

the less you're going to want to go away you're going to miss them when you don't see them for hours forget about days weeks days and weeks and And I want to go and do this.

You're going to want to do all the things.

How do you navigate your career?

You don't.

Your career will fail and suffer in certain ways.

But how have you done it?

I haven't done it.

I'm not as big as I should be.

No, I'm not kidding.

I'm not.

I'm not.

I'm most definitely not.

I haven't sold the records I should have.

I haven't.

You sold 75 million records.

I haven't done the amount of tours.

I did a lot of that, you know, in a different way before my kids.

You were rhyming 24-7.

Rining 24-7.

7.

my tours were two months two and a half months at a time you know 52 countries you know then you come home and you do the tv show and you do the special and you make a you know there's a whatever then you record another album and now it's definitely

you know i do the voice because It's awesome to be on TV and I love the gig, best gig ever.

That's cool.

You know, like I love being a part of people's life.

It sounds like all cheesy, like you have to be a part of the kids, you know, to help younger, but really, like people were there for me man it's so cool to to to invest your time into watching someone else make their dream come true but it's easy the voice is easy yeah you get me and snoop and reba mcintyre now horse jump around having fun no but we can't you can't can't fail that's not that it's that you can't get us in a room because we're all busy yeah so you know what you get five days it's intense you know 12 hours or whatever it is and then it's gone but we do it it's intense and then we're gone and And Snoop goes off and does his thing and Reba or I.

And so it's great gig.

I do, I love corporate work.

You know, I will tour, but it will be in bite-sized.

Yeah.

How long are you touring at a time right now?

I won't go for, I will not go.

Usually, dude, it's so here's how you should tour.

If you're, if you're a responsible touring artist and you want to make millions and millions of dollars, not just for you, but for the band and the agency, you should go for at least, without a doubt, a month, at the very least, one month gone.

You know, more.

It should be more.

It should be six weeks.

That's enough to make sure that your crew, your travel, you're not bringing people in and out.

You know, everybody's there and economically, it's responsible for you.

You maximize it, yeah.

You maximize it.

You know, it's expensive to tour.

And it's a lot.

You know, and then, you know, after that month and a half, then everybody gets their week off or their week and a half.

And then you're back.

And now you're going to go to the next country.

Well, my last two tours were three weeks off two weeks on two weeks off two weeks off three weeks on three you know so three weeks was the most the most dude and of course my bringing the family my accountant my dad

my manager you know they were going dude do you know how much you're leaving off the table do you know that

you know you didn't go to that you could have gone and played two shows in that country and two and you know you could have gone and played four in london and then four in manchester and and i was like no no and so yeah it's hurting me for sure man

but i'm i'm just telling you honestly not because this gorgeous camera is on my face but um

i will be miserable i'll be miserable really yeah what i need to what to play more shows and make more money or have more power

and that's what kids can do for you you know that's what family can do for you and um

it's funny it's very sweet for me to sit here and watch you and you know and uh and right now you're you're hearing me and you're trying to process it but again it's impossible to process

you you know what you're gonna want to work you're always gonna want to be fulfilled and you know what you're smart enough to look at your wife and go hey this fulfills you too i love you know she's probably really happy when she's And she probably complains too, like we all do.

And she probably goes, man, I don't want to do this anymore.

You know, 15 hours on set and I'm going to just be, you know what my wife would say to me constantly?

She does now.

We just came from Argentina.

She made another beautiful movie.

And

she was like, I think I'm done.

Really?

She's like, I think I'm done.

By the way, she's done this in a loop.

She's said this every two years.

It's too much.

I just want to, and then I'm going to be a mom.

It's enough to be a mom.

I love being a mom.

And then we get home.

And she's home for four months.

She misses it.

And all of a sudden, she's sitting there going, what do I do?

I'm just a mom.

She's like, I'm, this is all I do.

I just, I'm just a service to drive them to school and take them to sports.

And I'm like, babe, because you're, you're a, you're a beautiful,

incredible

actress and businesswoman.

And, and I see how much light is in her eyes when she's, she's on a, a day on set and the scenes are.

intense and challenging and she's tired.

And I can see how fulfilling it is.

And I'm the same and you're the same and your wife is the same.

But both of us have really tried to basically take it on as best as you can under the situation.

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What advice do you have for me then?

Or what advice do you have for yourself looking back before you had your first child where you were like, This, I'm going all in on my career and this, nothing's going to stop me?

Would you have done anything different?

You did it right.

I did it perfectly.

Okay.

And I'm doing it perfectly.

And

yeah.

Will I sell as much or be as big?

Or

no, but will I ever look back and go, oh my God, I missed the greatest moments of life.

Dude, I've watched so many people that I know in this business and other businesses, and they struggling there.

Well, they missed it, man.

They missed the kid, especially the kids at this age, you know, until they're 12 or 13.

They were working and kind of hurrying up the whole thing.

And then they realized that

they searched for those feelings and they searched for

that

for the joy of,

you know, listen, dude.

My kids won't remember last night.

I'm just telling you.

We watched,

we watched Finding Dory or whatever the hell it's called.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay.

And

all four of my kids

were in our bed between me and my wife.

I gave the tickled them, you know, gave them tickles on their, they loved their hair getting, you know, and

they'll never remember that.

They'll never remember falling asleep in my arms.

And they'll never remember that I carried each of them to bed because we make a bed in the room where they can.

And for them, they won't.

You know, they'll probably remember family holidays or that time that dad spazzed out when their marks weren't good or whatever.

But those are the greatest memories of my life.

And they're happening daily.

And I don't want to miss it, man.

I know I sound all cringy and like I'm being too sloppy.

And

I'm so sure I'm right.

I'm so sure I'm right.

And if I'm wrong,

let me be wrong.

But

I don't understand people who have kids and don't feel this way.

I don't understand it.

I almost lost mine.

Maybe that changed things, you know, that our son had a diagnosis that we thought we were going to lose him.

And it made us even more, but that's not even true because I was all before that.

I was already

all in, man.

And,

you know,

I just, you know, my dad said it many times.

He, I asked him his advice, Dad, I'm, you know, we're pregnant.

I don't know, my wife, what am I?

I don't know what I'm doing.

And he would just say the same thing to me.

He'd say, he'd say, partner, calls me partner, my Lewis.

He'd say, partner,

no one knows what they're doing, but I can tell you this.

He'd say, the days,

the years are short, but the days are long.

Or the days are, excuse me, the days are long, but the years are short.

And

he was right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow.

How could I not get sentimental and emotional about this?

Yeah.

What is the biggest lesson fatherhood has taught you then?

Oh, it just changed everything, man.

It changed, changed.

It's just changed everything.

It changed.

I mean, listen, man, we're in a world where people are pretty cynical and people will say things like, you know, people don't change.

Tigers don't change their stripes.

A leopard never changes its spots.

Yeah, you do change.

You know?

What was the biggest thing that changed about you when you had

my level of empathy?

How much deeper my faith got.

You know,

God,

a lot less ego-driven.

Really?

Yeah.

Before it was all about you.

All about me.

All about power, career,

fame, ego, you know.

Um,

oh, for sure, you know, for sure.

And now I realize, you know, it's sad, but as I'm about to hit 50 in a few months, I'm like, man, I thought my legacy would be the music.

I thought it would be the songs I wrote or some kind of, you know, that at Christmas, I'm in everybody's, you know, I'm in everybody's playlist.

Living room and playlist.

And then I realized, wow, that's none of it.

Really?

None of it will be.

That's no one will remember any of that.

My legacy will be

how I made people feel not what I said not what I did and one day you know when I'm gone people will come to my kids and they'll say I met your poppy wow I met your poppy when he was peeing

on the School of Greatness show

and the guy that he used to see that was a janitor at Warner Records

and and and your dad was such a nice man wow that's the stuff that will, I mean, that is it, dude.

That's all we got, dude.

You know, in this lifetime, anyway.

That's it, man.

Because if you're like the most famous singer of all time, but you're a jerk to everyone, that's what people are going to remember.

Not even a jerk.

It's like, use your use your greatness, man.

Yeah.

You know, and you know, before this, before the camera started, and you and I were talking about kind of Rolex, branding.

I'm so proud to be the face of Rolex.

I've been the face of Rolex for however many years.

Congrats, man.

Yeah, man.

But branding isn't the watch you wear.

It isn't the drink you have in your hand.

It is

the consistency of every single relationship, discussion.

Meeting a dude in the bathroom.

And by the way, you don't have to be nice.

You can just, you can be a prick.

But that's your brand.

But if that is consistent.

That's your brand.

Yeah, man.

It's your reputation.

What's your reputation?

It's your brand.

It's your consistency.

It is your reputation.

Is that you?

You know, and we're allowed to make mistakes and we're allowed to screw up and we're allowed to be young and stupid and do really,

we all do it, like all of us.

And then we're allowed to grow.

And, you know, you don't need kids to learn how to do that.

You know, you just, sometimes it's just a little bit of age and all that.

Did you think about branding growing up when your grandfather was taking you to the jazz clubs and nightclubs?

Were you thinking, were you more just like, how do I be the best singer that I can be and best artist,

performer?

Or when did you start thinking, oh, my voice alone isn't what's going to make me great or successful or reach the goals that I want to reach.

I need to be thinking strategically about the business, about relationships, about PR, marketing, branding.

I need to be collaborating.

Like, did you think about those things?

No, that, that literally, those thoughts didn't start

really affecting me

until I would say maybe five or six years ago.

Really?

Yeah.

Come on.

When you're 45?

No, no, no, no.

Yeah.

Come on.

Totally.

You didn't think about any of that stuff?

You just led with like, I've got the greatest voice in the world, and I'll just like, I'm a good entertainer.

I love what I do.

I used to talk about, I used to, uh, I remember meeting uh Gordon Ramsey, and I was like, dude, you and me, we're the same.

And he was like, What do you mean we're the same?

And I was like, Like, we're both kind of like chefs, and we love what we cook, you know.

But more than that, I think we love who we cook it for.

And that's how I thought of myself.

I was like, dude, and you know, it's weird.

The only thing I was serious about was, and this is going to sound weird as a Canadian,

even at like 15, at 14, 14 i loved the great american songbook i loved jazz i love the writers the arrangers the orchestrators i love the musicians you know you just said les paul dude i would sit and listen to les paul and mary ford and i mean i would my grandpa used to put these records and he would have this thing where you could put a record player and tape it onto the cassette and then i would like find the song i'd find like i'm confessing that i love you and i would listen to it like over and over, over and over.

And I would, and I was always like so afraid.

And I would think like, man,

why am I the only one my age that digs this the way I do?

Why are they not hearing how unbelievable this is?

How can they not?

Even at that age, I was like, how can they not understand the artistry?

How do people my age not get, God, this is so good?

Like, this is grooving harder than any hip-hop groove I've ever heard.

Like,

this is

melodically, this is genius.

This is incredible storytelling.

Like, my God, the artistry, the musicianship, the singers, the songwriters.

Like, and I was so protective of it that even before I was ever even successful, I was like hoping there'd be more people like me.

So, every time, like, when I met Amy Winehouse for the first time, I was so excited.

I remember hearing her, and I was like, oh my God, she's real.

She's authentic.

What was that?

Like, me?

Oh, she was awesome.

She was um she was like she was awesome she was um funny and um she didn't think it was gonna happen for her you met her before but she oh yeah yeah we would do like these weird like shoots for like these kind of indie mags and stuff really yeah when was this when did you meet it oh god i would be at that time i was probably

27.

but so you'd already been you'd already taken off at that point then no i i wasn't really things weren't going so i mean mean, people didn't really know who I was till I was 28, 27, 28.

But they didn't know, they only knew in the Philippines or like South Africa.

You weren't big in America yet.

Oh, no, no, no.

But I was, so in England, I was like doing, I was doing like, you know, I was signed to Warner and I would go and do.

you know, some like kind of event where they'd have like the upcoming

people of jazz.

And it would be me and Jamie Collum, who I'm still in love with Jamie Collum.

And how old was Amy then when you met her around?

Probably

I'm going to get.

Well, how old?

She was 27 when she passed.

When she passed, she was 27.

Young.

She's 20, 21.

Okay.

Probably like just a kid, you know, like, I mean, I was just a kid too, even though we go like, oh, you were 27, but I was.

But I was so excited.

And I remember.

Did you guys ever sing together?

No.

Oh, my gosh.

That'd be an amazing conversation.

And I remember too, like, there was the guy named Peterson Cottie and and a kid in Canada named Matt Dusk.

And I just, and people, I remember like the producer at the time, this producer I worked with, he would go to me, he'd say like, hey, man,

aren't you worried like about those other people?

Like, you know what I mean?

That they're going to take, you know, they're, they're going to take the position.

Of course, Harry Connig Jr.

was before us.

And dude, I was still to this day, man.

That's like my,

if I'm wasted in the bus with my dudes and we're going to have like a party night, the first thing that goes on is blue light, red light.

One of his great records that he wrote stuff and orchestrated it.

And he's a genius, man.

Genius.

And it's like, he was our godfather, man.

He like was a big, you know, just this big part of letting us get in.

And I remember this producer kept saying to me, hey, man, you know, you got to be the one.

And I was like, no, I don't.

And he was like, what do you mean?

And I don't know why.

But my dad and I would talk about it.

We'd always make the analogy of a furniture shop.

And my dad, when I, and my dad would say to me, hey, Mike,

would you rather own a great furniture store?

You know what I mean?

And it sits on the street and you get people coming by?

Or would you rather have a subculture where you had all these amazing furniture stores and they were all special and different?

And it was, you know what I mean, Diana Krall and Leve and Jamie Cullum and Peter Sincati and Amy Winehouse in it.

You know what I mean?

And Gaga, who I love Gaga too.

And it's like, yeah, man, that's how we keep it alive.

Like, that's how we keep it alive by building a subculture of all of us doing it in weird and different ways.

And then, and then like me going to Snoop.

I go to Snoop all the time.

And I'm like, dude, you understand, man.

You're like,

you're kind of like Louis Armstrong in a way where, you know, you bridge the gap between this kind of music and a brand new generation.

And

my music works with your music.

Even though people might think that's weird, they shouldn't.

Like, you know, the roots of jazz the roots of jazz and swing

are where your music came from right like that is and so when you when you actually if you took a stencil and you took like gin and juice i know this sounds silly man and you break it down

well man you took a stencil of gin and juice and you put it out there and then you took a killer rip and swing song that was just grooving and cooking and you put them on top of each other,

you would find way more similarities than you'd ever find differences.

Like, it is the root, man.

You know what I mean?

It's different stylistically,

but

that thing that we love is just swing.

It's swing.

It's

what it is.

It comes from rhythmically that soulful, gorgeous place.

And so I just love that.

I love watching all those things grow together.

And damn, man, I'm a protector of this stuff.

Like, I want this to go long after I'm gone I hope that I can find a young kid who uh things like you dude there's a kid in England that I just wrote on Instagram I don't remember his name but I found him like George or something his name is he's good man wow he's good and I saw you brain too young but he's good and I'm like you know what six seven years I'm gonna give him a call and you know what maybe I maybe I'll help him produce a record or maybe I'll do something where he can sort of be the next dude maybe he can take away I don't know if he's a great entertainer I don't know know what he sounds like live, but I'll go check it out.

That's cool.

Yeah, that's cool, man.

Well, you did that.

I saw a video of you with the guy who, like the mom who like brought the kid up on somebody.

Yeah, the little guy, Sam.

I remember that.

Sam, is that the name?

And you're like, Sam can sing.

Right.

You did a whole little intro.

Sam couldn't just sing.

That night, I was, I remember being real.

I had done like, I think I had done, that was one of 12 nights at the, I think it was the O2 or one of those places.

In London.

Where it was in Manchester.

It was somewhere.

I'd done a lot, though.

I just remember that my voice was crushed.

You were like, you come up and sit and give me a break.

It was like,

now what I, and that'll show up in like my algorithm sometimes.

And I'm like, damn, Sam couldn't just sing.

He sang that shit better than me.

Like, he did.

He sounded better than me at that, at that, at that point.

I was like, oh, damn, Sam.

Yeah.

When was that?

Do you remember?

Dude, I wonder what he's up to now.

I don't know.

He tried.

I think his mom and

tried to go and do some like, you know, but that's great, man.

Hypothetical situation.

Let's say you could only do

you can only perform with one person female and male still alive and one female male who's no longer with us

you know i'm sure you could pick from thousands of people who are all great but who would you personally want to do a duet with or sing with

who's alive still male and female and someone who's passed whether you perform with them already or you haven't oh baby this is and what song would you want to do with each one of them, whether it be your song, their song, a cover of another song,

putting you on the spot.

No, no, it's a great question.

I mean,

who

someone dead, I think, would be either one of two.

It would be either as a male, it would be Dean Martin

or it would be

Elvis.

Wow.

One of those two.

That'd be incredible.

I think Elvis,

it would be...

What song?

Oh, man.

Probably something that would be easy to harmonize to.

Like something like,

I was going to say a ballad, but it might be more fun to, it might be

more fun to sing

just something that swung real hard.

Like,

I don't know what it's called.

I don't know what it's called.

How's it going?

It goes,

I've been searching over mountains

and a valley too.

I've been running all the way.

Baby, trying to get, I think it's called trying to get to you.

And man, it would, it would just like the guitar just rips.

And okay, he would be that would be amazing.

And then, Dean, I think, uh, I think probably uh, everybody loves somebody sometimes because I'm a, I've always been a huge Dean Martins

fan.

And, um,

and I think it's one of my favorite songs because of the content, the lyrical content.

There's a line

that I think is so wonderful and romantic.

I always think about my wife.

Uh, it's the last line:

Everybody loves somebody sometime,

And although my dream was overdue,

everybody,

oh, God.

No, it's the line.

If I had it in my power, I would arrange for every girl to have your charms.

Then, every minute, every hour, every boy could find what I found in your arms.

Oh, my gosh.

And I thought, I always thought that was really so sweet and like so cool.

And dude, the way he delivered it was effortless.

Wow.

And he was my favorite.

And again,

more of a favorite because of not just because of what he did musically, but how in all the people that I met, you know, in this business, when I heard about how he treated people,

that's that's what I heard.

I heard good things.

And by the way, the same thing about Elvis.

He treated people well.

Yeah.

Kindness, empathy, you know, humility.

Wow.

And I didn't hear that about some of the others who I had idolized.

You know, so what about female?

Female?

That is a great question.

It really is.

Man, it's a great question.

God, it's hard not to say, it's interesting because it's hard not to say Reba McIntyre for someone who's, you know, who's now because

I just, I love her.

She is a, you know, people ask me often about the voice and they'll say, like, you know, what's Snoop like?

And it's like, it's like, hey, you know what?

If you, you know, Snoop is awesome, but the gangster is Reba.

Really?

Why?

Because she's like, that woman is kind and

she's classy and

but she is she is so her.

She is

That's it.

She's her.

She is so comfy in her skin and she's tough if she has to be, but always kind.

She's firm, but always fair.

She's just so cool, man.

Like she's just, she's so cool.

Always with a smile, always courteous, but

you don't mess with her.

Nobody messes with her, Eva.

No way.

And

she's still the greatest.

I mean, what a voice.

Yeah.

I love country music.

I mean, for me, and it's weird, I know, for people, but country music and the Great American songbook are like the same thing.

They are.

They're the same.

It's like I,

when I think about Patsy Klein, or I think about Willie Nelson, or I think about

Hank Williams, or I think about Reba, it's like

that's the American songbook.

I mean, I'm young enough where that probably should be the American songbook.

You know what I mean?

And country swings, too.

So, so alive, probably, probably Reba.

I really love her a lot.

And

she, you know, she's, you know, I just had dinner with her.

And it's funny because she's the one.

I said, like, I said, you know, how are you feeling about everything?

And she said to me, she goes, man,

I have no idea how hard it was going to be to get here.

She said, but if, you know, but she said, but getting here was nothing, nothing close to as hard as it is to stay.

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We were talking about this before we started the camera that, you know, we were just at sushi and she literally said to me, she's like, staying is hard.

You have to.

It's hard to get to the top or make it, right?

It's hard to make it whether you're an athlete and you win a championship or you've got some level of success or a business or an artist, you have a hit song, but it's hard to stay a hit.

Yeah.

for years.

It's like maybe some people do it for a year or two, and then it's hard for them to replicate.

Yeah, how have you been able to do that for 20 plus years?

Well, it's interesting, it's a great question.

I mean, listen, it's a it's an interesting question because I don't think there's a there's an answer for it.

And I only say that because I think um it really is in the eye of the beholder.

And I think that, um,

um, firstly, dead female artist Keely Smith, who I knew and I loved.

She used to sing with Louis Prima.

If I could go back,

have Keely when she was young,

the best.

I think that success now is relative.

And

I mean to say really logistically relative

because

I can go and tour.

I could sell tickets.

You know what I mean?

I think my brand is pretty good.

You got great, you got the face of Rolex.

You got brand deals, you're on the voice, you got opportunities, Christmas, you got all these things that are pushing.

But

I don't have 60 million followers.

And if you ask my kids who's more successful, Taylor Swift.

No, not even.

It's like you ask my kids, like, if there's like, there's a 20-year-old artist out there who has 60 million followers, and

you go like, and my kids are like, dad, we love you, but you're not, you're not at that level.

You know what I mean?

And this business has has become very strange i don't know if you ever have these conversations with musicians but it's very strange because

there's a big difference between successful

and

perceived as successful oh yeah yeah you know what i mean like yeah you know and i know what my manager would say my manager would say is dude listen look at the statements at the end of the year boobla you're successful yeah yeah but there's also a lot of people with a lot of followers that make no money well that's but but but but they're seen super duper famous yeah yeah and they really do change culture you know what i mean and they have a footprint in in the you know the lexicon of music or whatever um

so it's a weird it's like and and there's very few that have both there's there's there's taylor swift but like

you know there's and so it's a weird question it's like and by the way i'm this insecure you know i'm like this insecure and i always will be like you know how come I don't have more followers?

Why does my wife have way more followers than me?

You know, like my wife is her, I don't even know what I have on Instagram.

My wife has boiled me, too.

Does she?

Yeah, oh, she's huge in Mexico.

Yeah, we can't walk around the streets in Mexico.

Same, yeah, same.

That's exactly, dude.

I hold the camera, not because of me, but I hold the camera.

Yeah, me too, man.

Mobs.

Yeah, yeah.

And I'm, yeah.

And then they're like, oh, wait, that's booblet.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But here's what you got to do.

Here's what you got to start doing.

Yeah.

Something I did about actually before I met my wife.

We have about a million and and a half subscribers on our Spanish YouTube channel.

Oh, yeah.

So, when I'm in Mexico, a lot of people come up to me who are fans of the podcast in Spanish.

Yeah, but I'm like, you got to start doing music in Spanish now.

I have, I've done a couple things,

but yeah, you're right.

It's the next level, too.

I love it.

Interviews in Spanish.

You're fluent, right?

When you say fluent,

I can understand.

So, puedo tenen una conversación convos.

I can have a conversation with you, but

I'm

getting lost very easily.

Argentina Spanish is very

different too.

My kids will say, like, they'll just always make fun of me and be like,

why does mom speak such good English?

But your Spanish sucks.

And I'm like, oh, God.

All right, Leo.

I can understand probably 60, 70%.

Yeah.

Entiendos sincuente porciento, cuando tú hablas lento con migo.

Pero necesito hablas lento.

Yes, I understand.

And clean.

Si.

Limpio.

Limpio.

Si.

Exactly.

But on the voice, they always get mad at me.

Why?

Because every time a Latin artist comes, I go, Hola, living,

oh, mother.

Because you can do a little bit.

If you can do a little, it can be a conversation.

Oh, I can have a conversation.

I can like, if you put me in the street in Mexico, you're good.

I'm good, dude.

That's great.

I'll get where I need to go.

I can do it all.

I can get where I need to go, but I sound like a baby.

You know, like I went to the barber in Mexico and I'm like, okay, for 30 minutes, we can understand each other, but I do not sound good at all.

My wife always says, you talk like a caveman.

A caveman.

Yeah, exactly.

I sound like a baby.

That's cool, man.

So back to the fame and success.

What has

money, fame, and success taught you?

Oh, God.

That it's fleeting.

Fame is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

Listen, dude, I still struggle with making sure that I separate who I am from what I do, which is hard to do.

There's a reason I never left Vancouver.

Like we were talking about where we live.

And dude, I was very sure that I needed to stay in Vancouver.

And I felt like it was because I wasn't strong enough.

If I had gone to LA to live, I probably, you know, not at this point now, but early on, I would have got washed into this.

Interesting.

You know, wanting to be cool and be with that group of people and, you know, them bringing me in.

And

so it was really nice for me to stay in Vancouver with all of my friends that I went to high school with and elementary school with that still treat me like shit.

That's funny.

That you're in a fantasy football league with.

They do.

If you see my group chat, it's just like, and it's funny, man.

Like

they still, it's brutal.

Like if you, if you showed up in a Oscar and golf hunt or something,

if you heard them talk about me, you know, the amount of

disrespect and like, but that's how it should be.

You love it.

Yeah.

Well, it brings it brings your ego down oh my god that's and it's i never left and so i got my mom and dad live uh four blocks away my best friends lives seven houses away um

and so uh how do you separate your identity my kids go to the elementary school i went to that's cool it's like the same public school it's you know then how do you separate your identity of who you are with the fame success and money that you have oh i i always i know it sounds so stupid but i always uh

when i'm even with my my kids know my kids are like poppy why are you putting they'll call it the bat suit why are you putting on the bat suit um so your your suit when you're on stage bat suit when i'm on stage and i become him i become that guy and who is that guy oh he's so cool he's the coolest he's so cool he's the most charismatic he's so charismatic he's teflon nothing can ever affect him he's funny he's quick he's you know debonair and and so all the things that I'm most definitely not in.

Really?

Yeah, dude.

Yeah.

And I told my dudes on the voice, like, because you know, like, even the kid that won 26, Safronio, uh, we would be backstage, and he would say, Thank you so much, sir.

Thank you, Mr.

Booblay, for helping me.

And I'd say, like, hey, dude, this dude, yes, sir.

I'd say, this dude doesn't exist when you get on stage.

Okay.

He'd say, yes, sir.

I'd say, no, dude, you're about to become Batman.

Okay.

And he did.

He, boom, and he performed.

And it was like,

really?

Yeah, man.

So what is that?

Is that what is the alter ego for you then?

Is it a Batman imagination?

Or is there, you have a name for it?

Because...

No, it is just the alter ego.

It's like, it's for sure.

It's the alter ego.

It's like I become.

Because Beyonce's got it.

Gaga's got it.

Like everyone's considerate.

They got it.

Yeah.

And they're different when they're not on stage.

Absolutely.

And for me, I guess it's, again, it's probably about protecting myself.

in many different ways spiritually mentally you know becoming him on stage i think it's more attractive right to people than an insecure

than me being you know i'm still i can still be stupid and self-deprecating and but most definitely no it's like you know you're

you know you're him you're him you know listen me doing the voice there was a method to the madness.

I said no for so many years.

My manager was like, listen, you want to make movies, right?

And I was like, yeah, I'm an actor.

And he said, you want to make, you know, do TV show.

I said, yeah.

and it was like hey then let's do the voice because these people know you you know they know you you go on the audio interview or you know the the converted come to see you in arenas all over the planet

and they know you yeah um but a lot of people don't know you interesting and so he was like i think this is a really great chance for people to really get to know you And so your full personality.

Yeah.

And I was like, you know what?

All right.

And I had no idea I'd love it so much.

Wow.

But I think where this is going to is

that that's the next step, right?

Is for me to go now into and to, you know, to make movies.

That's the next step, huh?

Yeah.

That is the next step.

It is happening as we speak.

And

I think it was nice for me to be able to not

shock the audience by, you know what I mean?

By going into that.

It was nice to have that.

that nice little bridge bridge that's interesting

yeah that's cool yeah

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How did you learn about this kind of alter ego?

Did you?

alter ego?

Yeah.

Because I was on stage when I was that young, 15 or 16,

whether it was sit-ins at jazz clubs, my grandpa would sneak me in.

I was, you know, way under drinking age, which is 19 in Canada.

And

even then, I had started to build this alter ego, you know, who I, you know, and the funny part was, is that I didn't have a chance to go and see Bobby Darren or Frank or Dean or any of those heroes.

And so it really,

you know,

it was,

it really came from,

you know, just sort of failing a lot.

And, you know, I probably looked like such a spaz.

I probably did.

Was there like a moment where you're like, I'm going to try something else.

I'm going to try to imitate one of my heroes on stage.

No, I did.

And I did Broadway shows too before.

People know that too.

I did, like, I was in a lot of theater.

I did a lot of theater.

You know, like I did either whether they were musical reviews or just straight theater.

And so I was sort of finding, and by the way, even vocally, I talk about this a lot, but vocally, I was like, I didn't know what I sounded like.

Interesting.

You know what I mean?

Like, I was taking a little bit of Frank and mixing it with a little bit of Elvis and Ella Fitzgerald's vibrato and a little bit of the way that Bing would drop his epiglottis and you know, Dean, the way he would,

everybody love

somebody

sometime.

He would do these little flips with his voice.

And, and, you know,

and then I would go and listen to the ink spots, and I would go, oh, I like the way that he sings in his head voice.

If I didn't care,

and I would steal all of these.

And I talk about this too much, but it's the truth.

I would like to mix it together.

And how did Frank, wow, Frank, why does he sound so good when he sings,

I've got you under my skin.

Oh, he's really hard on those.

I've got you,

those e's and you's and the vowels and and i would like just impersonate

all these different people and sarah vaughan and peggy lee and um and the way that louis armstrong would sit way behind the beat and then i just become just this probably really bad impersonator of all these depending on the song or this

and then all of a sudden one day it was like oh no now i found this you know Wow.

So

I love how you just explained your whole

life.

I still do it too, dude.

It's funny.

I watched Chris Martin in this.

I can't remember what song it was he had written, but he did this interview and he was like,

how'd you write this song?

And he was like, oh,

this one was on the piano talking about it.

And he's like, I did this impersonation.

Was it, I think it was, I think it was Neil Young.

that he was like, I did this impersonation of Neil Young, how I thought Neil Young would do it.

And I was like, holy shit, Chris, that's what I, like, that's, that's it.

Like, oh.

So you basically started to

become

him.

And when you did,

that's where

that, you know what I mean?

That's where the song.

And so even today I do it.

Like, I was writing a song.

I just wrote like a holiday song called Maybe This Christmas last.

And I was on the guitar.

And I'm a terrible guitar player, but I was sitting in my room and I was feeling no pain, you know.

And

I started to, I wrote, so I played the first chord and I was like, oh, I know what it is.

I was like, I've been running all my life.

But I didn't do it as me.

What did you do it as me?

I did it as Willie.

So I was like, how?

Because it sounds real country.

And I went, I was running all my life.

I've been trying to get it right.

And I did this bad.

It's bad.

But sentimental ain't a thing.

And it was like this bad Willie Nelson.

But

when I did it and I sort of thought, what, how would I do this?

And it just happened.

And it was like the song came together.

And I was like, this is perfect.

But you do.

You become

these people, these influences.

I've only got a few final minutes with you.

Teams, letting me know we got to get you off to the next press thing you're doing.

It's not a press thing.

You know what I'm doing?

What's that?

My wife is.

I want to say the most frugal.

She's, but frugal with our money.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

and i said to her like she's got all these red carpets she's just made a man she just made a movie that's so good it's not out yet but she we're gonna have spanish movie right spanish movie it's a true story and she like

anyway she i'm gonna she's gonna win a bunch of awards and i'm gonna have to go to a bunch of red carpets and she needs to look good to close she needs looks right red cover looks and she's like don't worry i'll just go to wherever and i was like no we should get a stylist and she was like do you know how much they cost together a lot so i'm going home, and the stylist has pulled a bunch of stuff for all these red cover things.

For you both, no, for her.

Okay.

And

she's going to, and I know her.

So, and it's like we've told the stylist, like, please put away this pipe because she'll look at stuff and she'll be like, I hate it.

And it's like, you don't hate it.

You hate it because the price is so high.

The price is high.

And she's protective of, it's not, she's not cheap.

She's just protective of.

That's good.

So that's what I'm doing.

That's cool.

We have it.

What time is it right now?

It's time to get you out of here.

It's 12.48.

Yeah.

So one o'clock, they're going to be at at the house.

Don't worry, though.

Whatever.

Okay.

She'll be fine.

We'll be

at the price tags.

She can get started without you.

Yeah, I see.

But I have a few final questions for you because I do want to respect your time and your wife and don't want you to be too late.

What do you think is the biggest thing holding you back from being the next level

of you as either a person in your career in all areas?

Oh, nothing now.

Nothing.

I'm in such a good place, man.

I like me.

That's good.

You know, I'm comfy.

That's good, man.

I'm good in my skin.

That's great.

I think I probably sound better than I ever sounded.

I am.

On interviews or actually on stage?

No, like music-wise,

I'm very confident.

And,

you know, what's really weird too is that I've come to this place where,

you know, man, I have a friend and he always says to me, cool is as cool does.

And, you know, so many people are trying to be cool.

And they're real worried about looking cool.

And I think I've hit this point where, you know, I'm like, man, I don't think it's cool to try to be cool.

I think it's cool to be comfy in your skin.

And, you know what I mean?

And yeah, it might sound all cringy, but we are in a cynical world where,

you know, you're about to bring, you know, children in.

And

if I'm not part of the solution of making it a better, brighter, sweeter, kinder place, then I'm part of the problem.

And so I'm good with, I'm good with just doing what I do.

I'm good.

I'm very good.

Like, so yeah, nothing's keeping me from it, you know.

You've got, uh, I've got two final questions, but you've got 20-year anniversary of your album coming out.

Yeah, you've got the voice, which is out.

You got

great content on social media.

I think you're going on tour later this year or a little bit for one week at a time, maybe or something.

Just doing a little tiny thing.

Little stuff here and there.

Where can people connect to really be involved in your world more and really see what you're up to?

And from the album to the voice, like, how can they support you?

They don't need to support me.

You know, they don't need to.

They've already done that.

It's funny, man.

I just went on a Disney cruise.

I saw the post about it.

Yeah, man.

That's awesome.

And I have my friends.

Antarctica?

Is that what it was?

Or what?

Was it Antarctica?

Or where did you work?

Alaska.

Alaska.

I was thinking about it.

My friends, some of my friends in the business called me and they were like,

are you an idiot?

They were like, why you went on a Disney cruise?

Like you, just you and your family?

And I was like, yeah.

And they were like, they were like, did people make you crazy?

And I was like, no.

I was like, I did a lot of pictures.

And they were like, but did you, did you get to like enjoy?

Did you enjoy?

And I was like, yeah.

And I said the truth.

I was like, those people, I made a million pictures.

But if without those people, I never could have afforded to go on a Disney cruise.

It's expensive.

It's expensive, man.

Yeah.

And so it's like,

yeah, I could have done it without all those people.

You know, it's funny.

I've tried lately because I was so, I'm old.

Like, I'm not old.

You're not young, man.

I'm not old in that way.

I was old and like, like, 10 years ago, eight years ago, everyone was like, you really should concentrate on your social media.

And I was like, social media.

No one's ever going to watch social media.

You know,

and so, but now I have this like really,

I'm, I love connecting with people.

through it.

You know what I mean?

Whether I'm an idiot on TikTok or I'm,

Or I'm like, you know, like I had like my favorite post that I made I think it's gonna last forever was I said

I said I'm it's time to go back in the studio.

I was like it's time to go make another record and I was like so even though everyone tells me not to poll I was like you go to know I was like do people want me to I was like what do you want to hear?

What'd they say?

Weirdly I actually

And I'm not usually this like professional, but I actually, someone in my office went and broke down there was i don't even know how many thousands of responses through facebook and all that because they share the post everywhere

this massive percentage said we want jazz we want swing but can it be originals

in that in that style and i was like

i was like this is amazing why how come i'm not doing this more and so i think more and more i'd love to um

you know like it's not i don't like i don't know I don't, I know I have a lot of friends that have like the team.

You know what I mean?

They're, the team is doing it.

And I like doing it.

I don't, I don't love a team doing it because every time I do it, it just feels like it's off-brand and it something's weird about it, even if we can't articulate why

it didn't work.

So.

I mean, that's where we meet now.

Before I go on tour, I got to meet there.

I got to go to Instagram and Facebook and whatever.

And TikTok and whoever the hell else you're supposed to do.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, make sure you follow Michael on Instagram for sure.

You got great stuff there, man.

My page is luisanalopilato.com.

My God, my wife is so hot.

Let's be honest.

They're going to follow her more than they ever follow me.

I would too.

I'm going to have to connect our wives at some point because I'm sure they'll tweak Spanish movie together or something like that.

Without a doubt, my wife would be thrilled.

You know, it's funny too.

I think that they would,

I think my wife would love

to connect with someone who may be able to understand better than anyone else exactly what we're, she's feeling when she's talking about them.

Yeah.

It's funny before we get to the last two questions.

My wife is like, she's made 40 movies.

Her last one was number one on Amazon two weekends ago.

So last year was number one on Netflix, the movie that she wrote and produced and started all this stuff.

She's like, I don't need to make more movies for a couple of years.

I just want to be a mom, you know, but I'm already like, she's already got opportunities coming to her like the end of next year.

I'm like, okay, be a a mom.

Yes.

And you don't have, you can do both.

That's exactly.

You know, it's like, you don't have to make movies non-stop.

Yes.

But you can figure out a way to do both.

We'll make it.

We'll see her happy, right?

When she's

like thrives, man.

She's, yeah, she's writing still.

She's pregnant.

She's like loving the creative process.

So anyway, same as my wife.

It's the same thing.

Okay, two final questions.

I got to get you out of here.

Before I ask them, I want to acknowledge you, Michael, for your authenticity, man.

Just being truly who you are and being open and vulnerable and honest about all this stuff, the insecurities, the highs, the lows, everything you've been up to.

Excellent.

I think it's really cool that you've been able to be yourself for 20 plus years in this industry where most people lose themselves.

I think a lot of people, you see them doing things.

You're like, is that, did they do that for attention?

Is that really them?

Maybe it got a lot of likes or followers or some type of financial opportunity for them, but you start to see them going off a little bit.

And I want to acknowledge you for being consistently who you are as a father, as a husband, as a family guy first

through your career

and not burning yourself out, not doing press every day, not doing touring every day, but I saying, this is my dream life.

And it's okay if I'm not number one at everything of every moment.

I'm always on tour in front of the biggest audiences because the real value comes in when you're watching Dora the Explorer with your four kids in bed.

And that's what you're going to remember the most.

And your kids are going to remember that, even if you don't think they will.

And so I acknowledge you for being a great dad, showing up for them imperfectly the way you do, and

doing it your way, man.

Not to take Frank's words, but doing it your way throughout this journey.

Thanks.

And I know that you're going to continue to be a massive success for decades to come as long as you do it your way.

Thank you.

So I acknowledge you for that.

Thank you.

I've got

these two final questions.

This is called the three truths questions.

So it's a hypothetical scenario.

Imagine you get to live as long as you want, but it's your last day on earth.

And hypothetically, you've got to take all of your work with you.

So no one has access to your songs or movies or anything you ever make, hypothetical.

And for whatever reason, on the last day, you get to leave behind three lessons that you've learned with the world.

I call it three truths.

And this is what we would get to

be reminded of you by, these three lessons.

What would be those three lessons for you that you would share with the world?

Ah, the three lessons?

And maybe you'd share it with just your family, and we would get to hear it too.

But what would be those three truths for you?

I think the three truths, one of them would be that

to try as best you can to live with an attitude of gratitude.

Let's go.

Honestly,

this life is very quick.

And,

you know, being grateful, I think, is healthy.

Second, I would say

that I would hope to impart that individually, human beings have so much power.

We feel small.

We feel like we're alone.

We feel like we're helpless or at least that we can't help.

But you have so.

much

power

just as an individual.

And I mean, mean, it doesn't have to be big.

You just walk out of your apartment or your house, and it is one kind random act.

It's telling, it's saying good morning.

It's telling someone you like their shoes.

You have no idea how much you can impact and change somebody's life, you know.

And three,

try to be as honest with yourself as possible

because

it's easy to lie to people, but it's even easier to lie to yourself.

And I think I can put myself in a position to know that if it was the last day on earth, I would hope that as I sat there alone with my own thoughts,

that I would be able to know as my eyes were about to close and nothingness was coming,

that I...

even through all my flaws or faults,

I liked myself.

That's beautiful.

You know, that's beautiful.

I spread the good word and carried that love of God in my heart and passed that on to my babies.

I've got one final question.

That was beautiful.

I might have to have you back on in the future.

Okay, let's go.

Because I did.

Listen, off, you can edit this.

For sure, we are going out for dinner.

Let's go.

The wives are going to hang.

We're going to sit there.

Love you speak Spanish.

Yeah, we'll try to listen.

Let's go.

I can't wait to hear them.

I'm deeply interested.

And honestly, I wonder what they're going to come up with.

I will bet you right now.

We'll make a movie together.

I bet you a million bucks.

They're going to do something together.

It will be featured in the movie.

Because my wife has all of those movies on Amazon, Netflix.

Number all the same things you're talking about.

Margatina.

They probably know the same people.

It's like, yeah.

Absolutely.

Gosh,

the only thing I really wanted to dive into more was faith.

about your faith, but we don't have time for it.

So I'm going to have to do it another time.

Or maybe this would be a private conversation that I'll share another time with the audience because I did want to know about how your faith plays a role.

Well, before we go, why don't we just say something?

Okay, because I think trying to be respectful of your time, they're letting me not just say, I just think it's hugely important for me.

Yes, how is your faith impacting?

Well, it's everything.

We talked about priorities, uh-huh, and you know,

that is number one.

That's ahead of

the kids, it's ahead of my wife, it's ahead of my life, my business.

Number one is faith.

Number one is faith.

What is your relationship with God like?

Great, really nice personal relationship.

I'm a failure

in every way.

But it's funny, man.

I was in bed last night and I was like, even in my own self, I was like in my heart, I was like, God, I love you.

I love you so much.

You know, like, I know I'm so imperfect.

God, I wish I was better.

But

I was like, God, if I...

if I...

this was the if this happened tonight and i didn't wake up i love

i love that connection i love it so much And I love that I share it with my children.

I love it that my wife, that her faith was so strong that when I was wavering, that she,

and I love that I can feel this and have this without ever making people feel puky about it because I can't, I have a hard time with people that smush it in your face.

And like so much of what when we talk about faith, there's so much,

I just cringe because I go, they're not, there's no faith there.

They're hiding behind their faith and they think because they go to church on sunday but they're horrible people doing horrible things that's not faith you know just because you say you you know whatever you know that's you know you know that's all you're living it you live it man are you living it or you're not living it because um

and then there's this other thing like i i uh i like watched matthew mcconaughey he's great and i was like how cool and this inspired me man no joke and it's the reason why i know i'm turning people off sometimes I know it, man.

And you're talking about your faith.

Yeah, man.

I know that there's.

But you're turning a lot of people.

Like, I am not going to get onto the top 200 jazz dudes in Rolling Stone because I'm not cool.

Like, how could, why?

I'm not cool.

He's this like God-loving dude.

Like, you're not drinking an alcoholic.

You're not drugs.

By the way, just so you know, I'm doing all those things.

Yeah, yeah.

I really am.

I mean, I'm not perfect.

Yeah.

But I love my God, man.

Yeah.

That's, you know, and like, uh,

um,

and then then I like, and you know, I, by the way, just so you know, too, every single show

of The Voice, when it was me, Gwen,

uh, Snoop, Reebs, uh,

even now, now,

we don't step out to that stage without holding hands.

Really?

Man.

All together.

All together, dude.

All praying together.

All pray together.

Who leads it?

Sometimes me, sometimes Snoop, sometimes Reebus.

Wow.

Yeah.

and uh you know what i mean never push it on people just like hey let's you know what hey give us the power right now to come out and help these young people and and spread the light and the good word of love and empathy and kindness and goodness and uh and maybe lead people towards it so they can feel this way in their in their tummy you know or whatever and uh like so when i talk about matthew conaugh that was like i remember watching and going like this dude is putting himself out there and there's somebody right now because it's weird how you can say

and nobody blinks an eye but if you say hey praise god that's great god is great people are like

it's like i've always found that weird i was like so i love that we you and i have this great platform and i don't care if someone watches this and they go you know what i feel the way i feel

whatever i don't care if they're christian or catholic or jewish or muslim or whatever they are and they go you know what i have this i love my personal relationship with my god the universe, whatever you want to call it.

And you know what?

That talk that I watched Lewis and Mike have,

I can say that.

I can, you know what?

When my friends ask me or I'm out at dinner, I'm not going to be afraid to, you know, to say it, to put, you know, my cards down and say, yeah, yeah, I got a good strong faith.

Because it's weird for me.

We're in a world where, dude.

You know, I have a great pastor that a great pastor, Pastor Dave, hey,

and

he did a sermon a couple months back, and it was awesome, man.

He was just talking about the lights being out, man.

And he said, the lights are out everywhere.

And he said,

you know, he said, I stayed at a hotel.

And he said,

and the lights in the city went out, but this hotel was an old hotel and had a generator.

He said, so the lights were out everywhere, but this old hotel, it stayed lit for us.

He said, you know, we had a little dinner, you know, we went to sleep.

We plugged in our phones.

And

he said,

faith is that generator.

He said, the lights are going out all over the place.

He said, but

faith is that generator, you know, and though it may be dark and though it may seem scary, you know what?

You're allowed to keep that light, that pilot light on inside you and keep things lit up when everything else is getting dark.

And that's what faith is.

And so I hope that people.

have that for when they go through that time or when even when they don't go through that time.

I think it lifts lifts them up and helps them.

Keep that light on, man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Gosh, beautiful.

Next time we'll have to, we'll talk more about that.

But

final question, Michael, what's your definition of greatness?

Having this conversation with you, being completely present,

talking about faith, and then going next door as quickly as I can before I get home because they're doing all you can drink mimosas.

There you go, right across the street.

Let's go.

Thanks, Michael.

Appreciate you being here.

Thank you, Liz.

Thanks, man.

I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness.

Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links.

And if you want weekly, exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts.

Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well.

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And I want to remind you of no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.

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