Michael Bublé: “Your Legacy Is The Kindness You Show”
Michael Bublé has spoken about his early inspirations and the way he views his legacy in a new interview with The Big Issue.
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Bublé opened up about his first musical loves, remembering, “At 16 I was utterly in love with music. I was so ambitious in knowing exactly who and what I wanted to be. My grandfather, who was a plumber, was already sneaking me into nightclubs and bars and doing free plumbing work for club owners and musicians who let a 16-year-old kid get up on stage and sing with them.
“I was in love with Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr, Ella and Louis Armstrong and Louie Prima, the great Italian-American singers. And I loved Elvis. It was interesting – at that age, I had a sense that I was unique. Part of what was so romantic for me was that I knew I was different, and we all want to be unique. I thought wow, this passion and this love and this voice I have, they make me unique. I was really lucky – I had such a wonderful supportive family, they loved me enough to take me to all the auditions and get me singing lessons and take me to the clubs. There’s nothing better than living on potential at 16 years old. And that’s what I was doing.”
The singer went on to discuss how he will be remembered. “nother thing I’d tell my young self is not to worry about your legacy,” he said. “No one’s gonna remember you. They’re not going to remember The Rolling Stones or Frank Sinatra either. When the Elvis movie came out, my kids looked at me and said, who is Elvis? And I said, what?! You don’t know who Elvis is? They didn’t have any idea. There’s a lot of ego involved in thinking I will be remembered. Your real legacy is the empathy and kindness you show, the love and goodness you give to people you meet on the street or in your family. So I would go back and tell myself, don’t think so highly of yourself. Just be a kind guy.”