Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Michael Bublé on His Rise From Fishing Boats to Fame and a Lifetime of Joy

Episode Date: October 26, 2025

Two decades after his breakout album It’s Time, five-time Grammy Award winner Michael Bublé sits down with Willie Geist at New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club to reflect on his journey from Canadian fishing boats to global fame. Bublé opens up about the grandfather who introduced him to Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, the early gigs that shaped his craft, and the moment that changed everything in his career. He also talks about his love for Christmas music, the perspective he gained after his son’s illness, and his return as a coach on NBC’s The Voice, where he’s chasing his third straight win. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks, as always, for clicking and listening along. Very excited to bring you my conversation this week with one of the biggest stars in all of music. He's won five Grammys and sold some 75 million albums. His name is Michael Boubley. Right now, he is a coach on NBC's The Voice for a third season for him. In fact, he won the first two seasons, going for the three-peat. Michael and I got together at the Blue Note, New York, this iconic famous cafe where so many great artists have performed.

And in fact, as we're here at a second, was the first time Michael ever played a paying gig. First time he ever got paid. He started singing at about 16. His family realized he had this beautiful voice. He started doing club gigs. His grandfather was a plumber. Grandfather would say, I will fix your plumbing. I will unclog the toilet if you let my grandson get on stage.

How amazing is that? So he kind of toiled for a long time, 16 years old, moving around the clubs. He grew up in the Vancouver area, Burnaby, British Columbia. Then he moved to Toronto, was trying to find his footing, and ultimately made his way to this gig in New York. So it was really special and cool to be in that room. We're sitting at a little table, like you can imagine, a little jazz club, the stage right above us with a piano, the stand-up bass, the drums, all the things you'd love to see in a jazz club. And it was nice for him to be there and kind of reminisce and think about what it meant for him in his career to get to play the blue note. Something you probably don't know about Michael Boubley. He grew up in a very blue-collar family. His dad was a fisherman would go out for months at a time. He actually, starting at the age of 14, would go out and fish on those boats.

He'd spend his summers chasing salmon up to Alaska. So music came to him through his grandfather, though, introduced him to jazz. So you say, why does a kid who kind of grew up in the 80s? Why is he so into Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra? You'll hear his grandfather would put these records on. So as he says, you know, he also loved the Beastie Boys and Guns and Roses and all the things that kids love. But he really had an ear and a love for jazz. So it's been an incredible rise for him.

He will tell you all about it through his career. He's got some really fascinating thoughts about the state of the music business, what needs to change to encourage young people to get in the business, which is very hard to make money and make a living in now. We'll talk about fantasy football. I'll tell you what. He's in like seven leagues. He says it's his first love, including music.

So just a great, wide-ranging conversation with the talented and charismatic Michael Boubley right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Thanks for doing this, Michael. It's great to see you. It's great to see you, too, man. Two long, lost brothers working for... NBC forever. Working for NBC talking mostly about our fantasy football teams, if we're being honest.

Yes, that was the pre-interview. 20 minutes of how we both got screwed last night. Forgive me for saying it, but you are a maniac with fantasy football. I know. How many teams? There's around eight teams. That's just the football. We're not even talking hockey because there's about four different hockey teams, too.

When do you actually make music is the question in between all the teams? That's a really good question. You know what's funny? As I was saying to you, it's not a joke. I love music. It's like my passion, but followed very closely by fantasy sports, fantasy football play. I love sports. My wife just thinks, it's like, what else is on television?

Right. It's just like I was in heaven, by the way. Last night, there was baseball, there was football, there was hockey. Oh, God, it was a good night. And the Blue Jays, no less, Canada's team. I mean, come on, it's all happening. Yes. And then on the other side, Shohey Otani, using my song as his walk-up song.

I mean, dude, I cannot lose. Not lose no matter what happens, I'm going to win. Okay, I have to ask you about the walk-up music. Because I think the fans were surprised, the announcers were surprised. How shocked were you to hear that Otani uses your song? A couple years ago, I was shocked when I found out that he had started doing it. What was really cute is that the coach of the Dodgers was nice enough to introduce me to show him. So I got to meet him, and I said to him, like, I said, why did you choose my song?

And very quickly, he just turned to his wife, and it was his wife that chose. I'll take it. Oh, is that right? Yeah, she was the one. She thought it was a great song, great vibe. And then, you know, so I just think how cool to be the smallest part of something that's such a rich cultural stories is a great part of history. Even just being a small part of it is just such a cool thing. And it's clearly working for him.

If you watch them at the plate. I know. Yeah. Bublai needs to be on more people's playlist as they walk up to the plate. I do. Yeah. Michael, let's talk about this room. Sure. Why we're here. This is such a special place for you.

The Blue Note in New York City. Yeah. In the early days of your career, this was a big marker for you to play this room. Yeah, and what's cool is that as we sit here, the Blue Note is still just a really relevant and culturally relevant place, you know, for not only the up-and-comers, but for literally the greatest of all time to come and play. And so we're sitting in a room that has so much history and has been filled with greatness. And for me, it was a big part of my story because I had played for many years in nightclubs.

I started when I was 1617, working through Vancouver in the Pacific Northwest. And my grandfather was a plumber and he would do free plumbing if these guys would let me get up on stage with them. And after 10 years of working and going up and down the coast and going to Toronto and moving and playing a little clubs in Toronto, I finally got signed, and then part of the, I guess, part of the marketing exercise was, all right, let's start putting the kid in these little rooms. And, you know, and I think the difference about this for me was, was this was the first time people had paid to see me. Now, they had come to the clubs. I'd put a lot of people in clubs, but they had come to have a few drinks, to mingle, to meet somebody. And I remember coming here for the first time. And I make an

analogy, and a lot of my analogies will have sports. But there was a hockey player named Pabble Barre, who played for the Canucks. They called him the Russian rocket. And I remember watching him in practice. They used to tie a parachute to him. And he would rip around the ice, and this parachute would sort of stop him. And it was great because that training was just incredible. well, you know, obviously, you know, he'd get into a game and he'd just be flying. And I felt like for so many years, I lived with that parachute strapped to my back. That was me showing up and doing all these gigs and no one came there to see me. And I learned how to work a room.

I learned my craft. I learned how to be a better musician. I learned how to listen. I learned how to lead. I learned how to follow. And then one day they put me here and it was like someone pulled the parachute off. And I felt like I could fly. I felt like, wow, now this, I can do this.

And I had a big start here, a big part of my life here. So by the time you got here, though, Michael, for 12 years, you'd been working from 16. Yeah. This wasn't an overnight thing at all. You had it down, so this must have fell, as you say, with that parachute off. Yeah. I'm ready for this. Oh, I was ready to go.

And you know what's funny, too, is very much, like I talk about, a lot of my friends are stand-ups and comedians. and what I think people will never realize is that every gig is a little bit of growth. Every gig you add another little piece to your set, another little thing, a schick that works, a setup to a song, or even how you sing the song, or an idea in sort of reimagining or reinterpreting what you're doing or even writing a song. And you just keep putting these little pieces together. And over all those years, you build up a set.

you know what I mean? And then when you show up and you're at the Blue Note for the first time, people are blown away. They're blown away by it. Wow, this dude, wow, this dude is smooth. This dude is in control. Man, it's like effortless. Well, if it looks effortless, usually, I think, in any business,

it's because you have put in so much time in really perfecting it. You know what I mean? Yeah. You know, just really putting. in the work and being ready. And I think it helped me to be really ready. And I think, you know, as a performer, I think it's huge. If somebody can look like they're just, they're doing it, you know, they're just doing it. It's all improv. But it's not. It's thousands of hours that you put together, you know, in that moment when the person yells something at you, you know, you've heard 300

times. Now, to the audience, they think this is the first time, but when you call back, you know what I mean? Not only do you know to call back, but you know to repeat what they said into the microphone so that now you've invited your audience in to understanding what they've yelled at you. And now if you don't know what you're going to say, it gives you a little time. But if you do and you're quick, well, now you look like your genius. You look like you're, you just. So when I'm on the voice where I'm talking to my niece who wants to be a singer. The number one lesson is preparedness. Be prepared. Be over-prepared. Do your homework, study, know the words, know what you're going to say. Put a set list together, and I want you to at least have an idea from between song two and three and that thing where they're going to vamp on whatever song it is it for, you know exactly how you're going to introduce it. You know the names of your musicians. You know the Rooms. You know the Rooms. you're in, you know, an anecdotal story. And that preparedness makes you break.

I think it does in any business. I was going to say that applies anywhere. I tell my kids that all the time, too. It also strips away anxiety, right? Because you go, I'm ready. Whatever happens, I'm going to be ready for it. I bet you a billion bucks you were listening to my music in the car this morning. Damn right, I was.

Thank you. Thank you for the streams. All of it. That's one point two cents I made this point. That's a whole other conversation about the music industry. You're one point two cents. You were telling me a funny story before we started about that first show here. As you said, first time people had really paid to see you.

And you're walking down the street out here. Oh, yeah. Well, actually, you know, it's funny? I was thinking about it just now. I actually told the story when I was on stage here. It's one of the first things I said. So I had come, I had done the rehearsal here. It was about 2 o'clock.

My band set up. And we did the rehearsal. It was all good. I walked out those front doors. and I was dumbfounded because there was a lineup of people from right there, I mean, way down the street, a couple hundred feet. And I just couldn't believe that they were there for me. And so I remember that I walked down the line.

And I got it very end of the line. And it was a very sweet little old lady. And I said, oh, my gosh. I say, you know, you're waiting for me. You've been waiting for, you know, how long? I said, well, I can't believe that you're waiting. for me. And she said, yeah, we'll wait for you, and you better be good. And I was like, I'm in New York. It's happening. If you can make it here, you can make it anyway. No free pass for you,

this is your initiation into New York City. Yeah, I tried to make that so you didn't have to beat me. This is a television professional. Self-beeping. It's very self-aware beeping. I'm thinking about you at 16 and how you got to that point where you started. Because I don't know if everybody realized it's because you are polished and elegant that you come from like fishing people. Yeah. You know? Like you really do.

And you were working on boats when you were a teenager going out chasing salmon up to Alaska and all that with your dad. So what were those early years of your life like hockey, fishing and music comes in how and when? You know, I don't think my story is that dissimilar from many of my heroes. I think if you look at Tony Bennett or you look at Frank Sinocch or you look at Dean Martin, a lot of these people, you know, obviously came up from, you know, these families of Italian extraction, very blue collar. You know, my dad was a fisherman. His father was a fisherman. His father had immigrated from Italy as a shipbuilder. So I just assumed that would probably be my life, you know, hardwere.

work, good work, honest work. And I thought that's what I'd do. But I love music. My grandfather was a plumber for 50 years. And my joy was to sit on a carpet with him and he would just pull out. And I told him early on it was about 12 years old, maybe even earlier, God, maybe 9, 10. I heard a song by somebody named Vic Dana. He had a record. This guy, Vic Dana. It had to be you was the record. And I was so into it that I would like draw. I would, you know, write out the lyrics and he said like, oh, you like that sunshine. He called me sunshine. You like that sunshine. I said, oh, I love that. And he said, if you like that, you know, let grandpa come and show you his, and so we would sit on the carpet, cross-legged, and my grandpa would take record after record.

And it was, today we're going to listen. It's going to be all the Mills brothers today. And tomorrow's going to Saravan and on Thursday if you want to come over after school we'll do Ella and then Louis and then we'll get to Dean and we'll get to Darren and we'll get to Frank and I just I just couldn't download enough of that information as I got older more and more and as I got you know I'd be on the fishing boat and I'd be in a galley doing dishes and uh where I'd be working the drum and it was just constant constant if I wasn't singing it. If I wasn't, if I wasn't studying it, I was making believe that I was doing it. I was, you know, it was just, God, constant. I mean, constant. Every time I was in the car,

every time I was in the skiff rolling that thing to the beach, it was me fantasizing about who I was going to be and singing this stuff. And I knew I could sing it. I had a good voice. Nobody knew that at the time, but I knew I had, and not just a good voice, but I knew I had that, for whatever reason, you know, that kind of voice. I remember sitting in the back seat at Christmas Eve, and maybe it was 13, and all the kids coming from Grandma and Grandpa's, and we were singing, I think it was, I'm giving white Christmas with every Christmas card I write And then all of a sudden I went May your days be merry and bright And it was, you know, the whole car going

What the hell? And I've told this to a million times But it's a truth. It was like, ah, he's my, you know, my voice got deeper and that's how it sounded. I loved, like, we were just talking earlier about, I love the Beastie Boys and I love Brian out. I loved all of the 80s stuff.

And I love rock a lot. I loved early rap and stuff and hip-hop. But my voice just sounded like my voice. And then what was cool was that it made me feel like special. I felt like, wow, I like something that other people don't. This is my thing. You know, everybody's got their thing. This is my thing.

And I just got deeper and deeper and deeper. and deeper. And then my Uncle Kelly bought me an amp and a mic and my grandparents bought me these tracks of Dean Martin and Frank stuff and Ellis stuff.

And I just was what I'm going to do. And then I would go fishing in the summers and then in the winter I would go singing at clubs. And then one time finally I turn about 20. My mom said to me,

I don't think you should go on the ship this year. I think you should stay. I think you should just work the clubs and see if you can work the clubs this winter. And so it became a family business. So I played some theaters and my parents, I mean, I don't think if my cousins and uncles and aunts and friends and school teachers, if they weren't at those theaters or those clubs, there would have been nobody there. So, you know, the success has a million mothers and fathers. I just love the. the idea that in the age of Michael Jackson and Madonna, you're listening to the Mills Brothers on a turntable. Yeah. It's incredible. Yeah. And even weird, weird, this is weird for me,

but it's the truth. I wasn't, it surprised me that more people weren't listening. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I would be in the car and I'd be listening to some fat swinging groove, you know, listening to Louis Armstrong, just a, just a beat that was fatter than any doctor, Drey, drop. And I remember thinking, I can't be the only one. Like, literally. Like, I can't be the only one that hears how good this is. Like, people got to know how good this is, right? This wasn't a, some kind of a fluke or something. Like, this music is killer. And to this day, it's like when people go like, wow, so what was a kid listening? It's like, no, I like Guns and Roses. And I liked all those bands at the time in Bon Jovi. And I liked run the MC or whatever. But like, like,

how could you not listen to Maltourmet or Bobby Darren or Sam Cook and not go, this is this shit? I know we have to cut that. I'm really sad. No, let's stay in. Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast.

Stick around to hear more from Michael Bublay right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Michael Bublay. So now, Michael, you're going through. You're playing the clubs. You see your family are the only ones in many of these crowds. At what point do you realize I can make a life out of this? I can make a living singing. Was there a moment it clicked for you?

I think I was so stupid that I figured that before I ever made any money. Like this is it. Oh, dude, I was doing, I mean, and at that point, I was doing clubs. I was doing, I ended up doing Broadway shows as part of a, as a, you know, as part of the troop. I was doing, I was doing, uh, I was doing, uh, I was singing in malls. I was singing in cruise ships. I was doing, I used to work for a lady named Alexis

at a place called Balloon Action. Ooh. Yeah. Did you make the... No, but I would show up at your birthday. Oh. You go, happy birthday to you, Willie. Happy birthday.

20 bucks. And I would do my thing. I would do anything. I figured weirdly, I was, you know, I had that, you know, thing that we have when we're young. which was the belief that, you know, it's going to happen. Somebody's going to see this.

Somebody's going to get this. I'm good at this. I can go on stage and I can break a room. Like, I'm a good entertainer. I'm a good singer. Surely, you know, it's just a matter of time. But, of course, even me, even in that naivety, I did get to a point where at like 25, 26, I went,

oh, maybe not. Maybe they're not going to see this. I remember because I was in Toronto, I'd run out of money. And I was like, okay. So sometimes God has a plan, and his plan maybe wasn't for this to happen for me for whatever reason. And I knew one day I wanted to get married, have kids and all that. And I thought, okay, you know what?

Maybe my plan isn't this. Maybe my plan had many friends that were great journalists. and I was like, maybe I'll go back to Vancouver and I'll get into journalism, we'll go to BCIT and if I can't be the one that they're talking about in the story, maybe I'll be the one to tell the story. Like, I love this stuff. I want to express myself.

I want to build. You know, I'm curious and I'm, you know, I'm creative. And so, okay, maybe I won't be the singer-actor guy. Maybe I'll be the storyteller and I'll be a great journalist. And so I was very close to going back and I got a gig. And that gig would take me into meeting the prime minister of my country and his wife. And the wife said, you need to come and sing at my daughter's wedding. We love you.

You're a great young singer. And David Foster, the producer will be there. And I was like, okay, here's another, here's another shot. Here's a shot. This may be the shot. By the way, I've had a zillion of those, this may be the shot shots, you know. But that was the shot. That ended up really being the first sort of break.

And that's, I think, 25 years ago, the Mulroney wedding. That's right. And you're Caroline. I love you, Caroline, wherever you are. And you meet David there. I meet David there. And you're kind of off to the races from that point. Well, it's not as simple as that, but yes.

for all intensive purposes. Yeah, I meet Polanka, you know, get me into Warner Brothers. We ended up making the record, you know. It's funny, though, you know, I made that first record, and there was a girl who still works with me. And her job was to guesstimate and budget with how many records she thought I would sell in my career. So the budget that she gave her, I believe, was. between the $50,000 and $150,000 for the life of my career.

And the supposed record sales at that point that she thought I would do were it was between 50 and 100,000 copies. And you know what I mean? And it was like, we did better than that, you know? A little bit. A little bit. But then I said to her, because by the way, she works with me now. She's worked with me for the last 17 years at my management company.

And I remember I said to her, like, I said, hey, you know, what the hell? Like, your job was to be the one day. And you thought that's what it was going to be, like in the life of my career? And she said, chicken, your first single was Spider-Man. What did you think I was going to think? So she probably wasn't wrong. I think I was like, the underdog always. Always.

Like, even when I got signed, it was like still, yeah, we'll sign and we'll see. At that time, I remember it was like, we got Peterson Coddy, Carrie Conick, and we got Jamie Cullum. But there was Amy Winehouse, there's all these people, and one of them will stick. You know, probably not him. He's cheesy. She was off by, I think, 75 million albums. Something like that.

Something in the neighborhood of 75 million albums. Not that we're counting. No, I counting. You can shrug and play dumb, but it's 75. So we're marking 20 years since it's time, right? There's this new deluxe edition of the album that just, came out a few days ago, I think. Is that a cool moment right now to look back?

Wow, that was 20 years ago that things really started to blow up for me. Yeah, and that's very sentimental for me. And I look back and, oh, man, I'm proud. I'm proud of the work we did. But I look back and I think about all those guys, my heroes, you know, Tommy Lepum and Phil Ramon and Al Schmitt and Bill Holm. I can just keep going down a list of producers, writers, arrangers, orchestrators, and so many are gone.

So many are, we've lost them. And so many friends, publicists, workmates, and so much love, so many people that loved me, there's no reason for them, there's nothing, they got back from it. They just loved me. They loved me, and they saw a good kid who they believed in, and then they just went out of above and beyond for me. And so I look back, it's hard not to get sentimental

as I think about my life now, as I got this beautiful family and four kids, and I'm safe and I'm comfortable. And I so love what I do, and I still love who I do it for. And it's hard not to get emotional when you look back and think about all of those people, all of those people from my own mom and dad

and my grandma and grandpa who I miss her every day. those millions of moments my first manager bev you know Bruce Allen my manager like I look back and I go wow look what we did you know and it's still hey I got I got a while to go but it's impossible not to look at a record like that and go wow like I'm sentimental I call David Foster I'm glad I do I call these people and tell them you know how I feel about them and tell them how much I appreciate them and I never thought it could be so comfortable comfy, you know? Even this, even just sitting with you, you know, like how nice and free and how lucky I am. I wish that for every kid that loves music, that they could come and, you know, do what they love to do and have a place like this to do it.

Because that's something that we don't have so much anymore. And it's just getting harder. At some point, dude, you know, you said we're going to talk about the business or whatever, but we got, you know, at some point, our music business we have to figure it out and we have to stand together and protect the musicians because it feels like not to take a shot at doing this right now in this interview that is obviously not about this, but everybody's making money in our business except the musicians. I'm not talking about me. I do just fine. But at some point, all of us musicians, all of us, from the guy that's playing

the blue note for the first time to Taylor Swift. We all got to stand up together. and say, hey, we need to have each other's backs, and we need to figure this out, because the way it's going right now is not working. And I don't think people watching at home understand that. They assume you make music, you make a bunch of money, you got a great comfortable light, but you guys have to be out on the road touring to make the kind of money. You can't even tour, man. I mean, I can't.

I mean, listen, I'm not putting myself in that thing. I'm just saying that I'm still in touch every single day with blue collar, men and women who love music are incredible musicians, and they can't afford to go on the road. They cannot afford. There's no share in what they get when their music is played. Streaming isn't enough. The touring is so expensive, and they're not a lot of places for them to go. So I don't know.

I just think that my kids love music, Lily, like, love it. And I'd love for them to one day have a chance to go make a living doing it, whether that's as a writer or a producer or an engineer. and the way it's going right now, there's not a lot protecting them. So I'm hoping that artists, somebody way more brave and cool, you know, stands up and says, come on, I have an idea, you know, let's do this. And I'll come, I'll be right there with him. Yeah, I have a son who's a musician too, and I have the same thought.

I'm like, I want him to chase that. I want to pursue it, but I also want to be able to pay the rent and live. Yeah, as he should be. Yeah. He's, you know, especially if he's creating something that's beautiful and makes the world a better place. And there's, you know, it's worthy. There used to be a time when you could. And we need that time back.

Are you hopeful that it will change, that the problem is big enough and there are enough people who are impacted by it that people are compelled to do something? Seriously, I know this sounds nuts, but I'm hoping if I just say something. And if I'm just at least, if I just talk, and if I have a chance to talk, I, I, I, I, I, use the privilege to talk with you and that other musicians might talk together and that you'll get people within the industry who are powerful and maybe they have kids that are musicians too and and maybe you know their conscience tells them there there has to be a way for us to share you know there's enough for everyone there I mean look if we want to talk about people listen to music more people are listening to music now than ever.

Right. You know. That's the irony, right? There's so much out there that we all have access to. Yeah, I just think some people and companies are just making too much and the pie should be split a little bit better, I'm guessing. Well said. Well said.

Get that message out. Yeah. Stick around for more of my conversation with Michael Boubley right after a quick break. Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Michael Boubley. I want to ask you about your role in Christmas. music. Sure, I love Christmas music. Because you are at the point now where it's just the way it's, yes, it's Frank and Bing Crosby and all those guys, but you're, you're right there with it, which is a sort of a nice add-on to everything else you've done in your career. Yeah.

When did that switch flip for you? Oh, God. You know, it's funny, man. I've always loved Christmas music and not just the music, but I love the holiday. I love the, I'm very sentimental. about the feeling, about that time in the year where people a little kinder and warmer and nicer. For me, I grew up very Catholic. So Bing Crosby was playing through the house a lot, so it was very personal for me. And there was the feeling, the smell of that music in the air and that time was really just magical for me. And so it's funny. When I made that first record, when I made the Christmas album,

I remember being so sure about it. And I was in, weirdly, I was in a recording studio. And David was working with Whitney Houston. And I think it was her and her daughter I was on the phone with. And they said, what do you doing? What are you making a Christmas record? And I remember I said, no, no, I'm making the Christmas record. And I was so sure that I was putting so much love.

I know it's going to sound weird, man, but I think when people make those albums, yeah, they're doing it because they love it, but there's always this piece of them where, as they're making the record, they're also very self-aware, critically what it's going to be like. Right.

You know, and let's, you know, okay, we'll do this, but, you know, shouldn't be. I never once thought, like, is this cheesy? Or is this too much? much? Is it too schmaltzy? Is it too warm? I was 1,000% in. I loved the whole thing. I love the spirit. I love the music. And there was never one time where me and the collaborators ever went, like, hey, I wonder if people will think this is cool or not. It was like, no, you know, the opposite. It was like, this is so uncool that it's so cool. And I'm going to get so deep with you. Because I haven't

said this a lot. But there was a time years ago now where my manager used to get mad because the phone would ring and it was just like Valentine's Day would come and like two months to Valentine's Day, it was like they wanted me everywhere and my and then Mother's Day. And my manager would be like, yo, he's not just for Valentine's Day. Hey, he's not just, you know, mothers. I remember these two, these commercials where they was Michael Bublae make your mother's day and I was like God this is so cheesy like you know I'm more than just this thing and then and then the whole Christmas thing kind of happened and the record went crazy and all that and then all of a sudden it was you know Christmas and so I remember we kept getting calls and it's okay it's October and you started to get the calls

you know, from every artist and every, you know, hey, would you come and do my, and I remember that I was, I was feeling like, okay, like, I don't want to get, be known as that thing. And, you know, I'm more than Mother's Day or Valentine's Day or Christmas. And then my son got diagnosed with cancer, and it was Halloween day. And I don't know why, but I had the clearest epiphany that day. And I remember sitting in this, this white room in C HLA. And I remember thinking, why did I ever worry about anything else? And I remember thinking, not only are you an idiot for ever having an insecurity in how you were being seen or the fact that I just thought, oh my god man you are connected to the most beautiful this spiritual wonderful light thing and that's what

you're worried about and i thought i remember i sat my wife was on the bed next to me i said you know lou never again i said lou i'm so lucky i'm so lucky that when the world has opened up their their lives and their doors at this time that they let me in like what was I think of baby how how lucky are we how lucky am I and from that day on I never felt the same butter again I just I can tell you man if you were with me and we were drinking and hanging and I was giving you you put a truce from a I am so happy you know to be part of something so beautiful you know and I'll be gone man long gone and weirdly that'll be the legacy you know

you for sharing that. That is, that is, that is beautiful. And I hope you know you are the accompaniment, your voice to these moments. We all have this warmth and the fire and the fireplace and everybody's home and we're joyful. And it's getting deeper too. Because, you know, like the other night I did a thing for the Rockefeller, you know, and I was out there and I was singing it. And I just watched, just watched everybody sing with me. And I was like, oh my God, this is so cool I feel like it's weird

it's like being invited into the coziest of living rooms and just to get to be that guy and that voice for people is pretty awesome it's almost like when that goes on that music okay it's Christmas yeah we're home

I mean no joke I know joke my kids get to sleep with us on the weekends and like two days ago and it's just I said this the other day but it's true and I said and I went out good morning and my kids went, good morning.

And I said, 68. And my son Noah said, what's 68? I said, 68 days till Santa Claus is coming. My wife just looks up and goes like, loser. You're like Buddy the Elf. Dude, I'm like, I love it. I love it. And it's like, it's the anticipation. It's not the day.

It's like all the coming up to it and the singing and the decorating and the cookies and all the stuff. It's amazing. It's the best. Best time of year and you're the soundtrack, too. it. I'll take it. Let's talk voice. Yeah, sure. Your third season, you're going for a three-peer. You won your first two seasons, which is incredible.

Incredible. How's the team looking for this season? My team is so good. The talent level on this series is even better than it was. I don't know how that's possible. It's going to be way harder this year, you know? Because I think everyone has a few people on the team that are so fabulous. Like, Snoop has a guy named Ralph, and I shouldn't single anybody out, but, dude, I call him record Ralph because this dude is so good. Snoop could win in a second.

Reba has a couple that are, like, so good. Shoen's. Nile, he's got a young guy that's amazing, and then he's got this group. They're called Deck of Hearts, but I like to change their name often. If I, like, write them, if I message them, I like to call them. I like to call them deck of farts just because I think it sounds better. They're so good.

And by the way, Nile? Yeah. If I want to beat Nile or Snoop or we're going to have to hire one of those call centers. You know what I mean? It's almost not fair. Literally. We're going to have to just start calling and just have like automated people, just automated phones and AI just voting for us.

Just spam, spam, spam. Oh, my God. It's, he is just beloved. And he deserves it. Like he's, I'm, you know, it's weird? It's like, I want to like fan girl, you know, for all of them. So, dude, it's the best, man. Carson Daly is, and you know what, I tried to talk about him on the Today Show when I went there.

Because, honestly, it's all from the top down. Him and Audrey, the producer, and Kira are class acts for 26 seasons or how long it's been 16 years, 15 years that it's been on. they are so cautious and careful and so a reverend with how excuse me not a reverend they're so reverential about how they treat the artists like even the first day I joined I remember saying oh okay so when did the contestants come and and they said oh no they're not contestants and I was like what do you mean and Carson said no man they're artists they're called artists and I was so happy it was yeah Oh, so this is how you treat them.

And you're not a judge or a coach. I judge your coach. And so there was a real sense of family. And the first day we ever had her meeting, it was the first season with Snoop with me and Gwen Stefani and Riba. And the producer Satisfi, and you'll appreciate this. Producer Satestown at our little pre-meeting thing. And she said, this is your show.

She said, you're the producers of the show. you will decide what the vibe is. You know, it's up to you. And all of us, I think, were so like-minded and liked each other genuinely so much that we went, oh, wow, you know, the world is crazy. The world is in a dark place, and we have a chance to make this a really, you know, something that's really special and warm. And it just sort of went on like that.

You know, the next season I had Kelsey Ballerini, who was amazing. and Adam Levine, who turned out to be one of my best, I drive him nuts. John Legend, who's just smart, well-spoken, highly intelligent musician and human being. And I realized, like, we were all family. It was a family. It's the reason I came back to the third time. So it's gotten even better. I don't know if I'm going to win, but I'm going to vote for myself as much as possible.

But you're up against that One Direction Army. Honestly, there's a couple of times that I have. thought, not that I would do it, but, you know, remember that time of the Olympics when the girl hit the other girl? Tanya Harding. Yeah, I thought about doing that denial a few times. You'd take him out? Not full, not in his throat, but maybe a knee. We don't know. Maybe he can't walk for a little while. Can't golf. They're going to use this at your trial. The worst thing is, I've said this to him out loud. All loud. I've said, like, I'm going to hit you with a pipe for sure.

Part of the beauty as a viewer of that show is you get these four coaches, and you're like, how do these people go together? How does Snoop fit with Reba and Michael Blue Blaine? And then it just works. Oh, we die laughing too. It's funny, because, you know, people don't know Snoop, but this guy's such a beaut, man. He cries more than Reba.

You know, he said he loves them. And like, you know what's funny? After that first season, people who'll never say this. to you, but he hired them. Like, they work for him, or they, or they, one kid Jeremy Beloit, I know, because he just put out a single on death row.

And by the way, my guy that won 26, I just paid for his, he's putting out his record. It's released in a couple weeks. And Adam David is the other kid that won for me, and he's coming up on the rear. So we keep it, we keep it together. and we keep the family together.

And Reba's the same, and John, it's like even John legend. Yeah. I was like, I had a person on my 27 team, and John had been keeping in touch with this girl's dad, who was a contestant years before, and it was cool because I was like, you want to like these people, but you don't know, are they just, like, celebrity weirdos? Right. You know what I mean? And then it was like, oh, no, they're actually real people who,

actually hang out and are good to these kids, you know? And that gets at something I think people wonder also, which is, all right, these famous singers, they drop in, they do the show, and then they walk away. And if you talk to Carson, he's like, no, dude, like, when they sign up, they are in. And you have these relationships with the artists that extend well beyond the show even.

Well, Carson now is the Mr. Man. You know what he has on the show now? They did a thing this year where, so they had the famous kid, the kid came out and auditioned, and we didn't turn our chair. Yeah. And nothing. You know, we turn around and say the kid, sorry, you know, next time you know, we all heard noes. And then we turned back around.

And then another audition. And now Riva turned. It was the same kid. And it was called the Carson callback. Oh, yes. So, yeah. Carson, now Carson has all this power. Oh, yeah.

And the kids crushing it. The kid could win the whole thing. His name is Ryan. But now you can see Carson, you know. You know? The puppet master. The puppet master, Carson Daily. Yeah, I told Carson, I wish that

next season they come back with something called the Carson kickoff where he just boots one of the coaches. It is the Carson kickoff. Go, I should be sitting in your seat, making the decisions. You've got like the Dr. Evil ejector seat. The person just disappears. Yes. What did Michael Booble?

It's so much fun, man. The show is so stupid. It's so stupid. It's like, I never expected it to be that, that warm and that, that sweet. But again, it starts at the top. Audrey, Kira, the, you know, the producers and Carson are. They're just great, man. It's great.

The season is going to be a lot of fun. Last thing, and then I'll let you go. We both had a big birthday this year. Yes. We were talking a little bit about what that meant. Yeah. I feel like the voice, your beautiful family, the Grammys, the albums. 20 years looking back at its time, it is a moment for reflection, isn't it?

Yeah. What are you thinking right now in this milestone moment in your life? Honestly, that we are so young. Seriously, look at us. We're so young, man. We're young. We've got beautiful kids. We're happy.

You know, we look amazing. We're so humble. I'm not joking. It's like we are, we're so young and we feel there's so much more, you know, there's another 30, 40 years of us walking. We hope. We hope. No, just that I really think that my epiphany was, man, enjoy every second.

You know, it's going fast, but I've been so lucky, so I'm just going to keep enjoying every second of it. being in the moment whenever I can. I tell my kids all the time. We can't fix the past guys. We can't go back. We have no idea what's about to happen in the future. We have right now. We have right now. That's something we talk about all the time. So I'm trying to follow my own advice. Amen to that. Great to talk to you, man. Pleasure man. So much fun. Thank you. Thank you. My big thanks to Michael for a great conversation. The Voice airs Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock. And my thanks to all of you for listening again, this week. If you want to hear all of our conversations with my guests every week, be sure to click

follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.