“You know what I’ll be Googling tonight: Bublé, gay, queer, all that stuff,” says Michael Bublé one recent afternoon, after being informed that said search terms render colorful results.
All you lovers, though, needn’t search beyond the dreamy crooner’s recently released album, “Nobody But Me,” and its 10 feel-good tunes, including several new originals and reimagined classics gleaned from the Great American Songbook.
Love, naturally, is featured prominently on Bublé’s ninth studio album, as well as in our recent chat, during which the affable ally spoke about the “joy” the LGBT community has brought him and the importance of standing up for queer issues. And no, not solely because he’s a staunch LGBT rights advocate – when his kids grow up and read this interview, he says it’s important to him that they feel “proud.”
How would you describe the affection for you from the gay community?
The truth is, I don’t think I could’ve given them as much joy as they’ve given me. I’m in a business where, as you can imagine, I’m surrounded by the gay community. I mean, that’s just my life. I’m an artist, and so I’m surrounded by other artists. And everyone from my hair stylist who lives with me on the road to (my stylist) Jeff Kim, who puts me in my suits every day – I mean, god, the question isn’t who’s gay? The question is, who isn’t? (Laughs) And by the way, the ones that seem the most macho, they’re probably gay.
Now would be a good time to talk about how your wife, Luisana Lopilato, thought you were gay when she first met you.
(Laughs) Yes, she walked in this room with a man, and the man was so good lookin’ that he made Brad Pitt look dumpy, so I assumed they were together. I naturally assumed that this was her boyfriend or her husband, so I refused to hit on her. And listen, it didn’t help that she didn’t speak English either at the time. Not a word. But the more I drank that night, the more brazen I got about trying to find out what the situation was between them. Finally, after two hours – and I don’t know how many shots and glasses of whiskey – I finally said, (effects a drunk slur) “You guys are such a beautiful couple,” and he said, “We’re not together.” He said, “She came because she likes you.” And at the same time, she was on the phone texting her mom saying, “Oh my god, Michael Bublé is all over my friend. He’s so gay.”
She knows you’re straight now, right?
(Laughs) I assume so. I mean, after the kids. Also, I assume she thinks I’m not gay when every night I say, “Mmmmm?!” and she says, “No, I have a headache.”
If a gay couple asked you to sing any of the songs off this new album at their wedding, which would you sing and why?
Aww. I think maybe “The Very Thought of You.” And to be honest with you, man: I don’t care if it’s a gay or a straight or a black or a poor wedding – love is love. And I think that would be a really beautiful, romantic first dance.
Is it true that your Uncle Frank and Uncle Mike, who have been together for over 40 years, taught you acceptance and open-mindedness?
With or without them, the truth is, my father and my mother were so progressive, and I’m so lucky that my father just made it very simple. He just said, “It’s nature. A man can love a man and a woman can love a woman, and this doesn’t just happen with human beings – it’s science. It happens in nature. It happens with almost every animal.” Having two boys of my own who I love more than I’ll ever love myself, I can’t tell you how crushing it would be if they couldn’t feel that they could tell their father that they were gay – or different in any way. To me, (because of them), it just became a much bigger issue.
If one of your sons were to come out to you, how might you respond?
With nothing but love. And I’m not saying that to you because it’s you or the magazine. It’s because I love them, man. I love them so much that I just want them to be happy. My goal in life is to make them beautiful, happy human beings, and if that’s who they are – because I’m killed, just devastated, when I hear people saying they “choose.” “Choose”? What are you fucking talking about? You don’t choose. It isn’t a choice. It is genetic.
And I understand some people have an issue with the whole marriage thing and the sanctity of this word “marriage.” I mean, I don’t get it, but I can choose to listen to their point and hear it. I don’t agree with it. I always joke, everyone jokes: Why can’t gay people be just as miserable as straight people who are married? But listen to me, we are in a world – a dangerous world – right now, and if you’re not standing up against intolerance, then you’re for it. God, I sounded like George W. fucking Bush right there, holy shit. “If you’re not with us, you’re against us!”
As an ally with a massive platform, it’s important for you to say that for this movement to move forward.
I agree. And you know what, I think people are so afraid of losing fans.
Are you afraid of that?
No, no. I’m not. Because you know what, years from now, when my kids grow up and they read this, they’re going to be proud of their father because their father was on the right side of the line.
There are a lot of people, and time does this, who are going to be severely embarrassed for their bias and intolerance. And they’re going to have to live with that; that’s going to be their legacy. I refuse to have that as part of my legacy.