Heavy holiday from today.
Is December twenty fourth, Christmas Eve. And whether you've had your last gift purchased and wrapped for days and are casually fluffing pillows and we'll spend your day napping, or you're planning to jump in the car head to them all, buy all the gifts, stop at the grocery store, pick up everything for tomorrow's dinner, then spend the remainder of the night after all night wrapping, rapping, rapping. I've got a very special gift for you, the gift of the
one and only Michael Bublay. Michael has had a busy year this year. He joined the coaching staff of The Voice season twenty six, and not long after our conversation, became the first coach in the history of the show to have the top two artist on his team on his debut season. No surprise, Michael's always been number one with me. He positively gushes about his time on this hit show and even more so his love for fellow
coaches Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dog and Reba McIntyre. I rarely watch TV, but I made an exception for The Voice this season, because when it comes to mister Boublay. I am all in, but that's not all Michael's been doing. Somehow he find time to write a few songs, a new one in fact, not just any song, but a Christmas song. Not just any Christmas song, but a heartfelt Christmas prayer, and it'll absolutely wreck you well it did
me anyway. Break out the tissue. Michael's song called Maybe This Christmas a special song that comes from a deep place. And I know you'll all agree with that statement when you hear it. I could say more more than Michael could at the time we recorded this conversation, but I won't. I want you to hear from him what it meant, why he's so proud of it, and what he hopes
to bring to everyone that listens to it. I'll be unwrapping this very special time with my friend Michael Boublay right after I tell you one of my podcast sponsors that makes the gift of these conversations possible. This podcast is brought to you by my friends at Sherry's Hazel Cream. Have you had to give up on some of your traditional holiday recipes because you or your daughter are lactose intolerant? My daughter is and non dairy replacements just don't work.
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your boat, your RV camping. Just handshake for two minutes and you have milk this holiday season and all throughout the year. Don't miss out on your favorite recipes. Visit cherrieshazel Cream dot com, C H E. R I S Hazelcream dot com. All of the Move, None of the Cow Michael Boublay. I love you, I miss you, but I get to see you. I see one the waste all the time.
Yeah, I pretended every Monday Tuesday at.
NI Yeah yeah yeah. Well I'm on the air then, so I have to watch it on my computer later.
But I mean, I'm unfortunately watching football those nights, very busy, so I don't have a chance to see it.
But you guys can all remind me of what.
Wait wait wait wait wait wait, but do you get like you're like I was there. I remember. I don't really need to watch it again, right, you know what?
I don't.
I don't know how about about you. I don't watch. I will not watch myself. And uh, I get updates from my family, like my sisters have watching parties where all their friends come over and they all like do nachos and pot luck stuff and they all watch them and then and of course I'm not allowed to say I know what's happening, and I'm not allowed to say.
It, but you know, it's weird. Lola. This is This is going to maybe sound funky for people, but it is. It is warm, it is spiritual.
It is the greatest gig I've ever had in my life because Reba McIntyre is the real deal, and Gwen Stefani is a beautiful soul, and Snoop is a grandpa who is a beautiful guy who's hey, listen, he's a bad man and he's cool and he's all. But there are beautiful human beings. And we love those artists that we work with. We love those kids. I mean, listen this.
Okay, Michael, Michael, Michael, can I just can we cut to the chase here? I love them all. I've had Riba on my show. I think Gwen is gorgeous. Snoop is a funky cool Snoop Dogg. But I'm in love with you, okay. And I always have to ask about your beautiful wife and your kids to remind myself that you know you're married to.
Like my wife would be happy to just you, she'd say go ahead, and.
That I'm chasing his four babies around. Your Your baby is eleven now.
Okay, morning, I just want to show you something.
This is so people might think it's all fake and stuff, but you're the same, and I know.
You so I know you so well because we're friends.
So you know, once those kids are gone or they're not on my team, or they are on my team, I'm talking to them all the time. I gave them my number and we're just this morning. There's a kid named Joachim. He's this beautiful kid squeak fourteen years old.
The kid who did God only knows that kid. Janie saw it first and sent it to me and made me cry. And my daughter Tangy was here visiting, who's had like so many struggles the last few years. So I'm like, you got to see this, you see this, and I played it for her. She cried and then we all watched it like twenty more times that night. What a talented sweet boy.
He's a sweet kid. So he wrote me this morning, Hey, hey, hey uncle Mike. Mom. My mom would like to send this to the d DOUBLEG.
She is a teacher and this is her turkey trot sign and that's so that's what they meant. Made in their class. You can see all the kids. So I sent it. So I sent it to Snoop this morning, and of course he's so cute. He's he's overwhelmed by it. He thinks it's you know what I mean, like it mess him so much. It's such a beautiful family Thingila. I never knew it could be like that. I never knew that it could be that cool and that much fun.
It's a blast.
So I've been interviewing winners of the Voice, you know, the judges of the Boys, for twenty five years now on my show, and I have never watched a full episode of the Voice until Wow, until mister Bubbly, I.
Made you watch.
You made me watch some I'm like, oh my gosh, this is what everybody's been talking about all these years.
This is so good.
I know you love me, but there must be times when you go like, oh, he's so stupid.
Oh bub Man, No, So I have so much fun. I'm so I like, I'll write things like I'll get.
There in the morning and I'll be like, today, I think I'm going to do movie Lias, I'm gonna lie about movies.
I'm going to say and watch.
I look over and I got Gwen next to me, and she's going, oh, you're so stupid.
And when she does.
It, it's the greatest problem anyone could give me, because I know for a fact because I talked to Blake, that's exactly what she says to Blake, Blake, you're so stupid.
And it's the sweetest, it's the sweetest compliment.
It's the greatest And Reeb is so she's just so cute. She's the gangster. By the way, she's my hero Gangsta.
Snoop calls Ariba magnet Tire, called Reba magnet Tire because God, God help you if you think you're going to go up against her, and that anyone who's going to choose you, because the moment she splashes that smile and those eyes light up is over.
It's over. It's over. They go with the She's Everybody's she's everybody's darling.
And Snoop and I just we just crack each other up. We spend the whole time just dying.
So you've got a new Christmas song out, and I just got a copy of it, and I listened to it, like not not as many times as I listen to Joaquines. God only knows. By the way, I need that young man's number. You got to hook me up because I want him on my show. I'm going to have him on my show. If his mama says it's okay.
I think absolutely, I'll do it right now.
I love him. But I got a copy of the song, and it's so pretty. You well, harmony, you and Carly, and that would where where you fade out and she comes in and then you do that thing.
Do you understand what it's about?
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, it's about faith. Yeah, about the prayer you put in there the second or I was like, you know, right right after the little intro of the storyline and you start praying in the song and I'm like, whoa, Michael's taking me to church here.
Yeah.
When I was writing it, I realized that I it was a hymn, and I realized that.
This is a really this sounds so cliche, but it's the truth.
It is a really, really hard time.
For many people.
Many many people feel a lot of ways about it. They're alone, they're vulnerable, and I just started writing something that came from a very deep place my faith. I hope the humanity that we should feel towards each other and Carly Pierce. I called Carly and I was like, Carly, you know you got to do this with me. You got to you got to show up. And she flew to Vancouver and we did it and in a day,
in a couple of days. I mean, it was one of those songs that, especially as I opened myself up and said, like this is you know, this is a song about about faith and a man who's it wasn't it wasn't romantic. I didn't want it to be a song about, well, I'm missing you tonight and I need you.
No, No, I got it right.
Off the bat, a man saying I am at the end and I don't know how much longer I can hang on.
And there's a lot there's a line.
I wrote, it's a shodown in the dark, might be wishing on a star. It's him doubting his faith and him saying, but Jesus God, if you're there, if you exist, we need you give me your grace because I don't know if I can make it without it. And when Harley comes in. There was a reason why I wrote it the way I did. I wrote it so that as he's ending that prayer, she overlaps him. She doesn't
even give us space a musical break. She overlaps and that can be his therapist, his sister, his friend, you know, his person, his go to somebody who realizes that there's a person there who is lost. And you know, I know you and I.
Talked about this a lot through COVID.
I can't believe how many people that later after the fact, I would find out that I called, even family members, and they would say to me years later, when you called to see how I was, When you called to check on me, you had no idea, how low, you had no idea, how scary.
And how at that moment God sent.
You and you came to check on me. And I thought no one cared, and I thought I was a lone. And that's the beauty of what I hoped that this would do. And I hope you don't live in success and money and fame and power and all those things. You get to the end of your life, none of those things matter. A lick that lailah, not a lick Nope. Is you know what is your legacy? Is it kindness?
Is that love? Is a life? Is it empathy?
And I look at my beautiful kids, and I think that's what they'll be proud of. How did my daddy make people feel and when I wrote this song, I was so proud because I knew I was doing something positive. It wasn't to go and make money, and it wasn't to go and do something that would move me ahead. I thought, you know what, this is a special song, comes from a deep place. The last time I wrote something that had that much of an impact on me as I was writing.
It was home. And it's just a fact, it's just what it is.
And I know because I called my co writers when I come up with the chorus, and I said to them, guys, this is this is the best work I've done a lot long time.
And I mean.
Truth, ernest, emotion. You know that's that's and that's all you can hope for.
Well, I love everything you do. But but last night I cried. I cried because I knew it was a prayer. I listened to it again and I said, oh my gosh, he even says it's a prayer.
I mean it's called listen, it's called maybe This Christmas.
And a day.
After I put it out Delilah and someone said to me, wow, you put out a song called maybe This Christmas, saying is it the same song as Jason Kelsey and uh and Stevie Nicks I was like, no, it.
Is no, no, no, not the same song.
We just happened to name it this same We just happen to come up with a song with the same name.
Very different songs.
Anyway, Well, maybe this, Chris is a prayer that a lot. You know. Somebody asked me in an interview they did with me, what's different this holiday season from the past, And I said, there is a sense of hopelessness that I can't even describe, a sense of loneliness that people are experiencing that they can't even really put into words, but you feel it and you hear it in my collars. And man, this song is perfect.
I hope it brings hope.
Can we hear the song? Michael? I want to share with everyone listening to this podcast episode.
Yes, I've been writing all WoT.
I've been trying to get it right sentimentally a thing I do well. But it's Christmas time again.
Hell.
I listen a home my friends and the allion miles away, A touch to the hell. Now it's a shot out in the dark. I'm just wishing all to stop, and I wish you just want to do.
Lord.
I think I made July on this cold and silent nye. I'm just hanging over. It's all that I can do.
And the snow.
Falling down on the city and the put souls below.
It ain't the same.
When it comes down and turkeys into read because it's Ristmas time. I can't be.
You've been run through my mind, and no matter how I try, when the bell's all same, pet start touring, and it's so hard for me to hear your loneness, tilly ear, and the bitterness that that cone must breed.
And when you're sit in the dark and it's falling all apart.
I'll be lining up.
I can't do all for you, and all it's set the alone with you, joy and peace and hope which you all alone, that your heart and hold.
And all.
Oh the snow falling down the city.
And they put souls below.
The same.
When it comes down, it turns into.
It because it's Christmas time. Shouldn't be again. Maybe it's Christmas don't.
Have to be.
Again.
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This song moved the right people in the right places, and it had nothing to do with me. It was it truly was. It just got it got hurt, and it just started to have a life of its own.
Biggest Christmas tradition with the kids before you go, biggest holiday thing you're going to do?
Did it last night? We did it last night. We went and we decorated the Christmas tree. We played Bing Crosby his Christmas.
Record and decorated the tree.
So we do just like my mom and dad did for me, and and decorated the tree.
Wow, Merry Christmas.
For the very first time ever, I listened to the song. I asked.
We played it on whatever it was iTunes or Amazon or whatever the heck it was, and uh, sounded.
Pretty good to your own song.
Yeah, we did only one, so I got so everything was Bing Crosby.
I think we listened to me. Who's the thing? I love you, guys, I love you.
Merry Christmas, Honey.
Vice Redyanks for having me.
You didn't have a lot of time together, but I treasure any stolen moments with Michael Bubley, and he was more generous than a mare stolen moment. Besides, it's Christmas Eve, and I know everyone has things to do. The stuff I said in the beginning about having guest rap and spending the day napping, anybody does anybody in that that group raise your hand? Yeah, we know that's a fantasy. I will be up all night stuffing stockings, baking pies, who knows what else, But I am so thrilled I
got to share this time with Michael. With all of you, give yourself the gift of maybe this Christmas. It's available now to download her stream and you can even say, Alexa play Michael Boublaze, maybe this Christmas and she will. Michael wishes you joy and peace and hope and all the love your heart can hold. And that is my prayer for you as well. Through the dark days of winter, the long dark days of winter. Hold on to hope
as it may feel at times. And while I can't be with all of you in person as I would love to be, I will be keeping you company on the airwaves every evening, taking your calls, hearing your stories, keeping you close in my heart. Merry Christmas, my friends, Thank you for the gift of your love.
Happy holidays from the Li