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The Official Albums Chart logo, as introduced by the Official Charts Company in October 2011

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 (Top 40), and published in Music Week magazine (Top 75) and on the OCC website (Top 100).

To qualify for the UK albums chart the album must be the correct length and price. It must be more than 3 tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album. A budget album costs between £0.50 and £4.24. Additionally, various artist compilations - which until January 1989 were included in the main album listing - are now listed separately in a compilations chart. Full details of the rules can be found on the Official Charts Company website.^[1]

Though album sales tend to produce more revenue and, over time, act as a greater measure of an artist's success, this chart receives less media attention than the UK Singles Chart, because overall sales of an album are more important than its peak position. Indeed, in recent years, the album chart has been in good health despite fears that music innovations such as MP3 players would threaten the traditional album. 2005 even saw a record number of artist album sales with 126.2 million sold in the UK.^[2]

According to the canon of The Official Charts Company, the official British albums chart is the Melody Maker chart from 8 November 1958 to March 1960 (although the Record Mirror published charts from 28 July 1956 ^[3]); the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969; and the Official UK Albums Chart from 1969 on. In the 1970s the new album chart was revealed at 12.45pm on Thursdays on BBC Radio 1, and then moved to 6.05 pm (later 6.30 pm) on Wednesday evenings during the Peter Powell and Bruno Brookes shows. In October 1987 it moved to Monday lunchtimes, during the Gary Davies show, and from April to October 1993 it briefly had its own show from 7.00-8.00 pm on Sunday evenings, introduced by Lynn Parsons. Since October 1993 it has been included in the UK Top 40 show from 4.00-7.00 pm on Sundays. A weekly 'Album Chart' show was licensed out to BBC Radio 2 and presented by Simon Mayo, until it ended on 2 April 2007.

Record holders[link]

The most successful artists in the charts depends on the criteria used. As of 2005, Queen albums have spent more time on the UK album charts than those of any other musical act,^[4][5] followed by The Beatles, Elvis Presley and U2. By most weeks at number one, however, The Beatles lead with a grand total of 174 weeks. The male solo artist with the most weeks at number one is Elvis Presley with a total of 63 weeks. Elvis Presley also holds the record for the most top ten albums.^[6] Madonna is the most successful female solo recording artist in the U.K. with 12 number one albums, more than any other solo artist, and most weeks at number one on the albums chart, 30 in total (though these tallies includes the Evita film soundtrack which was a cast recording and not strictly a Madonna album).

Queen's Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in UK chart history with 5.86 million copies sold as of February 2012, followed by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with 5.04 million copies sold and Abba's Gold (Greatest Hits) with 4.98 million copies sold.^[7] The longest running number one album, both consecutively and non-consecutively, is the soundtrack of the film South Pacific. It had a consecutive run of seventy weeks from November 1958 to March 1960 (meaning it was number one for the entire year of 1959), and had further runs at the top in 1960 and 1961, making a non-consecutive total of 115 weeks.

The youngest person to top the charts is Scotland's Neil Reid, who after winning Opportunity Knocks topped the charts in 1972 at the age of 12 years 9 months old. The youngest female artist to top the chart is Joss Stone at 17 years and 6 months old with Mind, Body & Soul in 2004.^[6]

The oldest person to top the charts is Vera Lynn at the age of 92 with We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn, released in 2009.

The album to spend the most weeks on the charts is ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits, which has spent 503 weeks on the charts. The rest of the top five albums are, in order, Queen's Greatest Hits (496 weeks), Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (478 weeks), Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell (469 weeks), and Bob Marley & The Wailers' Legend (424 weeks).

In 1980, Kate Bush became the first British female to have a No. 1 album in the UK with Never for Ever, as well as being the first album by any female solo artist to enter the chart at number 1.

Though the way sales figures were collected was less precise before 1995, the fastest selling album (first week sales) is Oasis' Be Here Now, selling 663,389 copies in its first week in the UK in August 1997.^[8]

The fastest selling debut albums (first week sales):

• All time highest is Susan Boyle with I Dreamed a Dream, selling 411,820 in the UK, November 2009.
• By a band is Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys selling 363,735 copies in 2006.
• By a male solo act is Craig David with Born to Do It selling 225,320 copies in 2000.

The X Factor's 2006 runner up, Ray Quinn, became the only solo artist to top the album chart without ever releasing a single, though Led Zeppelin achieved eight consecutive number one albums from 1970 to 1979 without releasing a single in the UK until 1997.

The first artist to reach Number One on the Singles Chart, Downloads Chart and Albums Chart simultaneously were the Sugababes on two occasions, for "Push the Button" and "About You Now".

The biggest drop from number one was by Christina Aguilera with her 2010 album, Bionic. The album fell from the top spot in its second week to number 29.^[9]

The Rolling Stones have reached no.1 in the album chart during five different decades (1960, 70s, 80s, 90s and then in the 2010s with a deluxe re-release of their 1972 album Exile on Main Street). ABBA have reached the top spot in four consecutive decades, though this was with the same album (Gold) in the 1990s and the 2000s. Elvis Presley has scored UK number-one albums in four different decades (1950s, 60s, 70s and 2000s), though Cliff Richard is the first male solo artist to score UK number-one albums in four consecutive decades (1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s). Kylie Minogue became the first female solo artist to have UK number-one albums in four consecutive decades (1980s, 90s, 2000s and 2010s), and this feat was matched by Madonna in 2012.

The album which held the number one spot the longest is the soundtrack to South Pacific which was number one for 115 weeks between 1958-61 (of which 70 weeks were consecutive). The longest number one by a group is Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water which was no.1 for 41 weeks (13 of which were consecutive). The longest consecutive number one by a group was The Beatles' Please Please Me, which held the top spot for a straight 30 weeks. The longest number one by a male solo artist was Elvis Presley with G.I. Blues which stayed at the top for 22 weeks (his Blue Hawaii album was also the longest consecutive number one album for a male artist with 17 weeks). Adele's album 21 has the most weeks at number one by a female solo artist (and by a solo artist of either gender) with 23 weeks, 11 of which were consecutive (which is also a record for a female artist).

See also[link]

• List of best-selling albums by year (UK)
• List of Christmas number one albums (UK)
• List of number-one albums (UK)
• UK Singles Chart
• List of albums which have spent the most weeks on the UK Albums Chart
• List of singles which have spent the most weeks on the UK Singles Chart

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Music Week Top 75
• EveryHit.com - Archive of Top 40 albums
• The UK Top 40 Compilation Albums at BBC Online

v t e Music industry Genres Avant-garde · Blues · Contemporary R&B · Country · Crossover · Dance · Drum and bass · Easy listening · Electronica · Experimental · Folk · Funk · Gospel · Hip hop · Instrumental · Jazz · Latin · Motown · New age · Operatic pop · Pop · Reggae · Rock · Soul · Soundtrack · World Sectors and roles Album cover design · Artists and repertoire (A&R) · Distribution · Entertainment law · Music education · Music executive · Music journalism · Music publisher · Music venue · Musical instruments · Promotion · Radio promotion · Record label · Record shop · Road crew · Talent manager · Tour promoter Production Arrangement · Record producer · Recording artist · Session musician · Songwriter · Sound engineer Record labels Major: EMI · Sony Music Entertainment · Universal Music Group · Warner Music Group · Independent: Independent UK record labels Release formats Album · Extended play (EP)/Mini album · Single Awards American Music Award · ARIA Music Awards · Billboard Music Awards · Brit Awards · Choice Music Prize · Classic Brit Awards · Diapason d'Or · Echo Award · Golden Disk Awards · Grammy Award · Grand Prix du Disque · Juno Award · Latin Grammy Awards · Meteor Music Awards · MTV Europe Music Awards · MTV Video Music Awards · MuchMusic Video Awards · Music of Black Origin Awards · New Zealand Music Awards · NRJ Music Award · TEC Awards · World Music Awards Charts ARIA Charts · Billboard Hot 100 · Canadian Hot 100 · RIANZ Singles Chart · Irish Singles Chart · UK Singles Chart Sales certifications ARIA (Gold · Platinum) · BPI (Silver · Gold · Platinum) · CRIA (Gold · Platinum · Multi-Platinum · Diamond) · PROMUSICAE (Gold · Platinum) · RIAA (Gold · Platinum · Multi-Platinum · Diamond) Publications Billboard · HitQuarters · Hot Press · Kerrang! · Mojo · NME · Q · Rolling Stone · Smash Hits · Top of the Pops Retailers Amazon.com · Fnac · HMV Group · Online music stores (iTunes Store) · Trans World Entertainment · Virgin Megastores Television Black Entertainment Television · Country Music Television · Fuse TV · Idol · Juice TV · MTV · MuchMusic · The Music Factory · Star Academy · Viva · The Voice · The X Factor Other A-side and B-side · Christian music industry  · Hidden track  · Grammy Museum  · White label Category

v t e Music of the United Kingdom Art music Early music • Baroque • Classical History of popular music Early popular music • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s Traditional genres British folk revival • Ballad • Carol • Children's song • Hornpipe • Jig • Morris dance • Protest song • Reel • Sea shanty • Strathspey • War song • Work song Contemporary popular genres Folk • Hip Hop • Jazz • Pop • Popular • Rock • Soul Ethnic music Caribbean • England • Ireland • Scotland • Wales Media and Performance Music awards Brit Awards • Classic Brit Awards • Gramophone Awards • Ivor Novello Awards • Mercury Prize • Music of Black Origin Awards Music charts Albums chart • Classical charts • Compilation chart • Dance chart • Download chart • Indie chart • R&B chart • Rock chart • Singles chart • Subscription plays chart Music festivals Cambridge folk • Download • Edinburgh • Eisteddfodd • Glastonbury • Isle of Wight • Knebworth • Royal National Mod • The Proms • Reading and Leeds • T in the Park • V Music media The Gramophone • Kerrang! • Melody Maker • Mojo • NME • Q • The Wire National anthem "God Save the Queen" Regional Music British Isles Birmingham • Cardiff • Cornwall • Liverpool • Manchester • Northumbria • Somerset • Sussex • Yorkshire Overseas Anguilla • Bermuda • Cayman Islands • Gibraltar • Montserrat • Turks and Caicos • Virgin Islands

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40.

There are lots of different criteria used in different charts used to reflect popularity, commonly: sales of records, cassettes and compact discs; the amount of radio airplay; and (recently) the number of downloads.

Some charts are specific to a particular musical genre and most to a particular geographical location (although download charts are not easily pinned down in this way). The most common period of time covered by a chart is one week with the chart being printed or broadcast at the end of this time. Summary charts for years and decades are then calculated from their component weekly charts. Component charts have become an increasingly important way to measure the commercial success of individual songs.

Chart hit[link]

A chart hit is an extremely popular recording, identified by its inclusion in a chart that uses sales or other criteria to rank popular releases. Chart-topper and related terms (like No. 1 hit, top of the charts, chart hit, and so forth) are widely used in common conversation and in marketing, and are loosely defined. In North America, the weekly charts from Billboard magazine are most often referenced (quite often internationally, as well), particularly the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and Billboard 200 album chart, although there are many other charts and sources. Because of its value in promoting recording artists and releases, both directly to the consumer, and by encouraging exposure on radio, TV other media, chart positioning has long been a subject of scrutiny and controversy. Chart compilation methodology and data sources vary, ranging from buzz charts based on opinions of various experts and tastemakers, to charts that reflect empirical data such as retail sales. Therefore, a chart-topper may be anything from an "insiders' pick" to a runaway seller.

Other terminology[link]

There are several other commonly-used terms when referring to a music/entertainment chart or the performance of a release thereon.

The term new entry is commonly used to denote a title which is making its debut appearance in that chart. This is applied to all charts, for instance a track which is outside the Top 40 but which later climbs into that level of the chart is considered to be a 'new entry' to the Top Forty that week. In most official charts, tracks have to have been on sale for a period of time in order to enter the charts; however, in some retailers' charts, new releases are included in charts as 'new entries' without a sales history in order to make them more visible to purchasers. A real new entry is a title that makes its first debut on the chart no matter how many positions officially the chart actually is. In the UK the official published chart is a Top 100 although a new entry can take place between positions 101-200. The Top 40 is only used for radio to shorten the playlists.

The term re-entry is used if a track which has previously entered a chart falls out of that chart and then later re-appears in it. This may come about if a release is reissued or if there is a surge of interest in the track. Generally any repeat entry of a track into a chart is considered a re-entry, unless the later version of the track is a materially different recording or significantly repackaged (such as Michael Jackson's "Thriller 25"), where the release would normally be considered separate and thus a "new" entry.

The term climber is used to refer to a release which is going higher in the chart week-on-week. Because chart positions are generally relative to each other on a week-to-week basis, a release does not necessarily have to increase sales week-to-week to be a climber, as if releases ahead of it decline in sales sufficiently they may slip below it. By the same metric, not all week-to-week sales increases result in a climber, if other releases improve by a sufficient amount to keep it from climbing. The term highest climber is used to denote the release making the biggest leap upwards in the chart that week. There is generally not an equivalent phrase for tracks going down the chart; the term "faller" is occasionally used, but not as widely as 'climber'.

The terms top 10, top 20 and so forth are used to determine the relative success of a release. For instance, a track may be referred to as a 'top 10 hit' if it reaches a position between 1 and 10 on the singles chart, as a 'top 20 hit' if it reaches between positions 1 and 20, and so on. The most commonly known chart is the 'top 40' widely used by the media in various territories, though it is common for longer lists to be produced for or by the music industry. For example, in the UK, the Official Charts Company produces a top 200, although various media only publish shorter lists.

The term flop is a title that never reaches an official chart position. A relative flop is a term given to a title by an act that usually has big hits then only a minor hit in between.

The term one-hit wonder is for an act that appears on the chart just once, although the term true one-hit wonder was the term given by Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums and also the Billboard book Top Pop Singles) is an act that has one number one hit and nothing else on the chart ever. If an act appears in some other form, (for example) a solo act that appears with a band or with other acts then these are taken separately.

See also[link]

• List of record charts

External links[link]

• Top 20 Chart
• Global Reggae Charts
• All Music Hits
• Current and Chart Archives from around the world
• Charts all over the world
• Choice Hits Top 50
• Wall brawl hourly chart
• The Best Selling Albums Ever... Worldwide

Emeli Sandé
Background information
Birth name	Adele Emeli Sandé
Born	(1988-03-10) 10 March 1988 (age 24)[1][2]
Genres	Soul, R&B, pop
Occupations	Singer, musician, songwriter
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Virgin (2010–present)
Website	www.emelisande.com

Adele Emeli Sandé  /sænˈdeɪ/ san-DAY, (born 10 March 1988)^[1] known by her stage name Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish soul and R&B recording artist and songwriter. Sandé first became known to the public eye after she featured on rapper Chipmunk's third single, "Diamond Rings", which gained herself and Chipmunk a first top 10 single on the UK Singles Chart. In 2010, she appeared on Roll Deep star, Wiley's "Never Be Your Woman", which became another top ten hit. Simon Cowell called her "his favourite songwriter at the minute". She has written for a number of artists, including Cher Lloyd, Parade, Susan Boyle, Preeya Kalidas, Leona Lewis, Alesha Dixon, Cheryl Cole, and Tinie Tempah.

In 2010, she signed a publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing. She later announced that Virgin Records had given her a record deal. Sandé released her first solo single "Heaven" in August 2011, which was an instant hit around the globe. Sandé has two number-one singles across the United Kingdom and Ireland with "Read All About It" with Professor Green and "Next to Me". She released Our Version of Events, in February 2012, upon the release the album peaked number one in the UK.^[3]

Early life[link]

Emeli Sandé was born to a Zambian father and English mother. She was raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire.^[4][5] She studied Medicine at the University of Glasgow, but stopped in her fourth year.^[4] She said that education was one of the most important things to her, stating that if her music career failed, she has education to fall back on. Sandé said that her manager, Adrian Sykes, waited patiently since she was 16, saying "Adrian really respects that I want to get an education behind me. He also knows my parents are keen that I finish university."^[6] Sandé has a tattoo of artist Frida Kahlo.^[7] At the age of 11, when Sandé was still in primary school, she wrote her first song for a school talent show.^[7] She spoke "That was the first time I thought I might be a songwriter. I always knew I wanted to be a musician, and I always knew I wanted to write. Because the people I was listening to all wrote. I never thought it was an option to sing anyone else's songs.^[7] The first song we wrote in was called "Tomorrow Starts Again", the song had proper structure, which even had a Middle eight.^[7] At the age of 15, Choice FM invited her to London, United Kingdom to take part in a competition they were holding, the "Rapology". Richard Blackwood also had her down to MTV's Camden studios to sing gospel.^[7] Sandé went to the same secondary school at which her father was a teacher. She said "I hated to be ill and to miss a day because I was so hungry to learn. I was very shy, nerdy and extremely well-behaved. Inevitably, throughout secondary school, it was part and parcel of my identity that I was Mr Sandé’s daughter. No way could I muck about or get into trouble, because it would've got back to him within minutes. And Dad was strict, let me tell you."^[8]

Career[link]

2008–10: Career beginnings[link]

Sandé's sister made a video of her playing the piano and singing to one of her favourite songs, "Nasty Little Lady".^[7] They sent the clip to Trevor Nelson's BBC Urban music competition. Sandé won the show and was offered a record deal, but the management that she met via the competition decided against the deal.^[7] Her parents sent 1Xtra a CD of her songs. Ras Kwame played on his "Homegrown Sessions", and four artists that year were asked to do a show in Soho. She met with Watford-born music producer/writer Shahid Khan aka Naughty Boy,^[9] who has previously worked with Ms Dynamite and Bashy,^[7] and they began writing tracks for artists such as Alesha Dixon, Chipmunk, Professor Green, Devlin, Preeya Kalidas, Cheryl Cole, and Tinie Tempah. Sandé soon signed a record deal with Virgin Records and EMI Records.^[10] In an interview, she said "I was doing a show in London for 1Xtra and I met this guy called Naughty Boy. We got in the studio and we clicked work wise. We just started writing, not necessarily for me, we just thought ‘let's write a pop tune’ and experiment. And we wrote the Chipmunk track and I thought nothing of it. Naughty Boy sent it off to Chipmunk who really liked it and wrote his stuff around it."^[10] She signed a record deal with Virgin Records in 2010. She later signed another deal with EMI Records in early 2011.^[11] Sandé made her singing career debut in 2009 after appearing on the track she wrote for Chipmunk's first debut single, "Diamond Rings". The single charted at No. 6 on the UK Singles Charts, making it Chipmunk and Sandé's first ever Top 10 Hit.^[12] She later appeared on another single singing guest vocals, after collaborating with Wiley on his comeback single "Never Be Your Woman", the single charted at number-eight on the UK Singles Charts becoming Sandé's second consecutive Top 10 Single.^[9] Sandé announced she changed her name from Adele Sandé to her middle name Emeli Sandé due to Adele's growing success. She spoke; "I changed it as soon as Adele came out. I just thought, 'You've kind of taken the [name] now', so I went with my middle name. She was just getting bigger and bigger, so I thought I just really need it."^[13]

[edit] 2011–present: Our Version of Events, international success and songwriting

While making her debut album, Sandé began to work with Tinie Tempah. She co-wrote "Let Go", on which she provided guest vocals. She also started working with Devlin after recording a song titled "Dreamer". Sandé later revealed she would be working on Alesha Dixon's upcoming album, The Entertainer. She co-wrote the hit single "Radio" along with Shahid Khan.^[14] and co-wrote tracks on Cheryl Cole's albums as well as Professor Green's album, which Sandé gave guest vocals on.^[15] Sandé revealed her first solo single would be released in early 2011.^[16] There was some speculation surrounding what track she would release, after many newspapers stated that it would be "Daddy". The first official single from her upcoming debut album was "Heaven" and was released on 14 August 2011.^[17] The song has received positive reviews from blogs such as This Must Be Pop^[18] and Robot Pigeon.^[19]

Sandé at XOYO

She revealed that she is Simon Cowell's favourite song-writer at the moment; due to her writing songs for Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle.^[13] Sandé stated in an interview; she said that she would love to meet Boyle after writing songs for her saying, "I haven’t met her yet. I just sent her the song. I’d love to meet her because I think she is a bit of a rock star." One song that Sandé had cowritten for Boyle will appear on her new album, titled "This Will Be The Year". Leona had heard a couple of songs so we had a week in the studio with her. Leona and I got along really well. Then we had another week together. It was very natural. She recorded a song called Trouble and another called Mountains, so I look forward to hearing them on her album."^[13] It was revealed after Professor Green announced his album tracking list for his album, At Your Inconvenience, that Sandé would feature on the first single from the album, "Read All About It". The single was released in October 2011,^{[dated info]} a week before the album was released.^[20] The pair also performed the song live on The X Factor results show.^[21] She confirmed that "Daddy" would be the second official single released from Our Version of Events. Sandé achieved her first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart after "Read All About" entered at number-one. On 26 November, Sandé performed at the LG ARENA in Birmingham for BRMB 2011. On 15 December 2011, she was named as the Brit Awards Critics' Choice for 2012.^[4][22][23] Sandé`s debut album includes songs written by her and has been reviewed as having "richly melodic, classically powerful, retro-futurist soul-pop songs."^[7] She draws on influences for her music from Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell and Lauryn Hill.^[7] Sandé said that all her songs are about World peace and political issues.^[7]

Sandé said that the key to a good song when songwriting is using "honesty" and "raw emotion" as the best way to write. She said that if she attempts to write something which is "too smart" the creative process will not work for her. "Kill the Boy" was one of the first ideas that came to Sandé's head. She said if she has to work on a song longer than a day, she will not go back to it, as she said it won't work. She went onto say if it was to work, it the idea for the song would be almost instant.^[7] It was announced that she was up for another BRIT Award in 2012, for British Breakthrough Act.^[24] Sandé is currently writing material for the original lineup of Sugababes. On 24 January 2012, Sandé performed a one off gig for Q Magzine at XOYO, London. She was supported by British soul singer Michael Kiwanuka. She recorded a version of David Guetta's "Titanium" and the pair performed the song at NRJ Music Awards in France.^[25][26] Sandé has penned a track for Naughty Boy's upcoming LP entitled "Hollywood" which features soul singer Gabrielle. It is about fame coming and going and will be released in November.^[27]

Personal life[link]

In January 2012, Sandé confirmed that she is engaged to her unidentified, long-term boyfriend.^[28] Her boyfriend has requested not to be identified and Sandé has said he is not in the music industry but that he is a scientist.^[29]

Discography[link]

Albums

• Our Version of Events (2012)

Touring[link]

Headlining

• Our Version of Events tour (2011-2012)

Supporting

• Mylo Xyloto Tour (2011-2012)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Emeli Sandé

External links[link]

• Official website
• Aberdeen Famous Faces

Michael Bublé
Bublé in February 2011
Background information
Birth name	Michael Steven Bublé
Born	(1975-09-09) 9 September 1975 (age 36) Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada[1]
Genres	Big band, traditional pop, jazz
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, actor
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1996–present
Labels	143/Reprise
Associated acts	Naturally 7, Jann Arden, Laura Pausini, Boyz II Men, Chris Botti, Leon Jackson, Nelly Furtado
Website	michaelbuble.com

Michael Steven Bublé ( /ˈbuːbleɪ/; born 9 September 1975) is an Italian Canadian singer and actor. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards^[2][3] and multiple Juno Awards.^[4] His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found a worldwide audience with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible which reached number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, the U.K. Albums Chart, the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart, the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and several European charts. Bublé has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.^[5]

Early life[link]

Michael Bublé was born in the City of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada to Lewis Bublé, a salmon fisherman,^[6] and Amber (née Santagà).^[7][8] He has two younger sisters,^[9] Crystal (an actress) and Brandee.^[10] He attended Seaforth Elementary School and Cariboo Hill Secondary School.^[11] According to an Oprah interview on 9 October 2009, Bublé dreamed of becoming a famous singer since age two. When he was a teenager, he slept with his Bible and prayed to become a singer.^[12][13] Bublé's interest in jazz music began around age five^[14] when his family played Bing Crosby's White Christmas album at Christmas time.^[14][15][16] The first time that his family noticed his singing talent was at Christmas time when Bublé was 13 years old, and they heard him powerfully sing the phrase "May your days be merry and bright" when the family was singing to the song "White Christmas" in a car ride.^[12][17]

Bublé had a strong passion for ice hockey and wanted to become a professional ice hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks growing up, but believed he was not good at it,^[18] stating: "I wanted so bad to be a hockey player... If I was any good at hockey, I probably wouldn't be singing right now."^[19] Bublé often played hockey in his youth,^[20][21] watched Vancouver Canucks games with his father,^[22] and said that he "went to every single home game as a kid. . . I remember I wanted to be Gary Lupul, I wanted to be Patrik Sundstrom and Ivan Hlinka. I used to think that being named Michael Bublé was pretty cool because I was close to being called Jiri Bubla."^[20] Bublé also shared his hockey interest with his grandfather.^[23]

From age 14, Bublé spent six years working during the summer as a commercial fisherman with his father and crewmates.^[6][24] Bublé described his work experience as "The most deadly physical work I’ll ever know in my lifetime. We’d be gone for two, sometimes three months at a time and the experience of living and working among guys over twice my age taught me a lot about responsibility and what it means to be a man."^[9]

His first singing engagements were in nightclubs at the age of 16 and were facilitated by his Italian grandfather Demetrio Santagà,^[7] a plumber originally from the small town of Preganziol,^[25] in the district of Treviso, who offered his plumbing services in exchange for stage time for his grandson.^[9] Bublé's grandfather also paid for his singing lessons. One of his vocal instructors was Joseph Shore, the opera baritone.^[17] Bublé grew up listening to his grandfather's collection of jazz records and credits his grandfather in encouraging his love for jazz music. "My grandfather was really my best friend growing up. He was the one who opened me up to a whole world of music that seemed to have been passed over by my generation. Although I like rock 'n' roll and modern music, the first time my granddad played me the Mills Brothers, something magical happened. The lyrics were so romantic, so real, the way a song should be for me. It was like seeing my future flash before me. I wanted to be a singer and I knew that this was the music that I wanted to sing."^[26] Bublé never stopped believing that he would become a star but admitted he was probably the only one who believed in his dream, stating that even his maternal grandfather thought Bublé was going to be "an opening act for somebody in Las Vegas".^[27] Bublé's maternal grandmother Iolanda Moscone^[28][29] was also Italian, from Carrufo,^[28] Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi, Italy.^[30] Bublé has stated he never learned to read and write music, using only emotion to drive his songwriting ability.^[18][31][32]

At the age of 18, Bublé entered a local talent contest and won. But after winning, he was disqualified by organizer Bev Delich because he was underage. After that, Delich entered Bublé in the Canadian Youth Talent Search, which he won. Following that win, Bublé asked Delich to be his manager. Delich signed on and represented Bublé for the next seven not-so-fruitful years. According to Delich, Bublé would do every gig imaginable, including talent shows, conventions, cruise ships, malls, hotel lounges, bars, clubs, corporate gigs, musical revues, singing telegrams, and even the occasional singing Santa Claus gig.^{[17][24][33][34]}

In 1996, Bublé appeared in TV's "Death Game" (aka Mortal Challenge) as a Drome Groupie. Also in 1996, he appeared (uncredited) in 2 episodes of The X-Files as a Submarine Sailor.^[35]

Bublé's first national TV performance was on a 1997 award-winning Bravo! documentary titled Big Band Boom!, directed by Mark Glover Masterson.

Beginning in 1997, Bublé also became a frequent guest on Vicki Gabereau's national talk show on the CTV network. During its first season the Vancouver-based program aired live, which ultimately worked in Bublé's favour. When a scheduled guest was forced to cancel, the show's music producer (Mark Fuller) often asked Bublé to fill in at the last minute. On one occasion, Bublé shared guest duties with fellow British Columbian Diana Krall, who was already a Grammy-nominated jazz musician. According to Fuller, Krall was suitably impressed with Bublé's performance. The Gabereau appearances provided Bublé with great exposure, but they also helped the singer hone his television skills as a performer and as an interview guest. In a mutual show of gratitude, Bublé appeared on the final Gabereau show in 2005, along with Jann Arden and Elvis Costello.

Bublé received two Genie Award-nominations in 2000 for two songs he wrote for the film Here's to Life! ("I've Never Been in Love Before", "Dumb ol' Heart").^[36] He recorded three independent albums (First Dance, 1996; Babalu, 2001; Dream, 2002).^[37] But by 25 years of age, Bublé moved from British Columbia to Toronto, Ontario and was ready to give up the dream of professional musicianship to move back to Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue a career in journalism, when his lucky break came in 2000.^[17][38]

Music career[link]

2000–02: Musical beginnings[link]

In 2000, Bublé's career breakthrough came from a surprising chain of events. An aide to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Michael McSweeney, saw Bublé's performance at a business party^[17] and received a copy of Bublé’s self-financed independent album. McSweeney showed the album to Mulroney and his wife and Bublé was subsequently invited to sing at the wedding of Mulroney's daughter Caroline, where he sang Kurt Weill's "Mack the Knife".^[17] At the wedding, Bublé was introduced to David Foster, a multi-Grammy Award-winning producer and record executive who had worked previously with artists such as Madonna, Brandy Norwood, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Céline Dion, Barbra Streisand, Kenny G., Cher, Josh Groban, and Andrea Bocelli.^[17][39]

Initially, Foster was reluctant to sign Bublé to his 143 Records label because he "didn’t know how to market this kind of music." Bublé moved to Los Angeles for a brief period, with his agent, to convince Foster to sign him. Eventually, Foster agreed to produce an album for him if he raised $500,000 to cover the costs of the production, which Bublé did. Foster ended up covering the costs of production in the end under his label, with no assurances of support from Warner Brothers, and after Bublé received the personal stamp of approval and support of Foster's friend Paul Anka. After David Foster agreed to produce Bublé’s debut album, Bruce Allen, whom Bublé had pursued for years to be his manager, also signed Bublé.^[40][41]

Bublé did some acting in this period; in 2000, as a karaoke singer in Duets opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis, and in 2001, as Van Martin (a club owner), in Totally Blonde, produced by Andrew Van Slee.^[35]

[edit] 2003–04: Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé's debut album, was released 11 February 2003 by 143 Records/Reprise Records. The album features a range of standards from various eras including "Fever", "The Way You Look Tonight", "For Once in My Life", "Moondance" and "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". Also on the album is "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?", with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees singing back up vocals. The album went to the top 10 in Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa and reached #1 in Australia. It was #33 on the ARIA Top 100 Albums of 2003.^[42] It achieved marginal success in the United States reaching the top 50 on the Billboard 200.^[43] Three tracks from the album (Kissing a Fool, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?, Sway) reached the top 30 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.

Bublé appeared nationally on NBC television in the United States on the Today program on 14 February 2003.^[44] A campaign featuring "Fever" was launched before Valentine's Day with a quirky marketing campaign that simply stated "You pronounce it Boo-blay." The album went Gold there. Then he began to travel all over the world to promote the album. The tour included Singapore, South Africa, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Canada, South America, and eventually the United States.

In November 2003, Bublé released a Christmas EP Let It Snow, containing 5 previously unreleased tracks, that peaked at 56 on the Billboard 200.^[45] The title track reached the top 40 of the Australia singles chart. A live DVD/CD called Come Fly with Me was released in early 2004. The Come Fly with Me CD was #99 on the Aria Top 100 Albums of 2004.^[42] The DVD included live footage and behind the scenes footage of Bublé's first world tour. The CD included 3 new studio tracks, 2 live recordings of new songs, and 3 live recordings of songs from the album Michael Bublé. The album peaked at 55 on the Billboard 200.^[46] In November 2004 the Christmas edition of his debut album was released as a 2-disc set that included both the Michael Bublé and the Let It Snow EP.^[47]

Bublé won the "New Artist of the Year" award at the 2004 Juno Awards and his album was nominated for "Album of the Year", but lost out to Sam Roberts.

Bublé appeared in the 2003 movie The Snow Walker. Also in 2003 he portrayed a lounge performer on an episode of Days of Our Lives.^[44] In 2004 he appeared as himself in Las Vegas.^[35]

Songs from Bublé's debut album ("For Once in My Life", "Kissing a Fool") were released on the soundtrack for the movie Down with Love (2003).^[48] The soundtrack also included a previously unreleased duet with Holly Palmer of the movie's title theme. The Junkie XL remix of the theme for the 60s TV cartoon version of Spider-Man from Bublé's Babalu album was played during the closing credits of Spider-Man 2 (2004), and this version was also released as a single. A CD was released in 2003 of the 7 songs that Bublé sang for Totally Blonde, calling it Totally Bublé.^[49] After the success of Michael Bublé's self-titled debut, DRG Records belatedly released the jazzy soundtrack from the 2001 film Totally Blonde in which Bublé had a co-starring role as a nightclub singer/club owner. Capitalizing on Bublé's newfound stardom, DRG Records basically ignored the music's connection to the film by altering the title and putting a shot of Bublé on the cover making it appear as if this was a proper Michael Bublé release. The slight misrepresentation was not lost on Bublé who has stated on his website that he did not want these songs released, but that it was out of his control.^[50] His version of "Come Fly with Me" is used in Looney Tunes: Back in Action.

[edit] 2005–06: It's Time

	"Feeling Good" noicon A sample of the song "Feeling Good".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Bublé's second studio album, It's Time, was released 15 February 2005, again by 143/Reprise Records. The album included standards from a variety of eras including "You Don't Know Me", "Feeling Good", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Song for You", and "Quando, Quando, Quando" (a duet with Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado). It also included an original track, "Home", co-written by Bublé, his musical director Alan Chang, and Amy Foster-Gilles (David Foster’s daughter).

The album reached #1 in Canada, Italy, Japan, and on the Billboard Top Jazz chart, #2 in Australia, and #7 on the Billboard 200. Additionally it reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Austria, and Sweden. The album spent 104 weeks on the Billboard Top Jazz chart, including a record-breaking 78 weeks in the #1 spot.^[51] It’s Time was Billboard's Top Jazz Album in both 2005^[52] and 2006^[53] The first single, "Feeling Good", was met with little commercial success. However, the second single from the album, "Home" reached #1 on Billboard Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and #72 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[54] The third single "Save the Last Dance for Me" reached #5 on the Billboard AC Track Chart and #99 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[54]

In 2005, he also appeared in a commercial for Starbucks Frappucino line, singing his single "Come Fly with Me". The single appeared as a bonus track for a Starbucks edition release of It's Time.^[55]

Bublé won four Juno Awards in 2006 for Pop Album of the Year – It's Time, Single of the Year – "Home", Album of the Year – It's Time, Artist of the Year, and was additionally nominated for the Juno Fan Choice Award, but lost out to the Canadian pop band Simple Plan.^[4] Bublé was nominated twice for a Grammy in the category Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album in 2006 (It's Time) and 2007 (Caught in the Act) but lost, in both cases, to Tony Bennett. In 2007, Bublé received one Juno nomination, for Fan Choice, but lost to Nelly Furtado.^[56]

[edit] 2007–08: Call Me Irresponsible

Bublé's third studio album, Call Me Irresponsible, was released 1 May 2007 by 143/Reprise Records. His third effort included songs from different eras such as "Always on My Mind", "Dream", "I've Got the World on a String", and "Comin' Home Baby" (a duet with Boyz II Men). In the U.S., the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and rose to number one in its second week. Only a few artists have been able to accomplish this, like Michael Jackson and Sugarland.^[57] The album has sold nearly 2 million copies in the US alone. Internationally, the album also fared well. In Australia, the album debuted in the top position, and was the best-selling album of the year 2007. In the UK, both the standard version and the special edition were best-selling albums, with the latter outselling the former (standard: 300,000; special edition: 462,000). Additionally, the album was certified 2× Platinum in Europe with over 2 million copies sold. Call Me Irresponsible has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

The first single off the album was "Everything". It carried a more adult-contemporary sound than his usual big band style and was released in May 2007. The song became one of Bublé's biggest hits ever, reaching #46 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart,^[58] and #10 in Canada. "Me and Mrs. Jones" was set to be released as the second single off the album but was cancelled despite a music video being made. The next single, released in November 2007, was "Lost", a #97 hit on the Hot 100 and #19 in the UK. "It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio Stasera)" was released mainly as a remix single, with many mixes by Eddie Amador. The song reached position #89 in Canada. The final single from the album, "Comin' Home Baby", was released in April 2008.^[59]

[edit] 2009–2011: Crazy Love

Bublé in Vancouver (March 2009)

Michael Bublé's third DVD (after Caught in the Act and Come Fly with Me) titled Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden was released on 16 June 2009.^[60] An exclusive trailer premiered online at his website. The DVD is a recollection of events building up to Bublé's most important live performance yet.

The standard CD contains 10 live tracks and has an orange cover. The online edition contains two additional tracks ("Sway" and "That's Life") and has a blue-coloured alternate cover. In America, the blue edition can only be purchased through his online store—however, everywhere else the special edition is available for purchase anywhere.

In 2009, Bublé was featured in the CTV television film My Musical Brain with neuroscientist and writer Daniel Levitin, based on Levitin's bestselling book This Is Your Brain On Music.

Bublé's fourth studio album, Crazy Love, was due for release by 143/Reprise Records on 13 October 2009.^[61] However, an early release in the United States occurred on 9 October 2009,^[62] in which Bublé appeared on Oprah that same day and performed the album's first single "Haven't Met You Yet".^[63] The album was also promoted in an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos on The Hour on 17 October 2009,^[64] and on the 22 December episode of The Glenn Beck Program.^[65]

The album contains 12 tracks (and one bonus track), including two original songs co-written by Bublé, "Haven't Met You Yet" and "Hold On".^[66] Its first single, "Haven't Met You Yet" was released 31 August 2009,^[67] and reached #1 on Billboard's Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.^[68] Most of the tracks off the album were recorded live because Bublé did not want his album to sound overproduced and slick.^[69] Bublé also wrote the opening part for his cover on the single "Cry Me a River" in Bond-like theme because he wanted the song to sound very cinematic and bombastic.^[70]

Crazy Love debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart,^[71] becoming Bublé's fourth No. 1 album on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart. It also debuted at No. 1 in Australia and Canada, where it became his fastest-selling album.^[63] The album was supported by the (ongoing) Crazy Love Tour. During the tour, Michael performed two nights at the new Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, which were the first concerts to take place at the venue. The stadium holds 51,700 (which is excluding taped off areas) and all tickets sold out in one day. The first night of the tour was Bublé's largest ever audience.

In 2009, Bublé took part in series 6 of The X Factor in the UK on the ITV network. He was the celebrity mentor for the finalists in week 3 and also appeared on the finale, duetting with Stacey Solomon.^[72]

Bublé was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on 30 January 2010. He sang "Haven't Met You Yet", "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" with Sharon Jones, and did a sketch with Jon Hamm for "Hamm & Bublé Restaurant".

Bublé with Meredith Vieira on the Today Show.

External videos
	Video of Michael Bublé singing "Maple Leaf Forever" at the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.[73]

Bublé also took part in 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay in Vancouver before the opening ceremony.^[74]

He performed on NBC's Today on 12 February, the day of the opening ceremony and during the broadcast on Grouse Mountain. His opening to "Cry Me a River" was selected as the theme tune for the BBC's coverage of the games.^[75]

Bublé appeared in a TV special Michael Bublé's Canada which aired on Australian cable television in January, ahead of the 2010 Winter Games, with co-host Sophie Faulkiner.^[76]

Bublé performed alongside other Canadian celebrities (including Michael J. Fox) at the closing ceremony singing a version of the song "Maple Leaf Forever", originally appearing as a 'Mountie', but subsequently having the uniform torn off to reveal a white tuxedo underneath.^[77]

He also appeared on the American comedy news show Colbert Report for Colbert's 2010 Vancouver Winter Games coverage.^[78]

On 18 April 2010, Bublé won four Juno Awards for Juno Fan Choice Award, Single of the Year ("Haven't Met You Yet"), Album of the Year (Crazy Love) and Pop Album of the Year (Crazy Love),^[4] plus two Juno nominations for Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. Crazy Love producers David Foster and Bob Rock both received two separate nominations of their own for the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award, with Bob Rock winning the award.^[4][79]

Bublé re-released Crazy Love on 25 October 2010 in the U.S., with an earlier release date of 15 October 2010 for Europe. The special edition is called "Crazy Love: Hollywood Edition",^[80] and contains several bonus tracks including Bublé's newest single, titled "Hollywood", co-written with Toronto songwriter/pianist Robert G. Scott.^[81] On 7 September 2010 "Hollywood" was released worldwide on radio and as a digital single on iTunes. He recently played to 100,000 people at the Aviva stadium Dublin his biggest concert to date and rumours sparked that there will be a DVD release of the concert.^[80]

Bublé was featured in an ITV special called This Is Michael Bublé. The special featured concert footage from his gigs at Aviva Stadium. On 23 February 2011, Bublé featured as the narrator of BBC Radio 2's Song Stories: My Way.^[82]

In October 2011, Buble released his fifth studio album, Christmas, which rose to the top of the US and UK charts.^[83][84]

Personal life[link]

Bublé performing in February 2011

Michael Bublé was engaged to long-time girlfriend Debbie Timuss, a stage actress, dancer, and singer. Both were in the musicals Red Rock Diner in 1996^[85] and Dean Regan's Forever Swing in 1998.^[86][87] Timuss was listed as one of the dedicatees in Bublé's self-titled album Michael Bublé and It's Time, and as background vocalist on It's Time. While away in Italy, Bublé co-wrote the hit single "Home" for Timuss.^[88][89] Timuss was also featured in the music video for "Home".^[88][90] Their engagement ended in November 2005. Their breakup inspired Bublé to co-write the hit original song "Lost".^[91]

During an appearance at Australian television's Logie Awards in 2005, he met British actress Emily Blunt and again a few months later at his concert backstage in Los Angeles. Eventually they began a relationship. He thought she was a BBC television producer.^[9][92] She also provided background vocals on the cover of "Me and Mrs. Jones" on the album Call Me Irresponsible. The hit original song "Everything" was penned by Bublé for Blunt.^[90][93] Bublé's publicist confirmed on 11 July 2008 that he had broken up with Blunt.^[94]

Bublé became engaged in Argentina^[95] to girlfriend Luisana Lopilato in November 2009. She is an Argentine actress and model.^[95][96] Bublé co-wrote the hit single "Haven't Met You Yet" for Lopilato,^[97] and she appeared in the song's music video.^[95] They reportedly met in November 2008 at a party thrown by Bublé's record company after one of his concerts in Buenos Aires.^[95] The couple wed on 31 March 2011 in Buenos Aires.^[98]

Since 2005, Bublé has had dual Italian-Canadian citizenship.^[7][25][99]

A big hockey fan since childhood, Bublé requires "one local team hockey puck" in his dressing room as part of his rider contract to concert promoters in every city.^{[18][100][101]} He is one of the Vancouver Canucks' most prominent celebrity supporters and since December 2008, he has been co-owner of the Vancouver Giants^[102]

On 12 February 2009 Bublé pledged a donation of A$50,000 to the victims of the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia.^[103]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Michael Bublé (2003)
• It's Time (2005)
• Call Me Irresponsible (2007)
• Crazy Love (2009)
• Christmas (2011)

Independent albums

• First Dance (1996)
• Babalu (2001)
• Dream (2002)

Live albums

• Come Fly with Me (2004)
• Caught in the Act (2005)
• Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden (2009)

Tours[link]

• Michael Bublé: Live in Concert (2004)
• It's Time Tour (2005–06)
• Irresponsible Tour (2007–08)
• Crazy Love Tour (2010–12)

Filmography[link]

• 2000: Duets
• 2001: Totally Blonde
• 2003: The Snow Walker
• 2004: Las Vegas – Catch of the Day

Awards and nominations[link]