Let's talk about the moment Michael Bublé stopped being just a "wedding singer" and became a genuine pop powerhouse. It was 2013. The album was To Be Loved. If you were alive and near a radio back then, you couldn't escape it. But looking back, there’s something about the title track—and the record as a whole—that feels way more substantial than your average jazz-pop crossover.
Michael Bublé wasn't just recycling the Great American Songbook anymore. He was swinging for the fences.
To understand To Be Loved by Michael Bublé, you have to understand where he was in his career. He’d already conquered the world with Crazy Love. He’d become the king of Christmas. Honestly, he could have just coasted. Instead, he teamed up with Bob Rock—the guy who produced Metallica and Mötley Crüe—to create an album that sounded like a party in a bottle. It wasn't just about the crooning; it was about the soul, the grit, and a surprising amount of Motown influence that most people didn't see coming.
The Jackie Wilson Connection That Changed Everything
Most fans don't realize that the song "To Be Loved" isn't a Bublé original. It’s a cover of a 1958 hit by the legendary Jackie Wilson.
Berry Gordy Jr. actually co-wrote it. That’s heavy hitters' territory. When Bublé decided to tackle it, he wasn't just looking for a nice melody. He wanted that specific high-energy, soulful euphoria that Wilson pioneered. It’s a difficult song to sing. It requires a massive vocal range and a kind of reckless abandonment that many "polished" singers are terrified of.
Bublé took that 50s soul foundation and polished it with modern production without losing the heart. If you listen closely to the recording, the brass section is screaming. The drums are hitting harder than they do on his earlier records. It’s infectious. It’s the sound of a man who is genuinely happy, which makes sense considering he had just become a father around that time.
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That energy is exactly why To Be Loved by Michael Bublé resonated so deeply. It didn't feel like a studio product. It felt like a live performance caught on tape.
Breaking Down the Tracklist: More Than Just Standards
People love to pigeonhole Bublé. They say he’s the "new Sinatra." That’s lazy. On this album, he proves he’s a bit of a chameleon.
Take "It’s a Beautiful Day." That was the lead single. It’s essentially a "breakup" song that sounds like a celebration. It’s snarky. It’s upbeat. It’s the polar opposite of a gloomy ballad. Then you jump to his cover of Bee Gees’ "To Love Somebody." It’s soulful, stripped-back, and arguably one of the best versions of that song ever recorded. He’s navigating different genres like he’s flipping through a jukebox.
- The Duets: You’ve got Reese Witherspoon appearing on "Something Stupid." It shouldn't work. An Oscar-winning actress and a Canadian crooner? But it’s charming because it’s understated.
- The Originals: Songs like "Close Your Eyes" showed his growth as a songwriter. This wasn't just a guy singing other people's hits. He was writing the new classics.
- The Soul Influence: His cover of "Who’s Lovin’ You" is a direct nod to the Jackson 5 and Smokey Robinson. It’s bold.
The diversity is what kept the album at the top of the Billboard 200. It wasn't a one-note experience. It was a 14-track journey through everything Michael loved about music history.
Why the Production Style Matters
Bob Rock. That name still throws people off. Why would the guy who did Metallica’s Black Album work with a jazz singer?
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Because Rock knows how to capture "big." He doesn't do thin, tinny sounds. Everything on To Be Loved by Michael Bublé feels heavy and expensive. The strings are lush. The bass is warm. Rock pushed Bublé to sing with more "dirt" in his voice. If you compare this album to his self-titled debut from 2003, the difference is staggering.
In 2003, he was precise. In 2013, he was soulful.
There’s a specific nuance in his delivery on the title track "To Be Loved" where his voice almost cracks on the high notes. In the old days, they would have re-recorded that to make it perfect. Bob Rock kept it in. That "imperfection" is what makes it human. It’s why people still add it to their wedding playlists or blast it in the car. It feels real.
The Cultural Impact of the To Be Loved Era
When the album dropped, it debuted at number one in 11 countries. That’s not just "good for a jazz artist." That’s pop-star level dominance.
Bublé managed to bridge a gap that very few artists can. He was being played on Adult Contemporary stations, but he was also appearing on The X Factor and Saturday Night Live. He made the big-band sound cool for a generation that was currently obsessed with EDM and indie-folk.
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He also went on a massive world tour to support it. If you ever saw the To Be Loved tour, you know it was a spectacle. He was jumping off stages, interacting with the crowd, and basically acting like a stand-up comedian who happened to have the voice of an angel. He broke the "stuffy" stereotype of the tuxedo-clad singer. He showed that you could sing 50-year-old songs and still be the most charismatic person in the room.
Debunking the "Cover Artist" Myth
A major criticism leveled at Bublé during this time was that he relied too much on covers. People would say, "Anyone can sing 'You Make Me Feel So Young'."
Actually, they can’t. Not like that.
The art of the "standard" isn't about invention; it's about interpretation. When you listen to To Be Loved by Michael Bublé, you aren't hearing a karaoke version of Jackie Wilson. You’re hearing a 21st-century perspective on a classic emotion. Plus, as mentioned before, the original tracks on this album—like "After All" (the duet with Bryan Adams)—hold their own against the classics.
Writing a song that fits seamlessly next to a Berry Gordy masterpiece is a feat in itself.
Actionable Steps for the Ultimate Listening Experience
If you’re revisiting this era of Michael’s career, or if you’re just discovering it, don’t just hit "shuffle" on Spotify. You’ll miss the narrative arc of the album.
- Listen to the Jackie Wilson original first. It sets the stage. You’ll appreciate the "bounce" in Bublé’s version much more once you hear the DNA of the track.
- Watch the live performance from the O2 Arena. There is a concert film from this era that captures the sheer energy of these songs. The studio versions are great, but the live arrangements are where the "soul" really comes out.
- Pay attention to the vocal layering. On tracks like "It’s a Beautiful Day," the backing vocals are incredibly intricate. It’s a masterclass in modern vocal production.
- Compare "To Love Somebody" to the Nina Simone version. It shows you exactly where Michael was drawing his inspiration from—the intersection of pop and deep soul.
The legacy of To Be Loved by Michael Bublé is that it proved the "crooner" genre wasn't a museum piece. It was a living, breathing, evolving thing. It’s an album that feels just as fresh today as it did over a decade ago, mostly because great songs and great vocals never actually go out of style. It remains the definitive high-water mark for modern big-band pop.