Michael Buble can surely hold his own as an artist. He has one of the best-selling Christmas records of all time, throngs of dedicated followers around the world and all of the professional success for which he could desire. Despite all of his musical fame and success, there was still one thing he desired to cross off his bucket list: performing together with Barbra Streisand.
Fortunately, he got the shot to scratch off this item when Barbra asked him to sing “It Had To Be You” by her side. Michael leapt at the opportunity – and the performance that followed was that of a superfan’s fantasy …
Before jumping into their duet, Michael tried to start a conversation by cracking an one-liner. He and Barbra had never met before – and this was definitely one heck of an introduction. Michael snuck up on Barbra amusingly and stated:
” This is the cheapest recording session I’ve ever had … because you’re paying for it!”
This was his way to relieve his own stress, at the same time. He confided in the camera crew, telling them that Barbra was one of his musical idols as a child, and he didn’t want to mess things up now..
” I was just so honored to be asked to do it. And the company that I’m in is incredible company to be keeping. I just wanted to show up and not let her down.”.
Fortunately, Barbra noticed Michael’s nerves and immediately worked to put him at-ease. She wanted to use his big band technique in the tune, making him feel at home within moments. Barbra said:.
” Michael is a big band singer. So I thought, why not start it as a ballad and then have the big band take over … You can just tell by his attitude, his voice, his freedom, his sense of self. We can play [with the sound]”.
With the orchestra booming behind them, the couple took to their sound booths and started to experiment with the song. Barbra told the camera team live music was necessary to generating quality music – she would not record without it!
” This is the way I’ve always recorded. Since my first album. I’ve recorded with an orchestra. It’s so much fun! I get inspired by what the orchestra’s playing and it makes me do other things that I haven’t thought of until that moment singing with them.”.
After hearing their final version of “It Had To Be You,” we can grasp why she requests an orchestra and skilled musical partners like Michael.
Listen closely to Barbra and Michael’s exceptional rendition of “It Had To Be You” shown below. Wow!
