Michael Buble can hold his own as an artist. He has one of the highest-selling Christmas albums of all time, throngs of dedicated admirers all over the globe and all of the professional progress for which he could pray. Despite all of his musical fame and fortune, there was still one thing he wanted to cross off his bucket list: singing beside Barbra Streisand.
Luckily, he got the opportunity to scratch off this wish 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 dream ...
Before hopping into their duet, Michael tried to cut the first turf by cracking a joke. He and Barbra had never met before - and this was certainly one heck of an introduction. Michael snuck up on Barbra jokingly and said:
" This is the cheapest recording session I've ever had ... because you're paying for it!"
Doing this was his strategy to ease his own tensions, as well. 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 picked up Michael's nerves and immediately tried to put him at-ease. She really wanted to use his big band approach in the track, making him relax within seconds. 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 explained to the camera crew live music was vital 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 rendition of "It Had To Be You," we can grasp why she requires an orchestra and talented musical affiliates such as Michael.
Listen to Barbra and Michael's magnificent rendition of "It Had To Be You" shown below. Wow!