Photo Credit: Dallas Bittle

It's no secret that Canadian singer Michael Bublé loves Christmas. The 43-year-old has adored the festive season since he was a child and subsequently has released some wonderful Christmas classics. Born in British Columbia in 1975, the singer, songwriter, producer and actor has fond memories of his childhood, when the first record he ever heard was Bing Crosby's White Christmas. Although he was only five at the time, he recalled his parents playing the song over and over again. He said it introduced him to crooning and to music in general, leading to his love of jazz music and providing him with a great sense of comfort in adulthood. Early career The song, White Christmas, was also the reason that Bublé became a singer. As legend has it, it was during a car journey with his parents that the 13 year old Michael heard the song on the radio. He began singing along and his family realised for the first time what a wonderful voice he had. By the age of 16, the teenager was already singing live in local nightclubs and his talent for singing superseded his ambition of becoming a professional ice hockey player - a sport he had played in his youth. Having grown up listening to his grandfather Demetrio Santagà's jazz records, Bublé loved the genre. His grandfather paid for him to have singing lessons and at the age of 18, he won the Canadian Youth Talent Search. He asked his grandfather to become his manager and for seven years, he honed his skills, singing at clubs, in hotel lounges, at conventions, on cruise ships, in shopping malls and on talent shows. Finally, he hit the big time, after featuring in an award-winning TV documentary called Big Band Boom in 1997. Worldwide success Although he didn't win a record deal right away, he was invited to sing at the wedding of Caroline Mulroney, daughter of the former Canadian Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney. David Foster, an award-winning producer who had previously worked with icons such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Whitney Houston, was a guest at the wedding. Foster liked what he heard and agreed to produce Bublé's debut album, Michael Bublé, which was released in February 2003. Bublé and Foster spent weeks in the studio, listening to hundreds of old records that had been the singer's childhood favourites. The subsequent album contained a selection of cover versions such as Fever, You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine and The Way You Look Tonight. Bublé's smooth vocals produced an international hit and the album reached number one in the Australian chart, it hit the top 10 in the UK, Canada and South Africa and entered the top 50 in the United States Billboard 200 album chart. It was also number 33 in the ARIA Top 100 Albums of 2003 chart. It sold a million copies (something the record label hadn't expected from a new artist) and far surpassed expectations of 50,000 sales. The singer went on to release 17 hit singles, eight more studio albums and three live albums. Today, he has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Christmas hits Bublé's well-known love of Christmas manifested itself in his series of festive hit records. These included his 2011 album, Christmas, which was number one on the US Billboard 200 chart for five weeks and made the top five in the UK. His other festive hits have included the Christmas EP, Let It Snow, in 2003, Frank Loesser's Baby, It's Cold Outside (a duet with Idina Menzel), in 2014 and the album, I'll Be Home for Christmas, in 2017. Baby It's Cold Outside was written in 1944 and is known as a "call and response" duet - meaning that two people, usually a male and a female vocalist, are having a conversation with each other. The songwriter, Loesser, was a Tony award-winning American, who had also written the score for best-selling Broadway musicals, such as Guys and Dolls. He wrote Baby It's Cold Outside just for fun, and he and his wife, Lynn, often performed it at private parties to entertain their friends. When celebrities hosted parties, it was usual for them to also provide some entertainment for guests. The lyrics relate how the male vocalist has hosted a party and is trying to persuade a guest that she should stay longer, because the weather is so cold that her trip home would be unpleasant. Although the lyrics don't specifically mention Christmas, it's commonly regarded as a festive song, because of its cold winter weather theme. It was first performed by the Loessers at their party in New York at the Navarro Hotel. When they sang it, ironically it was to remind guests that it was time to go home, rather than to persuade any of them to stay longer! After the song was used on the soundtrack of the MGM movie, Neptune's Daughter, in 1949, it became a massive hit and won an Academy Award. There have been more than 50 cover versions of Baby It's Cold Outside over the years and it has been on the soundtrack of other films, including Pitch Perfect 3 in 2015, and even on Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular on TV in 2013! The song has also been covered by Ray Charles, Tom Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan and Dolly Parton, to name but a few. It’s definitely cold outside! Keep cosy this Christmas with Griggs' range of clothing for the great outdoors. Established in 1970, in the heart of Cornwall, we provide outdoor clothing and leisurewear for all seasons. Please contact us for further information on our wide range of high quality winter clothing - which incidentally would make the perfect Christmas presents!