by Michael Bublé Regrets Releasing “Everything” As It Felt Like Selling Out
In a revealing 2022 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, acclaimed crooner Michael Bublé made the surprising admission that he deeply regrets releasing his hit song “Everything” back in 2007.
The smash single, which was written and produced by hitmaker Rodney Jerkins, became Bublé’s highest charting song at the time, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, in retrospect, Bublé now feels that “Everything” was a sellout track that did not authentically represent him as an artist.
“I felt like I was selling out,” Bublé confessed. “I was trying to be something that I’m not.”
Looking back, Bublé traced his misgivings about “Everything” back to the intense pressure he felt from his record label to work with Jerkins, who was one of the most in-demand pop and R&B producers in the mid-2000s.
“The label really wanted me to do a song with Rodney because he was so hot at the time,” Bublé said. “So even though I didn’t feel a connection to it, I went ahead and recorded it.”
According to Bublé, his gut instinct told him that the slick, hip hop-influenced R&B sound of “Everything” felt dowdy and inauthentic coming from him. However, the temptation to score a pop hit overrode his artistic doubts.
“I should have listened to my heart,” Bublé mused. “Even while we were recording it, I felt in my soul that this wasn’t me. But I got swayed by the excitement of possibly having a big hit.”
Sadly, once “Everything” became a commercial success, Bublé felt obligated to keep performing it even though his enthusiasm for the track quickly waned.
“When it became a hit, I had to sing it on TV and at all my concerts even though I hated it,” Bublé said. “It was like having a tattoo of your ex-girlfriend’s name that you wish you could erase but you can’t get rid of it.”
Beyond feeling artistically dissatisfied with “Everything,” Bublé said he also regretted how the song was marketed and promoted. The music video portrayed him as a player seducing various women, an image wildly divergent from Bublé’s wholesome brand and identity.
“The video was cheesy and over-the-top,” Bublé said. “All I kept thinking was, ‘this isn’t me.’ I would never act like this.”
Bublé also took issue with how Warner Brothers released “Everything” as the first single from his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible, essentially forcing it to become the public face of the record against his wishes.
“I begged the label not to make it the first single because I didn’t want that song to represent me or the album,” Bublé said. “But they went ahead and did it anyway because it was the most commercial. I felt like I had lost control of my own career.”
Although “Everything” elevated Bublé’s stardom to new heights, it came at a steep cost to his peace of mind. As he promotionally performed the hit on talk shows and at concerts over the next few years, Bublé would frequently find himself cringing internally at having to repeatedly fake enthusiasm for music he detested.
“Every time I had to sing it I just wanted to scream ‘this isn’t me!’” Bublé said. “It was sheer torture.”
The emotional unease Bublé felt about “Everything” only intensified when the song continued to be enthusiastically requested by fans at shows, essentially forcing him to keep singing it night after night.
“I’d be halfway through my set and people would start chanting ‘Everything! Everything!’” Bublé recalled. “I’d get this sick feeling in my stomach because I knew I couldn’t escape it.”
Perhaps worst of all, Bublé felt that the runaway success of “Everything” led many fans and industry insiders to mistakenly conclude that he wanted to become a Top 40 pop singer, a career trajectory he had zero interest in.
“After ‘Everything’ I kept getting offered all these crappy adult contemporary songs because everyone thought that’s what I wanted,” Bublé said. “They didn’t understand my heart is in classic jazz and swing music.”
The frustrations surrounding “Everything” got so bad that Bublé even considered quitting music altogether.
“I remember thinking that maybe I should just go back to being a lounge singer so I wouldn’t have to deal with the pressures of the pop world,” he said.
Fortunately, with some self-reflection during a hiatus from the spotlight, Bublé was able to reconnect with his love for timeless pop standards, which inspired his 2009 album Crazy Love. The mature, elegant record centering on Bublé’s interests in jazz and the American Songbook rejuvenated his career and critical reputation.
In hindsight, Bublé now sees the “Everything” debacle as a learning experience about standing up for his artistic identity. Although the song helped make him a star, it diverted him from his musical north star.
“I should have trusted my instincts,” Bublé reflects. “Having a hit isn’t worth it if you lose sight of who you are as an artist.”
While “Everything” remains a fan favorite to this day, Bublé has steadfastly avoided singing it for nearly a decade now. He declined to include it on his 2012 Greatest Hits album and has not performed it live since 2011.
During his Rolling Stone interview, Bublé reiterated that his strong regret over recording the smash single still lingers. “That song doesn’t represent me,” he said. “If I could go back in time and stop myself from ever recording it, I would.”
Clearly, despite scoring him a sizeable chart hit, “Everything” is the one song Michael Bublé wishes he could erase from his discography. For the singer, the track symbolizes a vexing era early in his career when the pressures of pop stardom temporarily suppressed his musical soul.
Thankfully, Bublé course-corrected after the “Everything” derailment to rediscover his authentic artistic passions. He has since created a respected body of work staying true to his classic pop/jazz roots.
Still, “Everything” remains an awkward artifact from Bublé’s past that serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of maintaining one’s musical integrity, even when tempted by the siren song of pop hits. It is a song that represents deep regret and conflict within his heart that still pains him more than a decade later.
