Michael Bublé Reveals His List of the Top 24 Vocal Performances of All Time: 'It Was Very Difficult'

Michael Bublé also reveals which Bruno Mars song he cries to, and which Ed Sheeran song he wishes he wrote in his new Apple Music Hits series

By

Rachel DeSantis

Published on March 21, 2022 12:30PM EDT

Michael Bublé may be a best-selling artist himself, but at the end of the day, he's still just a fan of great music.

The "Higher" singer, 46, is launching the Apple Music Hits series Higher Radio on Monday, and will use the broadcast to share with listeners his 24 favorite vocal performances of all time.

"I'm so lucky I get to do this," Bublé says in the first episode. "I have hand-selected for you guys 24 of my favorite vocal performances of all time to play. I didn't come up with this list easily. I labored and it was very difficult for me. I wanted to make sure that I was really honest and that there was integrity when I told you what I thought were the greatest vocal performances."

The Canadian crooner, whose ninth album Higher hits shelves this Friday, will use the series' three episodes to reveal the personal links he shares to each of the 24 songs, starting with the first time he ever saw a photo of Mariah Carey back in 1990.

"I hadn't heard her voice, hadn't heard her sing," he recalls. "I was in love. God help me, I heard her voice come out of the radio singing 'Vision of Love' for the first time and I couldn't understand how God had blessed someone with so much talent… Truth is, to this day, I'm a huge, huge Mariah fan."

Bublé, who recently announced he's expecting his fourth child with wife Luisana Lopilato, also shares the flood of emotion — and tears! — brought on by Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man," and the Ed Sheeran song he wishes he'd written (spoiler alert: It's "Perfect").

michael buble — Michael Bublé's Higher Radio. Apple Music

He also lauds everyone from Pink to Eminem, but saves his highest praise for Sam Cooke, whom he calls "the greatest voice in the history of music."

"It might sound strange for some of you listening out there, [but] I've always considered myself a soul singer," he says. "When people tried to put me into a box and asked me what I was, well, soul singer was always what I wanted to be and who I felt I was. And one of the big reasons for that is Sam Cooke, the greatest voice in the history of music. Not the genre, not a genre, not soul, not R&B. I think music. Sam Cooke was a very special, special performer, a special writer, an incredible human being."

See Bublé's list of the top 24 vocal performances of all time below. The first two episodes of Higher Radio are available for streaming anytime with an Apple Music subscription. Episode three will premiere on Friday at 2 p.m. PT.

Mariah Carey - Vision of Love

Yma Sumac - Babalú

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Joe Cocker - With a Little Help From My Friends

The Beatles - Twist and Shout

Sam Cooke - Bring It On Home to Me

Elvis Presley - It's Now or Never

Eminem - Lose Yourself

Roy Orbison + k.d. lang - Crying

Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man

Phil Collins - Against All Odds

Stevie Wonder - As