For the March 2023 issue of Red Magazine, Michael Buble discusses how his son’s battle with liver cancer changed his life as both a person and a parent.
In the interview, he says, “That, of course, changed me in a big way – it changed what mattered to me, it changed how I saw life. For most of my life as an entertainer and, especially on stage, I’d become my alter ego.
“I’d become the superhero I always wanted to be,” he continued. “Then my wife and I went through this unthinkable thing, and I lost that alter ego.”
Michael and his wife, Luisana Lopilato, welcomed their fourth child, Cielo Yoli Rose Buble, in August last year. They already share three other children together, Elias, 7, Vida, 4, and Noah, who is 9 now but was only 3 years old when he was first diagnosed with liver cancer in 2016.
By some blessing, Noah was cancer-free by 2017 after both Michael and Luisana put their careers on hold to make sure to be there for their eldest son.
“More than anything, my wife and I understand that each other’s fulfillment is important,” he told Red Magazine in the interview. “I’m not saying we’re perfect – nobody is – but we both have that understanding. I won’t be touring for certain months next year because she’ll be filming a movie, and so I’ll be Daddy on set, and then she’ll do the same for me.
“We don’t care what we do,” he added, “being together is the goal.”
Upon his return to stage in 2017 following his son’s recovery, Michael wrote a song for his children, titled, “Forever Now”. He noted that it was his “best song” ever written, but it would never see the stage because it would be too emotional for him to perform live.
Back in 2021, Buble talked with People about how he was dealing with Noah’s diagnosis and recovery. Even four years later, Michael still struggled but saw the “silver lining” in how he viewed his own life having experienced something so daunting as a parent.
“I don’t wish that kind of pain upon any human being,” he said, “but I do feel that when you’ve truly suffered, when you’ve truly felt fear and loss, it allows you to live a deeper life. Once you’ve felt those things, you are able, in context, to truly feel joy, gratitude and happiness.
“My grandpa used to say, ‘Today’s curse is tomorrow’s blessing,’” he continued. “Even though for some of us who have lost so much these last few years, whether it’s our jobs or our loved ones, it doesn’t all come with negative connotations. There’s always a silver lining to that cloud.”
In 2018, Buble sat down for an interview with Australia’s Today Show, where he talked about the everyday pain he felt while getting his son through cancer treatments, as any parent would, calling his diagnosis “the worst possible thing that you could hear as a parent, and as maybe a human being.”
“There were a million times that my wife and I were just surviving, struggling to survive, and to breathe.”
“I much rather would have it have been me,” he added. “Many times I wish that it had been.”
Noah was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, which is a rare form of liver cancer, in 2016 when he was just 3 years old. He underwent a surgery that removed the cancerous tumor, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.
As of now, the Buble family seems happy and grateful to all still be together, alive and well. Michael posted a sweet video to his Instagram last week saying he didn’t think he ever wanted kids before. But in the montage of videos, and his caption reading “I changed my mind! @luisanalopilato we are so lucky! ❤️😘”, he made it clear that his big family is the best thing to ever happen to him.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2023/01/26/michael-buble-my-sons-cancer-diagnosis-changed-me-in-a-big-way/
https://www.survivornet.com/articles/michael-buble-son-noah-liver-cancer-unthinkable/
https://people.com/parents/michael-buble-lives-much-deeper-life-after-sons-cancer-battle/
