'I call them Bublé-bies' - Singer jokes population doubles after his gigs

Global superstar Michael Bublé has said he is looking forward to having a "better connection" with his audiences when he plays a series of outdoor concerts in the UK and Republic of Ireland this summer.

The Canadian crooner joked that nine months after he performs, the population sizes in the cities will "double".

"I like to call them 'Bublé-bies'," he joked. "I don't know what the population of those places are, but I know that nine months after I play those outdoor gigs they're going to double."

The five-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter will perform his first show in Belfast since 2019 when he headlines Belsonic in Ormeau Park on 1 July, supported by singer Gabrielle.

"It's so romantic, especially those outdoor gigs, you're under the stars, listening to these songs, and you're swaying out there, and you're having a couple of glasses of wine - it's an aphrodisiac," Bublé told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

Bublé said he has "really slowed down" with touring since having his children but said they will be joining him on tour and are "excited to come and see Papi and coming on a little holiday".

"They love being over there with me, so it's going to be fun."

Bublé said he "loves being a story-teller" and "so much of that is, truly, going and playing to 50,000 people and that person that's in the very back - that he feels like you had a moment".

"All you have to do is look at a schedule to see that I'm not doing it a lot, so it's even more special to have those nights where you have this deep connection - you get to do what you love for the people you love."

Bublé hasn't performed in Belfast since 2019 in the SSE Arena, where a performance by a 13-year-old girl went viral on social media.

He invited someone from the crowd to sing and Belfast schoolgirl Síomha Nic Bhrádaigh serenaded him with the Irish ballad, An Cáilín Álainn, as reported by Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

Bublé said when he was last in Belfast he visited the Titanic studios and sat on the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones and said he enjoys all the "dorky" tourist experiences like going on tour buses.

A self-confessed "huge [ice] hockey fan" and "ambassador of the game", Bublé told the programme that he owns a Belfast Giants jersey which is singed by the whole team.

He added that when the USA ice hockey team beat Canada to win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, he posted on Instagram as an "opportunity as a high-profile Canadian" to "be more unified" rather than divisive.

"This is the time where we need to bring the 90% of people that are like-minded and have the same values and we need to bring us together, and we really need to try to shut out the far-right and the far-left and know that most of us are probably closer in the centre," Bublé said.

"I thought that that game was a great chance to do that."