Grammy-Winner Michael Bublé Narrates a New Documentary That’s Filled With Hope for Anyone Impacted by Alzheimer’s

Like so many people around the world, Grammy-winning artist Michael Bublé has been impacted by Alzheimer’s disease. He lost his beloved grandmother to the disease in 2014. “My family has been through hell because of this disease,” he says. 

Which is why, when the opportunity to narrate a documentary about the devastating illness came his way, it was an immediate “yes” for Bublé.

Bublé knows he may be perceived as an unexpected choice for the project. “I sing romantic songs that you get married to and make babies to,” he told The Sunday Paper. “My job isn’t to tell you how to vote or what vaccine to take. But if I can be a part of opening your eyes to this disease and inspire you to do your own research, ask your own questions, and advocate for people who can’t advocate for themselves? Hell yeah. I’ll do that in the name of my grandmother.”

The documentary, Memories for Life: Reversing Alzheimer’s, also has a somewhat surprising star: Dr. Dale Bredesen, a leading—albeit controversial—voice in the world of Alzheimer’s research whose protocol claims to treat and even reverse cognitive decline. (Conventional medicine maintains Alzheimer’s is uncurable, and Dr. Bredesen’s research has been critiqued as both limited and flawed.) The film follows patients who, unsatisfied with conventional treatment, turned to Dr. Bredesen’s protocols for answers.

The Sunday Paper sat down with Bublé to talk to him about what being a part of this film means to him and why he hopes everyone will watch it.

A CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL BUBLÉ

Alzheimer’s is a seemingly new territory for you. Why did you say yes to narrating Memories for Life: Reversing Alzheimer’s?

‘Seemingly’ is a really good word, because it isn't a new thing for me. It's an old thing for me. It's a massive, huge, horrible part of my life. My grandmother was diagnosed in her early 70s. My mother—her very best friend—was a caretaker for her to the very last breath, which was incredibly painful. My grandmother suffered greatly and more than that, my mother suffered. So this has been a huge part of my life, and I was more than grateful for the opportunity to advocate for people who need us. I was more than grateful to be able to remember my grandmother and pay tribute to how much we loved her and to continue her legacy in this way. 

This was something I felt strongly about before my family was even affected. Many years ago, I went to an event for a man named Larry Ruvo, who runs one of the biggest centers in the battle of Alzheimer's. I was so moved that while I was paid for the gig, I gave the money back. We became wonderful friends after that, and business partners, and I was just such a fan of him and how he was tireless in his fight to advocate for families all over the planet who are suffering from this disease. Before I said yes to [narrating this documentary], I called him because I wanted to make sure I had his blessing. 

I don't need to tell you that this disease has been a death sentence. When you are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the diagnosis is cruel and cold—not like any other disease. Cancer—you can beat it, right? You can fight it. You can do your chemo, you can do your radiation, you can do things. But Alzheimer’s? I'm sorry, you're diagnosed with it, you're dead. 

Was there anything that surprised you or that you found eye-opening as you worked on this documentary?

There was a lot that was eye opening for me in watching Dr. Bredesen fight to even get to do the research so that he could prove there were alternative ways through diet and exercise, not only to stop the disease, to slow it down, but to reverse it. This was mind blowing. You mean there's an actual light at the end of this tunnel? There's a way for hundreds of millions of us on this planet to know that we can fight and advocate for people we love, and that there might be a solution? I was mind blown that there were so many people against that research. That's scary. That means that money and power got involved in decision-making and politicizing something that shouldn't have been political.

One thing that super surprised me—disturbed me—was seeing how difficult Big Pharma made it for Dr. Bredesen to even research. How dare you research? How dare you try to find an organic, or natural way without pills, to stop or reverse this? It just doesn't work. It's a death sentence. So just don't even try that.

That was more than disturbing to me, personally. When the director, Yuki, told me the documentary was accepted to all these massive film festivals and streaming services, I was so excited because I just kept thinking, Oh my god, people are gonna get the chance to see this for themselves and make their own decisions. 

Something that’s talked about a lot in the Alzheimer's space is the importance of hope. How does that show up in this project?

The first time I read the script I was nervous because I knew it was controversial. And when I went in to record, it was really emotional. I watched the pain that my family had gone through and families that we knew. That’s hard to admit. Better not to talk about it, right? Better to just go, Yeah, yeah, Alzheimer’s happens to us when we get old. 

But it's not happening to people that are old. It's happening to people in their 40s, some in their 30s! Early onset Alzheimer's is a thing and it's happening all over the planet—in alarming numbers—it is truly one of the world's worst epidemics. 

When I talked to the director, I was shocked that this was the first big documentary that was going to tackle this. This is it? Why has it taken this long? I had a million questions and the first thing I did when I walked out of the studio, after I had seen the film and recorded the narration, I got [the recording] from the director and sent it to my mom. I wanted her to have hope. I wanted her to know that the fight she had wasn't in vain. That there was a chance that this wouldn't be a death sentence if, God forbid, one day a doctor called and told her she had it.

Why do you hope someone reading this now will see this film, even if they're skeptical?

I want people to be skeptical. You should be skeptical. We don't even know where to get our news or who to trust anymore. There's so much politicization of our information that we don't believe half the bullshit. How do we believe it? Where do you go? It's causing fear, it's causing panic, anxiety, and mental health issues. 

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: The greatest lesson I ever learned going through my son's health battle was to get the information that we needed and not the information we wanted. Those are two really different things. When you're scared, and you're desperate, it's easy to get the information you want. People will tell you a ton of bullshit. And you will think, God, that sounds awesome. 

It’s important for people to question things. And you know what? Not everyone's going to agree with what they see in this movie and I don't want them to. They shouldn't. The more we talk about this, the more we fight about this, the more this shows up on the front page, the more that Bill Maher or Jon Stewart or whoever talks about this, the better chance we have of finding a cure. This is life and death we're talking about. This is an epidemic. There is no room for niceties and obtuse conversations. Let's go. Let's begin!

Memories for Life: Reversing Alzheimer's is available to watch now at memoriesforlifefilm.com. It will be available on AppleTV, Prime Video, Vudu, and Google Play starting November 28th.