Michael Bublé has a new Christmas duet with country star Carly Pearce, "Maybe This Christmas." At this point in his career, Michael has duetted with everyone from Cher and Willie Nelson to Rod Stewart, Reese Witherspoon and Boyz II Men. So why did he want to sing with Carly? A few reasons.

First of all, Michael tells ABC Audio, "I was a huge fan of her voice." But he also appreciated the fact that Carly is a Grammy-winning, chart-topping country star because she worked nonstop since she was a kid to follow her dream — doing everything from singing at Dolly Parton's theme park to cleaning Airbnbs for extra cash.

"I have a lot of respect for people that do it the right way, that build a career and a sustainable business," Michael says. "You know, she's not a TikTok artist."

As for the song, it's special, Michael says, because it's about an unusual topic: what it's like to be alone and struggling at Christmas. In fact, he had to fight with his co-writers to keep them from injecting romance into the lyrics.

"I was very bossy and I knew what the story was about," he tells ABC Audio. "The biggest arguments that we had, and the only ones we had, were ... they kept on [saying], 'He's in his car and he's missing her.' And I kept saying, 'No, no, no, this is not a romantic song.'"

"I said, 'I want people that listen to it to really use their imaginations and be able to insert themselves in as the main characters,'" he adds. And when he played the song for people he knew, he says they all had a different interpretation, which is exactly what he wanted.

"For me," he says, "that's what makes the song magical."

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.