 Singer/songwriter
Michael Bolton had an extensive, though not very successful, career under
his real name,
Michael Bolotin, before emerging in the mid-'80s as a major soft rock
balladeer. He turned up on RCA Records in the mid-'70s singing in a gruff,
Joe Cocker-like voice both his own blue-eyed soul songs and cover tunes.
Neither record buyers nor critics were much interested by the result. He then
became the lead singer in
Blackjack, a heavy metal band that made two albums for Polydor at the end of
the '70s and the start of the '80s. In 1983, he changed his name to
Michael Bolton, signed to Columbia Records as a solo act, and relaunched his
career.
Michael Bolton was released in April 1983, and made the Top 100
bestsellers, as did its single, "Fools Game." At the same time, "How Am I
Supposed to Live Without You," which
Michael Bolton had co-written, became a Top 40 hit for
Laura Branigan. Nevertheless,
Michael Bolton's second Columbia album, Everybody's Crazy (1985), was a commercial
flop. His breakthrough came with his third album, The Hunger, released in
September 1987. On this album,
Michael Bolton abandoned the more hard rock aspects of his style to concentrate on
blue-eyed soul singing: both on his own songs, such as "That's What Love Is All
About," and on covers like
Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." Those two songs became
Top 40 hits.
Soul Provider, released in July 1989, turned
Michael Bolton into a superstar, reaching the Top Ten, selling four million copies,
and spawning five Top 40 singles, including
Michael Bolton's number one version of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," and
the Top Ten hits "How Can We Be Lovers" and "When I'm Back on My Feet Again."
"How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" won
Michael Bolton a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Time, Love &
Tenderness, released in April 1991, was even more successful, hitting number
one, selling six million copies, and featuring four Top 40 hits, including the
chart-topping cover of
Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman," and the Top Ten hits "Love Is a
Wonderful Thing" (later the subject of a successful plagiarism suit brought
against
Michael Bolton by
the Isley Brothers) and "Time, Love and Tenderness."
Michael Bolton won another Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for
"When a Man Loves a Woman," but he had to put up with abuse from two camps of
detractors at the February 1992 ceremony. Just after
Michael Bolton had performed, pre-rock songwriter
Irving Gordon won the Song of the Year award for "Unforgettable" and
pointedly attacked songs that "scream, yell, and have a nervous breakdown" and
singers who "have a hernia" when they sing. Then, backstage,
Michael Bolton faced a hostile press corps of critics unhappy with his tendency to
copy great soul singers like
Redding,
Ray Charles, and
Sledge.
Michael Bolton suggested they apply their lips to a certain part of his anatomy. He
further responded with Timeless: The Classics in September 1992, an album made
up entirely of cover songs. It went to number one, sold three million copies,
and featured a Top 40 hit in
Michael Bolton's version of
the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody."
Michael Bolton's next album of original material, The One Thing, came in November
1993. It hit the Top Ten, sold three million copies, and featured the Top Ten
hit "Said I Loved You...But I Lied."
Michael Bolton released Greatest Hits 1985-1995 in the fall of 1995, which debuted
in the Top Ten. The following year, This Is the Time: Christmas Album appeared.
Michael Bolton returned with All That Matters, his first album of new material since
1993's The One Thing, in the fall of 1997. Instead of continuing his success, it
was a surprise flop. Not only did it not generate a hit single, it barely
cracked the Top 40 and fell out of the charts after 15 weeks. Its lack of
success didn't stop
Michael Bolton from turning his attention to My Secret Passion, a collection of
opera and arias that he released in January 1998. By classical standards, the
album was a hit, and the record received a great deal of press and surprisingly
good reviews. He supported the two albums with a summer tour which were
co-headlined with
Wynonna Judd. He voluntarily stepped back for almost four years,
disappearing from the public eye until the spring of 2002 when he began
promoting Only a Woman Like You, his first album on Jive Records. After a brief
sabbatical, he returned with Til the End of Forever, a hybrid new album of seven
new recordings and a live greatest-hits concert. In 2006 he released Bolton
Swings Sinatra, a 12-song tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes that included a duet with
fiancée/actress Nicolette Sheridan. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book
Michael Bolton for your next corporate or private event.
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