Michael Bolton

Michael Bolton
Bolton performing in October 2006
Background information
Birth name	Michael Bolotin
Born	February 26, 1953 (1953-02-26) (age 57) New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Genres	Rock, pop, pop-rock, hard rock, adult contemporary
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1968–present
Labels	RCA Records Columbia Records Jive Records Concord Music Group Sony Classical Passion Music Group
Associated acts	Blackjack
Website	Official website

Michael Bolton (born Michael Bolotin; February 26, 1953^[1]) is an American singer-songwriter and a former hard rock singer. He is best known for his soft rock ballads and tenor vocals.

His achievements include selling many albums, eight top ten albums, two number one singles on the Billboard charts, and awards from both the American Music Awards and Grammy Awards.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Musician 2.2 Acting 3 Legal troubles 4 Personal life 5 Charity work 6 Discography 7 Filmography 7.1 As actor 7.2 As executive producer 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Early life

He was born to Jewish parents George and Helen Bolotin in New Haven, Connecticut.^[2] The couple had three children: two sons and a daughter.^[1]

Career

Musician

Bolton began recording in 1975. This first album was self-titled using his original surname, Bolotin. Early in his musical career, he focused on hard rock. His band, Blackjack, once toured with heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne.

Michael gained his first major hit as a songwriter, co-writing "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" for Laura Branigan, previously best-known for singing the pop hit "Gloria". Narrowly missing the Top 10 on the US pop chart, Branigan took the song to number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks in 1983. The two sought to work with each other again, and their next collaboration was when Bolton co-wrote "I Found Someone" for Branigan in 1985. Her version was only a minor hit, but two years later, Cher resurrected the song, and with it her own singing career. Bolton co-wrote several other songs for both singers.

Bolton would achieve his greatest success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a singer in the adult contemporary/easy listening genre. One of his first major hits was his 1987 interpretation of the Otis Redding classic, "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay". Always interested in soul and Motown classics, Bolton's success with that song encouraged him to tackle the standard "Georgia On My Mind," with which he had another hit. In 1991, Bolton released the album Time, Love & Tenderness which featured his Grammy Award winning cover version of "When a Man Loves a Woman".^[3]

Most of Bolton's recordings are original material; however, he has also written songs for such artists as Conway Twitty, Barbra Streisand, Kiss, Kenny Rogers, Kenny G, Peabo Bryson and Patti LaBelle.

Bolton's early songwriting collaborators included Doug James and Mark Mangold, and as his fame grew he began to cowrite with higher-profile writers such as BabyFace, Diane Warren, and Bob Dylan. 

As a singer, he has performed with Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras, Tony Cetinski, Lucia Aliberti, Renée Fleming, Zucchero, Patti LaBelle, Céline Dion, Ray Charles, Percy Sledge, Wynonna Judd, and BB King.

Bolton's last Top 40 single in the US was the 1997 hit "Go the Distance" (featured in the Walt Disney motion picture Hercules), which peaked at #1 on the US adult contemporary chart. He hired conductor Larry Baird (orchestral musical director/conductor/arranger for The Moody Blues, Three Dog Night, Al Jarreau, etc.) for his 2001 tour.

In 2006 Bolton and then fiancee Nicollette Sheridan sang a duet, "The Second Time Around", for the album Bolton Swings Sinatra. In March 2007, Bolton toured South Africa for the first time. He was the headline act at Jacaranda 94.2 FM's two day concert. For Over the Rainbow, an album which was recorded in five days, Bolton recorded the song "New York, New York" (also on his Bolton Swings Sinatra album). This was for an episode of the TV series, Challenge Anneka. The proceeds from the album went to children's hospices across the UK.

Bolton performed a duet entitled "Il Mio Amico" with the Italian singer Anna Tatangelo at the Sanremo Music Festival 2008. The song was originally sung by Tatangelo alone, but the duet version contained English lyrics as well. It is a song about the difficulties of being gay in Italy, written by Tatangelo's partner, Gigi D'Alessio.

Bolton's album Only A Woman Like You was released in 2001. The title song was co-written by Shania Twain and with background vocals by Skyler Jett. Bolton released his album One World One Love in the UK on 21 September 2009. The first single, "Just One Love", was released one week earlier.^[4]

Acting

Bolton appeared as an extra in the theatrical release of Frank Herbert's Dune featuring Sting and Kyle MacLachlan. In their final fight scene, he plays a "spice-eyed" drummer.

Legal troubles

On May 9, 2000, a US Court of Appeals affirmed a jury's 1994 decision that Bolton's 1991 pop hit, "Love Is a Wonderful Thing", infringed on the copyright of the 1964 Isley Brothers song of the same name, and let stand the jury's award of $5.4 million against the singer, his co-author, Andrew Goldmark, and their record company, Sony Music Entertainment.^[5] This was the biggest payout in musical copyright infringement to date.

Personal life

Bolton was married to Maureen McGuire, but they divorced. They are the parents of three adult daughters: Isa, Holly, and Taryn.^[6][7] Taryn is expecting a baby.^[8]

Bolton was introduced to actress Nicollette Sheridan in 1992 by adult contemporary/jazz saxophonist Kenny G.^[6] Bolton and Sheridan dated until 1995, stopped dating, then reunited in 2005 and became engaged^[6] in March 2006; however, it was confirmed in August 2008 that they had broken off their engagement.^[9] Bolton also dated Sheridan's former Desperate Housewives co-star Teri Hatcher in the early 1990s.^[10]

Charity work

In 1993, he established the Michael Bolton Foundation (now Michael Bolton Charities) to assist women and children at risk from the effects of poverty as well as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.^[11] The foundation has provided over US$3.7 million in funding to local and national charities.

Bolton also serves as the honorary chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America,^[12] the national chairman for This Close for Cancer Research,^[13] and a board member for the National Mentoring Partnership^[14] and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.^[15]

In March 2003, Bolton joined with Lifetime Television, Verizon Wireless, and many others to lobby on behalf of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence,^[16] urging legislation to provide more assistance for victims of domestic violence, such as affordable housing options.

Bolton has received the Lewis Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee, the Martin Luther King Award from the Congress of Racial Equality, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.^[17] The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce^[18] also recognized Bolton with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his musical and charitable contributions.

Discography

Since 1975, Bolton has released at least 17 studio albums and 35 singles. Nine of his singles have peaked at #1 on either the Billboard Hot 100 or the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts in the US. He has also released numerous compilation albums and at least one Christmas album.

Filmography

As actor

• Dune (1984) (uncredited)
• Meet Wally Sparks (1997)
• The Onion Movie (2008)

As executive producer

• "Offside" (short) (2001)
• Good Advice (2001)
• Terror at Home: Domestic Violence in America (TV) (2005)
• The Other Side of the Tracks (2008)

See also

• List of best selling music artists
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

References

External links

• Official website
• Michael Bolton Charities Inc.
• Music Videos
• Michael Bolton 2006 interview on "I Like Music"
• Michael Bolton at the Internet Movie Database