A onetime hard rock singer with a distinctively raspy voice and four-octave range, Michael Bolton rose to superstardom by refashioning himself as a blue-eyed soul singer. He did so by reviving such '60s R&B standards as Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" as well as by introducing soul-pop hits of his own, including 1989's "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990. Bolton went on to dominate the adult contemporary airwaves during the early and mid-'90s, racking up a series of number one AC hits that also peaked in the upper reaches of the Hot 100. He went all the way to number one on the Billboard album chart with 1991's Time, Love & Tenderness -- a set of two covers and eight originals -- and the next year's Timeless: The Classics, which consisted entirely of covers. The hit singles slowed in the late '90s, but he continued to successfully tour and record, scoring the occasional hit album, such as 2006's Bolton Swings Sinatra and 2013's Ain't No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute to Hitsville U.S.A. Bolton was still a factor on the Billboard 200 by the arrival of his 24th studio album, Spark of Light -- his first all-original outing -- in 2023.
Originally, he recorded under his real name, Michael Bolotin, turning up on RCA Records in the mid-'70s singing cover tunes and his own blue-eyed soul songs in a voice reminiscent of Joe Cocker. He then became the lead singer of Blackjack, a heavy metal band that made two albums for Polydor before splitting up in the early '80s. Looking to relaunch his career, he changed his name to Michael Bolton and signed to Columbia Records as a solo artist in 1983.
The self-titled Michael Bolton was released in April 1983 and made the Top 100 best-sellers, as did its lead single, "Fools Game." At the same time, "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," a ballad Bolton had co-written with Doug James, became a Top 40 hit for Laura Branigan. Nevertheless, Bolton's second album for the Columbia label, 1985's Everybody's Crazy, was a commercial flop outside of Sweden, where it hit the Top 50. He finally broke into the mainstream in the U.S., U.K., and several other countries with his fifth release, The Hunger, which appeared in September 1987. On this album, Bolton abandoned the hard rock sound of his previous records and concentrated on blue-eyed soul singing, both on his own songs ("That's What Love Is All About") and on covers like Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." Those two singles became his first Top 40 hits.
Soul Provider, released in July 1989, turned Bolton into a certified superstar. Featuring songs co-written with hitmakers like Dianne Warren and Desmond Child, it reached the Top Ten in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Norway and spawned five Top 40 singles, including Bolton's number one version of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," as well as 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" also won Bolton a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Time, Love & Tenderness, released in April 1991, was even more successful, hitting number one on the Billboard 200 and featuring four Top 40 hits, including a chart-topping cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" and the North American Top Ten hits "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" (later the subject of a successful plagiarism suit brought against Bolton by the Isley Brothers) and "Time, Love and Tenderness." It resulted in another Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, this time for "When a Man Loves a Woman." He followed that success with Timeless: The Classics in September 1992, an album made up entirely of classic cover songs. Highlighted by a Top 20 version of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody," it also went to number one in the U.S. Bolton's next album of mostly original material (alongside a U.K.-charting cover of Bill Withers' "Lean on Me"), The One Thing, came in November 1993. It hit the U.S. Top Three and went to number one in Australia and Norway with help from the Top Ten hit "Said I Loved You...But I Lied." Bolton celebrated his decade-long string of hits with a best-of compilation, Greatest Hits 1985-1995, which debuted in the U.S. and U.K. Top Five. This Is the Time: Christmas Album appeared one year later and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200.
After topping the adult contemporary charts with "Go the Distance," a song he produced and recorded for the Disney film Hercules, Bolton returned in late 1997 with All That Matters, his first album to include new material since 1993's The One Thing. Instead of continuing his monumental success, however, it barely cracked the U.S. Top 40. That didn't stop 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 positive press. He supported the two albums with a tour co-headlined by Wynonna Judd. Bolton next offered 1999's Timeless: The Classics, Vol. 2, which, in sharp contrast to the chart-topping Vol. 1, failed to crack the Billboard 200. His chart presence was revived in early 2002 when Only a Woman Like You, his first album for Jive Records, peaked at number 36 in the States in addition to a Top 20 appearance in the U.K. Up next for Bolton was an album focusing on hits from the 1930s to '50s titled Vintage. It arrived on Passion Group/Universal in September 2003 and stalled at number 76 on the U.S. album chart. A mix of seven studio recordings and 11 live cuts (from performances in August 2004), 2005's 'Til the End of Forever charted in the bottom half of the Billboard 200.
In 2006, he rebounded with Bolton Swings Sinatra, a 12-song tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes that included a duet with actress Nicollette Sheridan. It charted at 51 and 54 in the U.S. and U.K., respectively. One World One Love, an album featuring collaborations with Ne-Yo and Lady Gaga, arrived three years later in the U.K., followed by an American release in 2010. That album proved to be a U.K. hit, landing in the Top 20. Bolton took part in the 11th season of Dancing with the Stars later that year, having already endeared himself to reality TV fans with 2007's Clash of the Choirs. He also collaborated with comedy troupe the Lonely Island by singing on the hip-hop parody "Jack Sparrow," which debuted as a digital short on Saturday Night Live before appearing on the Lonely Island's second album, Turtleneck & Chain. Keeping the collaborative spirit alive, he released 2011's Gems: The Duets Collection, an album featuring duets with vocalists (Seal, Delta Goodrem), country groups (Rascal Flatts), and instrumentalists (guitarist Orianthi). It went all the way to number 11 in the U.K. and 28 in Australia while peaking at 128 Stateside.
Two years later, Bolton saluted the legendary Motown Records with the full-length Ain't No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute to Hitsville U.S.A. The album returned him to the U.K. Top 20 and debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200 upon its February 2013 release; a little over a year later, it appeared in a revised form featuring a duet with Leona Lewis on the title track. Also in 2013, Bolton published a memoir called The Soul of It All: My Music, My Life. Bolton's next big project arrived in 2017, when he released Songs of Cinema -- a collection of ten songs that appeared in popular films over the years -- in February. Arriving 30 years after the platinum-selling The Hunger, it still managed crack the Billboard 200. That same month, Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special appeared on Netflix.
Bolton revisited his catalog with the assistance of an orchestra for 2019's Symphony of Hits. His debut for the Montaigne label, it marked his 19th Billboard 200 chart appearance. He returned on the label with 2023's Spark of Light, the first album of his solo career to consist entirely of original songs. ~ William Ruhlmann & Marcy Donelson
