41 Facts About Michael Bolton

Michael Bolton achieved peak recognition as a pop ballad singer in the late 1980s and early 1990s with notable collaborations with songwriters like Diane Warren and Desmond Child.

Michael Bolton participated in Dancing with the Stars and produced the documentary American Dream: Detroit.

Michael Bolton has been recognized for his contributions to music and charity, including receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Michael Bolton's father, George Bolotin, was a local official in the Democratic Party, and his mother, Helen, was a homemaker.

Michael Bolton has a brother, Orrin, and a sister, Sandra.

Michael Bolton took odd jobs, including as Paula Abdul's babysitter.

Michael Bolton began recording in 1975 at The Church Studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Michael Bolton's version was only a minor hit, but two years later, Cher resurrected the song, and with it her own singing career.

Michael Bolton recorded his own rendition of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" in 1988, which reached number one on the Hot 100.

Michael Bolton achieved his greatest success as a pop singer in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Michael Bolton performed songs written by or co-written with major hit songwriters of the era including Diane Warren and Desmond Child, but had several hits that were remakes of 1960s soul classics.

From 1987 to 1995, Michael Bolton had four top ten albums and seven top ten songs in the US He had even greater success on the adult contemporary chart, where he had a string of 14 consecutive top ten hits, including eight number ones.

Michael Bolton had 12 top ten songs in Canada, but was less successful outside of North America with four top ten singles in the UK and a few others in various other European countries.

Michael Bolton's work during the period has been criticized for being derivative, and in 1992, the Isley Brothers filed a lawsuit against Michael Bolton, claiming his 1991 hit song "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" plagiarized their 1966 song of the same name.

Michael Bolton hired conductor Larry Baird, the orchestral musical director, conductor, and arranger for The Moody Blues, Three Dog Night, and Al Jarreau, for his 2001 tour.

Michael Bolton's popularity declined in the late 1990s, but he continued to have adult contemporary hits through the mid-2000s.

Michael Bolton released albums every year or two through the mid-2010s.

For Over the Rainbow, an album which was recorded in five days, Michael Bolton recorded the song "New York, New York", which was on his Michael Bolton Swings Sinatra album.

Michael Bolton released his album One World One Love in the UK on September 21,2009.

In 2013, Michael Bolton released the album Ain't No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute to Hitsville USA, which featured duets with Kelly Rowland, Melanie Fiona and Orianthi.

Michael Bolton performed a duet entitled "Il Mio Amico" with the Italian singer Anna Tatangelo at the Sanremo Music Festival 2008.

Michael Bolton competed in the American Song Contest, representing Connecticut and performing the song Beautiful World, with his first performance in the first week, on March 21,2022.

Michael Bolton made it to the finals, finishing in seventh place.

Michael Bolton has made several cameo appearances in feature films and television, usually appearing as himself, such as in Meet Wally Sparks, Two and a Half Men, and The Nanny.

In September 2010, Michael Bolton was a contestant on the 11th season of Dancing with the Stars.

On May 15,2018, American Dream: Detroit, a documentary produced by Michael Bolton, premiered in the Redford Theatre.

Michael Bolton loves Detroit and wanted to highlight its economic comeback.

Michael Bolton was raised in a liberal family, and describes his childhood home as having been decorated with both a Hanukkah menorah and a Christmas tree during the holidays.

Michael Bolton left Hebrew school at age 12 when his rabbi forbade him from returning unless he stopped joking around.

Nevertheless, Michael Bolton became a bar mitzvah at age 13 and has said he maintains some beliefs in Judaism.

In January 2013, Michael Bolton published an autobiography, The Soul of It All: My Music, My Life.

In January 2024, Michael Bolton announced he had undergone emergency surgery for a brain tumor before the December 2023 holidays, and would take a break from touring for the rest of the year.

Michael Bolton added that the surgery had been "a success".

Michael Bolton was married to Maureen McGuire from 1975 to 1990.

Michael Bolton became a grandfather for the first time in October 2010, through his daughter Taryn.

In 1995, Michael Bolton performed at a fundraiser for Rowland after the foundation received a grant of $300,000 from the state.

In 2014, when Rowland was about to be sentenced for honest-services fraud, mail fraud and tax fraud, Michael Bolton wrote a letter in support of Rowland to the judge who was assigned to sentence Rowland.

Michael Bolton serves as the honorary chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America and the national chairman for This Close for Cancer Research, and he is a member of the boards of the National Mentoring Partnership and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.

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

Michael 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.

Since 1975, Michael Bolton has released 24 studio albums and 35 singles.