His achievements include selling 53 million albums, eight top ten albums, two number one singles on the Billboard charts, and awards from both the American Music Awards and Grammy Awards.
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. 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. 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 Bolton had co-written, became a Top 40 hit for Laura Branigan. Nevertheless, 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, 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 Bolton into a superstar, reaching the Top Ten, selling four million copies, and spawning five Top 40 singles, including 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 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 Bolton by the Isley Brothers) and "Time, Love and Tenderness."
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 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, Bolton faced a hostile press corps of critics unhappy with his tendency to copy great soul singers like Redding, Ray Charles, and Sledge. 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 Bolton's version of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody." 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." 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.
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 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.
It would be worth mentioning "Can I Touch You There" proved to be one of the all-time hit love songs from Micheal Bolton from the album Greatest Hits.
www.michaelbolton.com/
Ain't Got Nothing If You Ain't Got Love
Michael Bolton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can take your place down on easy street
Or just lose your mind
Over things only money can buy
But it's a fact of life no matter what you do
Every stake you claim, every dream come true
Down deep inside, these kinda things never satisfy
Oh, love is the precious thing
Love is the living dream
Callin' your name
Tellin' you somethin' 'cause you
[Chorus]
Ain't got nothin' if you ain't got love
Ain't got nothin' if you ain't got love
You can conquer the world, but it's never enough
Because you ain't got nothin' if you ain't got love
You can carry the flame across the finish line
You can sign your name in the sands of time
But fortune and fame they're just things that ya leave behind
Well, you think you got the world in the palm of your hand
But there's one thing missin' in your promised land
It's a thing called love, the one thing that your heart demands
Oh, love is the rhythm of life
In your soul is where the secret lies
When love is lookin' through your eyes
Every feelin' inside
Is tellin' you somethin'
[Chorus]
You can chase your dreams down the yellow brick road
Sail full steam down the river of gold
If you ever get it all, you never get enough
'Cause you ain't got nothin' if you ain't got love
Oh, love is the precious thing
Set you free and give your heart the wings to fly
Callin' your name, oh
The lyrics of Michael Bolton's song "Ain't Got Nothing If You Ain't Got Love" remind listeners that no matter how successful they are in life, they will never be truly happy without love. The song contrasts the pursuit of material possessions and fame with the essentiality of love. It conveys the message that love is the most valuable thing in the world, as it sets you free and gives you the wings to fly. The opening lines encourage listeners to live a fulfilling life, but to acknowledge that even "things only money can buy" cannot make them truly happy. The song emphasizes that fame and fortune are not enough to satisfy an individual's emotional needs, and that genuine love is essential to leading a meaningful life.
Bolton's song highlights the fact that love is what makes life worth living, and nothing can compensate for the lack of it. The lyrics outline the traps that people face in their pursuit of success, and how they can be caught up in a never-ending cycle of chasing more without realizing that they are missing something vital. The chorus of the song repeatedly asserts the message that "Ain't got nothing if you ain't got love," driving home the point that love is the most valuable thing in life.
Overall, "Ain't Got Nothing If You Ain't Got Love" is a powerful song that reminds us to prioritize love and relationships over material possessions and professional success. It communicates a message that is both poignant and relevant to our modern lives, reminding us that the most important things in life are the intangible things - love, connections, and relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
You can live your life on the edge of your seat
You can live a daring, risk-taking life
You can take your place down on easy street
You can live a comfortable, easy life
Or just lose your mind
Or you could lose your sense of what truly matters
Over things only money can buy
By obsessing over material possessions that only money can buy
But it's a fact of life no matter what you do
Regardless of what you do in life
Every stake you claim, every dream come true
All the achievements and successes you attain
Down deep inside, these kinda things never satisfy
Whenever you're looking for a deeper, more fulfilling satisfaction
Oh, love is the precious thing
Love is invaluable and precious
Set you free and give your heart the wings to fly
Love liberates you and motivates you to soar
Love is the living dream
Love is an ongoing, present-tense reality that you experience
Callin' your name
It calls out to you and beckons for you to embrace it
Tellin' you somethin' 'cause you
It's telling you something because
[Chorus] Ain't got nothin' if you ain't got love
You don't truly have anything if love isn't present in your life
You can conquer the world, but it's never enough
You can have ultimate success in life but it still won't be enough
You can carry the flame across the finish line
You can complete and finish monumental tasks
You can sign your name in the sands of time
You can leave a lasting legacy and make a profound impact in history
But fortune and fame they're just things that ya leave behind
Anything pertaining to material wealth only lasts in this earthy realm
Well, you think you got the world in the palm of your hand
you can think of yourself as in control of everything in the world
But there's one thing missin' in your promised land
But if love isn't present in that world, it's ultimately lacking
It's a thing called love, the one thing that your heart demands
It's love that your heart truly desires and needs
Oh, love is the rhythm of life
Love is an essential rhythm that brings order to life
In your soul is where the secret lies
The secret to experiencing love rests within you
When love is lookin' through your eyes
When you see the world through the lens of love
Every feelin' inside
Every emotion you experience
Is tellin' you somethin'
Is trying to relay a message to you
[Chorus] Ain't got nothin' if you ain't got love
You don't truly have anything if love isn't present in your life
You can chase your dreams down the yellow brick road
You can actively pursue and follow your passions and aspirations
Sail full steam down the river of gold
You can put all your effort into accumulating wealth
If you ever get it all, you never get enough
But even if you do attain everything you desire, you're never satisfied
'Cause you ain't got nothin' if you ain't got love
Because love is the ultimate foundation of a fulfilling life
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MICHAEL BOLTON, ROBERT JOHN LANGE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind