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/
All the Way
Michael Bolton Lyrics
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It's no good unless they love you all the way
Happy to be near you
When you need someone to cheer you all the way
Taller than the tallest tree is
That's how it's got to feel
Deeper than the deep blue sea is
When somebody needs you
It's no good unless they need you all the way
Through the good or lean years
And for all the in-between years, come what may
Who knows where the road will lead us?
Only a fool would see
But if you'll let me love you
For sure I'm gonna love you all the way, all the way
When somebody loves you
It's no good unless they love you all the way
Happy to be near you
When you need someone to cheer you, come what may
Who knows where the road will lead us?
Only a fool would see
If you'll let me love you
For sure I'm gonna love you all the way
All the way
The song All The Way by Michael Bolton is a romantic ballad that emphasizes the importance of unconditional love in a relationship. The song speaks about how love is only meaningful when it is given completely, and how important it is to have someone who will support and encourage you through good times and bad. The lyrics are both inspiring and heartfelt, and they capture the true essence of what it means to love someone unconditionally.
The opening lines of the song speak about how empty love can be if it is not given fully. The lyrics emphasize how important it is to have someone who will stand by your side, no matter what life brings. The next stanza in the song speaks about how true love is deeper than the deepest sea and taller than the tallest tree. This speaks to the depth and height of the love that is being shared in a relationship, and how it can transcend all boundaries.
The bridge is particularly poetic and speaks about the uncertainty of life, and how no one truly knows where their path may lead. However, if the object of affection allows the singer to love them, he promises to love them all the way, no matter what twists and turns their journey may bring. This is a beautiful message of hope, and encourages listeners to be vulnerable and open-hearted in their relationships, trusting in the power of love to sustain them.
Line by Line Meaning
When somebody loves you
Being loved by someone is not enough, they need to love you completely
It's no good unless they love you all the way
Incomplete love is not fulfilling
Happy to be near you
Being close to you brings joy
When you need someone to cheer you all the way
I'll support you wholeheartedly
Taller than the tallest tree is
The love I have for you is monumental
That's how it's got to feel
True love should be intense
Deeper than the deep blue sea is
My love for you is beyond measure
That's how deep it goes if it's real
Real love is limitless
When somebody needs you
Without complete need, love cannot be fulfilled
It's no good unless they need you all the way
Being needed wholeheartedly is the only way to true love
Through the good or lean years
No matter the circumstances
And for all the in-between years, come what may
Through all the ups and downs
Who knows where the road will lead us?
The future is uncertain
Only a fool would see
Predicting the future is impossible
But if you'll let me love you
With your consent
For sure I'm gonna love you all the way, all the way
I'll love you completely, with no reservation
When somebody loves you
Being loved by someone is not enough, they need to love you completely
It's no good unless they love you all the way
Incomplete love is not fulfilling
Happy to be near you
Being close to you brings joy
When you need someone to cheer you, come what may
I'll support you wholeheartedly
Who knows where the road will lead us?
The future is uncertain
Only a fool would see
Predicting the future is impossible
If you'll let me love you
With your consent
For sure I'm gonna love you all the way
I'll love you completely, with no reservation
All the way
To the fullest extent possible
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: PETER HOOK, GILLIAN LESLEY GILBERT, STEPHEN PAUL DAVID MORRIS, BERNARD (GB 2) SUMNER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind