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/
Let's Stay Together
Michael Bolton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me
'Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you
Since, since we've been together
Loving you forever
Let me be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue
Let's, let's stay together
Lovin' you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad
Why, why some people break up
Then turn around and make up
I just can't see
You'd never do that to me (would you, baby)
Staying around you is all I see
(Here's what I want us to do)
Let's, we oughta stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
The lyrics to Michael Bolton's song "Let's Stay Together" convey a feeling of deep love and commitment. The singer expresses their complete affection for their partner, stating that whatever they want to do is alright with them because they feel so brand new in their love. They desire to spend their life with their partner and will always be true to them. The chorus emphasizes the importance of staying together through good and bad times, as some people may break up and make up, but staying around their partner is all they see. The singer implores their partner to stay with them and remain in love with them, no matter what life may throw their way.
Overall, the lyrics convey a message of long-lasting love and a desire for commitment. The repeating chorus emphasizes the importance of staying together through both happy and difficult times, as their bond will remain strong. The lyrics are beautifully written and showcase the depth of feeling that comes with a true and lasting love.
Line by Line Meaning
I, I'm so in love with you
I am completely in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me
I completely support and accept whatever you want to do
'Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you
You make me feel rejuvenated and alive, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you
Since, since we've been together
Loving you forever
Is what I need
Let me be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue
Since we've been together, I've realized that I need to love you forever. Please let me be the one you depend on, and I promise that I will always be loyal and true to you
Let's, let's stay together
Lovin' you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Let's stay together and love each other no matter what happens, whether we are going through good or bad times
Why, why some people break up
Then turn around and make up
I just can't see
You'd never do that to me (would you, baby)
Staying around you is all I see
(Here's what I want us to do)
I don't understand why some couples break up and get back together. I trust that you would never do that to me. Being with you is all I can focus on. This is what I want us to do together
We oughta stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
We should stay together and love each other no matter what happens, whether we are going through good or bad times
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Tratore, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Willie Mitchell, Al Green, Al Jackson Jr
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind