Michael Bolton

With his husky voice and deeply felt covers of classic soul and Motown songs, adult contemporary singer Michael Bolton was an inescapable presence in the late 1980s and early ’90s. • Bolton got started in the mid-’70s as a hard rocker, releasing a pair of albums with his band Blackjack and touring as an opening act for Ozzy Osbourne. • His transition to pop began as a songwriter, when he co-wrote Laura Branigan’s 1983 hit “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” which reached the top of the Adult Contemporary singles chart. Bolton recorded a version for his 1989 album Soul Provider that was a No. 1 hit and won a Grammy. • Bolton also co-wrote “I Found Someone” for Branigan in 1985, but the song was a bigger hit for Cher when she recorded it in 1987. • His breakthrough as a performer came on his 1987 album The Hunger, which included a version of Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” that reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. • Bolton’s 1991 LP Time, Love & Tenderness was his biggest commercial success, reaching the top of the Billboard 200 and launching four Top 40 singles, including his signature cover of the Percy Sledge tune When a Man Loves a Woman. • In the 2000s, Bolton recorded albums paying tribute to Frank Sinatra, classic rock and soul songs, and Motown. • He appears occasionally on TV and in movies, often playing a version of himself. He made one memorable appearance on Saturday Night Live with the music comedy trio The Lonely Island in their video for “Jack Sparrow.”