Michael Bolton

The early stages of Bolton’s career saw him flirting primarily with hard rock and even metal stylings; through the mid-seventies to early-eighties, he released a slew of solo albums in the above styles, in addition to a few records with the band that he was fronting at the time, Blackjack. The late eighties, though, saw a change in musical direction for Bolton, as he instead began to turn towards more standard pop rock balladry. The decision went on to pay massive dividends, both commercially and critically; Bolton can now lay claim to having sold no fewer than seventy-five million records worldwide, as well as having scooped a clutch of American Music Awards and Grammy Awards.

Bolton’s move towards easy listening began in earnest in 1987, when he covered Otis Redding’s ‘Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay’ to great acclaim. His next album, 1989’s ‘Soul Provider’, would go on to be his first U.S. chart-topper. His biggest hits are probably the two tracks that reached the corresponding summit on the singles charts in his homeland, too: 1990’s ‘How Am I Supposed to Live Without You’ and then his signature hit the following year – ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’.