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Manhattan
Magazine:
Soul Provider
The multi-platinum Grammy Award-winner overcame early disappointments and now helps children and women at risk, through The Michael Bolton Foundation.
He was in his first band at the age of 12 "We played anywhere we could get away with it." At the age of 15 he sent a demo tape to Epic Records. And by 16 he was signed.
As fate would have it, the deal was over in a year. "I had met people in the industry who said I had a future in the business, but it wasn't until 1989 that it seemed I was actually going to be a performer. I just didn't know it would be a 20 year trek!"
And what a successful trek it turned out to be. With sales of nearly 50 million albums, Michael Bolton, now 45, is one of the world's most popular singers. He began hitting radio playlists in 1983 with his self-titled debut album on Columbia Records, and with his fourth album, 'Time, Love & Tenderness,' he sold 11 million copies and won his second Grammy Award.
His career as a songwriter reveals a breathtaking musical scope. He's written songs for artists as varied as - are you ready for this? - Barbra Streisand, KISS, Joe Cocker, Kenny Rogers, and Cher, and his songs have been covered by everyone from Patti LaBelle to Conway Twitty to Gregg Allman.
Widely respected for his tireless charitable efforts, in 1993 he launched The Michael Bolton Foundation. Through other charities and its own Safe Space program, the foundation assists children and women at risk, from poverty as well as from abuse.
He also is Honorary Chairman of the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse and National Chairman for This Close For Cancer Research.
Michael's been honored with the Martin Luther King Jr./CORE Award, and is on the board of directors of One-To-One, CityKids, and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.
He cites 1989 as the turning point. That year he released his third album, 'Soul Provider," which included 'How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?'
"That was released as my second single. It was bulleting up the charts, and I got a phone call from Donnie
Lenner, the president of Columbia Records. He said, "I wanted to be the first to tell you.' And I remember exactly where I was at the time."
Alone in his apartment in New York City, he remembers it as a very quiet night. "The lights were dim and it was the end of the work day, when Columbia gets all its numbers to determine where you are on the charts." Donnie had championed Michael when he took over. "He said to me, 'I think you can be selling records for as long as you want to, like Barbra Streisand or Tony Bennett.'
"I wanted to believe that, and I saw him put his money where his mouth was when the whole promotion machine needed to kick ass, when they had to put the company's power behind the artists they believe in."
On the strength of that second single, Columbia was selling as much as half a million copies a week. "At that point, all my albums together hadn't sold as much!"
He felt he was on the map. "But I'd seen so many really talented artists who had one hit and were never heard from again. I thought, 'After 20 years, I couldn't bear the thought of that happening to me.'"
Three more hits came off 'Soul Provider.' "Before I hung up the phone from Donnie, he said, 'Next week it's confirmed. You have the number one record in America, and the album is on fire.'
"I'd been close before. Being excited just wasn't a feeling that was accessible to me."
Several weeks later Michael was nominated for his first Grammy, as Best Male Pop Vocal. When he won, album sales went to another level. "All of a sudden I started to believe I would be a performer, making music, and that I'd actually have a career."
Michael pauses. "I've thought about that time. Would I have spent so much of my life in pursuit of a music career, have one hit - and then have it go away? What would that do?
"I guess there's something to be said about learning from failure, from your own close calls - and not ever being convinced of your success. Then you never take anything for granted.
"So you try much harder, and then when you are having success, instead of celebrating, you're already focused on what you can do to prolong it. That's where promotion comes in.
"You realize that Norway, for example, is across the ocean - and you may have just as many fans there as in Sweden and in Denmark. But you have to believe in yourself and your team, that they will deliver as you work over there.
"It's going to a place inside yourself that makes the music valuable…"
"And it is work. Ted Danson once said, 'This is where we earn our money.' But for me it's where we earn our careers. You go there and do 17 interviews a day, and people see your face and your name and put them together. Then they hear the song and put all three together. That takes years. I had no idea how much work."
With an outlook that encompasses both his past struggles and current success, Michael is firmly grounded. "To a certain extent I'm very grateful for the 20 year
journey.
…because that's what people feel. That's getting the job done."
He surely wasn't during that time, when he had a family of five to feed, "And I couldn't do it. I was getting eviction notices. It was pretty tough, it was…." His voice trails off.
To cover the bills he played weekends at small clubs in Connecticut. "One snowed out show, or one cancellation, and I didn't have any money that week. We had some very, very lean times.
"Necessities for the kids were purchased first, but it was always hand to mouth. The eviction notices were definitely the low points. I'd say, 'God. They're threatening to make us homeless.'"
Hardship can create a great sense of appreciation when you do make it.
"Thankfulness has become almost a theme for me. All your life people say, 'So, tell me, you love music, and you're single,' or 'You're in a relationship.' And then they ask, 'But are you happy?'
"That's the real question. And I say, 'You know what? I'm grateful. Extremely grateful.' And whatever comes at me that I don't appreciate at the end of the day just makes my experience and perception of life somehow richer and wider.
"So the gratitude is there, and that struggle to live became a permanent part of who I am. How families survive in America who don't have a record deal around the corner, I don't know.
"I remember what it was like to sit at our kitchen table with my face in my hands and only a few dollars in my pocket, and wonder how I was going to feed my family. I will never forget it."
His children were six, four, and two and two more years were to pass before regular paychecks began coming in, and his songs were picked up by other artists.
What kind of pressure did that put on him and his wife? "We did the best we could, and I think we were really good at not letting the kids know how bad it was. But there's no doubt financial duress makes life difficult for families.
"Stress does not bring out the best in you. It just diminishes who you are."
The marriage survived those lean times. "But it didn't survive eventually. It was difficult for everyone, and that does not escape me.
"People say, 'You and your wife hung in there through some pretty lean times,' and we did. She was there from the beginning, through the struggling years."
Though he's risen to fame in part because of his soulful ballads, Michael's music is incredibly wide ranging. "I always wanted to be too difficult for anyone to box me in." He's had R&B records and rock and roll records. He's written country and hard rock. "I've written for Kiss and Streisand and Conway Twitty."
That's a range right there!
"I like to think so. I'm very proud of it. I also did a Kenny Rogers cut years ago, and a cut for the Pointer Sisters when every writer in the world was sending them songs.
"I think I was able to have five hits off several albums because they would range from R&B to R&B pop, from rock to ballads."
Michael strives for so much diversity in his music that he's even introduced opera to his rock audiences, and just recorded an opera album. "I had the honor of singing with Luciano Pavarotti." The concert was held in Modena, Italy, and was a benefit for the children of Bosnia. "I didn't know how to hold high C notes and put vibrato on them, so I started studying." He fell in love with, "All those beautiful pieces Luciano had performed for years. It blew me away.
"It almost brought me to tears, listening to certain arias and thinking what a voice can do with the right material. The power is so staggering, so inspiring, that I came back and started studying."
Now he does a few arias in every show. "I don't try to change their personal tastes. I just give them a little piece - and it almost steals the show every time!
"It would be nice if at the end of my career I could look back and say, 'Wow. I took a great journey. I visited this place and that place of music.'"
The charismatic entertainer pauses thoughtfully. "But it's going to a place inside yourself that makes the music valuable - because that's what people feel. There are a lot of great musicians and a lot of people who are great technicians, but when you make people feel something, that's getting the job done."
In addition to writing for himself and others, Michael also has covered various classics, including 'When A Man Loves A Woman,' and the Otis Redding song 'Dock Of The Bay.' "I used to play that at late night sessions in New York, and people asked me to record it." It took off from the beginning, but soon ran into a wall. "People said, 'Nobody should be recording this song.'"
Then Zelma Redding said it was her favorite version since her husband's. "That's when the walls came down.
"People don't consider the families of those great performers. When a song is re-released, they get the royalties. Critics who question whether you should or shouldn't do it should talk to the writers and their families."
He also covered Dianne Warren's song 'Back On My Feet Again.' "That became an anthem for a lot of people who were recovering, from medical illnesses to alcoholism. The letters which came in from that were very moving. They helped me realize how powerful music is when you don't limit it to just entertainment, when you write about subject matter people live by.
"An artist uses music to express himself, but for people who listen to music, sometimes it gets them through the most difficult times of their lives: divorce, family breakup, loss of business, loss of life, loss of loved ones, threatening situations of all kinds.
"We don't think about it. Then you start touring and meet some of your own pop culture heroes, whether they're athletes or actors, who say to you, 'During the toughest times I ever went through, this was my theme song.'
"You never would have thought you could make a living doing this, support your family, and at the same time really affect a lot of people. It's incredible."
As he talks, it is easy to hear both his artistry, and his thankfulness.
"The thankfulness is certainly there, and it brings to mind my recent struggle with the foundation."
In the early 90's Michael started getting invited to various benefits. "Because I had achieved whatever 'celebrity status' was in the United States, if I showed up at events, I could help raise money."
"There's something to be said about learning from failure, from your own close calls…."
Then he became Honorary Chairman for the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
"When you do that work a lot of information is sent to you. The details are staggering. It is unbelievable what goes on.
"I don't care where you live, or how well-to-do your neighbors are - right down the street from you there is domestic violence and child abuse.
"Once you start to understand that, it pisses you off, pardon my terminology. But it's horrible. Intolerable."
In 1993, with the assistance of Jacqueline Smaga, who was experienced in the non-profit sector, he created The Michael Bolton Foundation. They started raising anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000 a year, in some years close to $1 million. "If I tour a lot, we do more." A portion of the proceeds from each show goes to the charity.
"If I'm going to Cleveland, we find a great ball field and do a charity softball game. If somebody else has a benefit and they want me to show up, I'm happy to if they can help my foundation, either financially, by offering us auction items, or by performing with me. Richard Marx, for example, asked me to show up for his event in Chicago. He raises money for children as well, and in return, he performed with us."
Michael notes that many personalities do the same. "Andre Agassi started his foundation, and now raises over a million dollars a year. He shows up at Elton John's events and Elton shows up at his events. People who have causes they believe in keep networking with others. It's really great."
I tell Michael of our own foundation here at Manhattan Magazine, which we started over 12 years ago, and of our annual benefits for homeless and at children, and also for breast cancer research.
"I'm glad to hear that," he says enthusiastically, and we talk further about charity work.
"I could give you a million reasons for doing fundraisers, but every time I talk to the press, they ask the same thing, 'Why is it important for celebrities to do this?' And I answer that question every single time, but I want to say, 'Hello?'" We laugh.
"First of all, as long as there's cancer, you can never raise enough money. Whether you or some loved one are affected by it, let alone if you have any compassion for people not close to you - it's suffering. And if there's something you can do, you have to do it.
"How can you not feel fortunate about being one of that very small percentage of people able to make a decent living doing what you enjoy - and not give something back? Or how can you have healthy children and not want to give something to children who aren't?
"It was heart wrenching for me that our foundation went through a very tough time the beginning of this year. But what I see from all the figures is that we've had a staggering year. The hardest part is putting on fundraisers and keeping the expenses down," he adds.
"When you're under the kind of scrutiny a celebrity can be under, you have to make decisions that may not seem to be in the best interests of those you're helping. My heart tells me that if someone said, 'I can raise another $100,000 for the foundation,' I would want to say, 'That's great.'
"But if it costs me, for example, half a million to put on the event - I have to say, 'I'm sorry, I can't do it.'"
Michael knows people want to see a very large percentage of the money raised for charity go toward the actual work. They don't want it going to expenses.
"So now we're looking more carefully at everyone who may offer us possible events. I'm finding golf events are going to work well for us." They're planning three or four around the country next year.
"It's not just the entertainment world. There are a lot of people in the corporate world who have the same personal stories. They take up a cause and raise millions of dollars, and make our events pale.
"It's about doing what you can. You never know what difference that's going to make."
Michael tells me that Ray Charles was his greatest influence growing up. "When I first sang with Ray is something I will never forget. I was so nervous I could have passed out!
"Singing with Pavoratti in front of millions of Italians who then embraced me was a big moment as well.
"Each moment of arrival is great, " he adds philosophically. "On the other hand, when my youngest daughter just had her 19th birthday, and I flew in along with my two other daughters, I just looked at them all and said, 'Thank God.'
"It's great if happiness is part of your life. But I have a different feeling these days." He smiles knowingly, from experience. "It's all about feeling
grateful.
Then you never take anything for granted."
The Michael Bolton Foundation
Office: 203.483.6463
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