Line #37 Music/MichaelBolton


1	[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/medium545454565_3334.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:230:How are we ever supposed to live or [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} go the distance]] without him?]]
3	->''[[MemeticMutation Now back to the good part!]]'' ''[[Music/TheLonelyIsland ♫ THIS IS THE TALE OF CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW...♫]]''
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5	Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), better known known as [[StageNames Michael Bolton]], is a [[Film/OfficeSpace no-talent ass-clown]]...I MEAN...a phenomenon of TheNineties. There is no other American singer and songwriter quite like him.
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7	Let's explain. There are many metal bands out there which, despite having what fans would consider decent metal, are known solely for their power ballads by the general public. Michael Bolton got his start as the singer and occasional guitarist in a mostly-forgotten metal group called Blackjack, which explains the quality of his voice. However, for his entire solo career, which is most of his known career, Michael Bolton has done nothing ''but'' power ballads, with some mid-tempo songs thrown in. What is more, they are almost all SillyLoveSongs or {{Obsession Song}}s (those types often overlap in the popular consciousness).
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9	He did chart well during his peak, and he was more than a OneHitWonder. He had several top ten albums, including two number ones, at least one live DVD concert, and a Grammy award.
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11	Younger audiences will know him for singing the pop version of "Go the Distance" featured in the end credits of the 1997 Creator/{{Disney}} film ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', which has become a song pretty much required by law to be played at every high school graduation. These days, he is also known for [[BreadEggsMilkSquick being found guilty of plagiarizing]] "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" by the Isley Brothers. (Note: if you are a songwriter, ''never'' let your music stray too close to anything published by Creator/{{Motown}}.)
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13	He also made a cameo and is a minor plot point in the infamous Creator/CubaGoodingJr. film ''Film/SnowDogs''. A little known fact is he helped write the song "Forever" for Music/{{Kiss}}.
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15	His career took a very interesting turn, to say the least, when Music/TheLonelyIsland [[http://youtu.be/GI6CfKcMhjY featured him in one of their videos]]. While he was hesitant to do [[ClusterFBomb a particularly filthy comedy song]] at first, "Jack Sparrow" proved to be a massive viral hit. It gave Bolton a semi-ironic [[NewbieBoom new generation of fans,]] which he embraced with a 2017 Creator/{{Netflix}} special, ''Film/MichaelBoltonsBigSexyValentinesDaySpecial.''
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17	----
18	!!Now back to the good tropes:
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20	* AdamWesting
21	** "[[Music/TheLonelyIsland Jack Sparrow]]" has him in his standard hamminess.
22	** He started doing tongue-in-cheek hammy ballads in Honda television ads in late 2013 as well as Starburst commercials.
23	** ''Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special'' is chock full of this.
24	** He also made [[RunningGag several]] appearances on ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'', all of which reduced him to "When A Man Loves A Woman".
25	** His Tiger character [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH6IBef79HA sings a song that's so stereotypical to his style it hits the point of parody]] in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies''.
26	* AtomicFBomb: Bellows a big one during his stint with Music/TheLonelyIsland in "Jack Sparrow".
27	* TheCameo: Has appeared in a handful of films and television series, including:
28	** ''[[Creator/RodneyDangerfield Meet Wally Sparks]]''
29	** ''Series/TheNanny''
30	** ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen''
31	** ''Film/PopstarNeverStopNeverStopping''
32	** ''Series/FreshOffTheBoat''
33	** ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies''
34	* CarpetOfVirility: Shown off in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv5vMJKBAbo the video]] for "Said I Loved You But I Lied."
35	* CoverAlbum
36	* CoverVersion: Recorded quite a few covers of old soul songs (for example, his first major hit as an artist was a cover of "[[Music/OtisRedding (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay.]]")
37	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Although some people like it better, the AOR, pop-metal style of his earliest albums will no doubt surprise most listeners more familiar with his SoftRock material. His ''really'' early installments (which came out in the 1970s when he was still going by his birth name, Michael Bolotin) were even weirder, sounding kind of like Music/JoeCocker.
38	* EightiesHair: Kept his mullet well into TheNineties, which earned him some scorn but eventually cut his hair short in 1997.
39	* ExactWords: Well, he did write that big sexy hook for The Lonely Island...
40	* FloatingHeadSyndrome: More than one of his albums, including ''Time, Love and Tenderness''.
41	* GreatestHitsAlbum: The compilation covering his first ten years was the most successful.
42	* LargeHam: His overly-emotional singing style was [[YourHeadAsplode notably parodied]] by Creator/JimCarrey on an episode of ''Series/InLivingColor''. He also shows up for that [=SNL=]/Music/TheLonelyIsland video belting out a power chorus in hamtastic fashion.
43	** "Said I Loved You But I Lied" is the most over-the-top music video ever produced for a {{Silly Love Song}}. It features, among other things, Bolton singing from on top of a mountain, his shirt completely unbuttoned, with the camera spinning around him, while horses run through fire on a beach.
44	* ObsessionSong
45	* PlayingAgainstType: In 2006, opera legend Luciano Pavarotti (who, it turned out, was a ''gigantic'' fan of Michael Bolton) invited Michael Bolton to sing with him on stage. At first Bolton was bemused and terrified, but he went ahead and went. The results turned out a hell of a lot better than anyone ever had any right to expect given that Bolton does not have the "pure" voice that is required in opera. Bolton has since [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhw5-qeHkOA regularly added several arias to his stage performances]], and they are ''always'' well-received.
46	* SelfTitledAlbum: His first album (''Michael Bolotin'') and his third album (''Michael Bolton''). Thanks to SequelDisplacement, the former (and the album that came after it) are usually forgotten, and the latter is often mistaken for his first album.
47	* SignatureStyle: A husky, full-throated tenor with no qualms whatsoever about big, showy MelismaticVocals. He successfully applied that singing style to old R&B covers, contemporary pop, smoky ballads, show tunes and rock & roll.
48	* SillyLoveSongs: Prior to "Jack Sparrow" he was primarily known as an adult contemporary balladeer, and that style lends itself to ''lots'' of this trope.
49	* StageName: A minor case -- his real surname is Bolotin, and he released his first two albums under that name.
50	* TakeThatCritics: After receiving negative criticism for over-reliance on covers of old {{Soul}} songs, Bolton recorded the all-covers album ''Timeless: The Classics'' at the height of his fame, sending it number one in the American chart.

Context Music / MichaelBolton