Michael Bolton
Considering the amount of information we're bombarded by, it's amazing if a song can transcend time.Collection: Amazing
A lot of the greatest compositions were made famous by Sinatra.Collection: Famous
I love songwriting. It's second to my love for singing in how I express myself.
When you have great songs that are going to live longer than the composers, everything you can do to bring those different elements and nuances out, serve the song.
You're presuming too much by using the word legacy - presuming that someone is going to care.
With the internet, things are so much more immediate. People taste-test things to see if they want to buy the CD.
It's an important thing to remember where you came from.
To sing along with Stevie Wonder, you had to make your voice do things it was not accustomed to doing.
Black music has increased my enjoyment of what I do. It has increased my range, my ability to reach into myself and accept myself.
It's a combination of melody and lyrics, not one without the other. It's a confluence of these different elements that makes something powerful.
Whoever best serves the song is going to be served by the song.
You can't make everybody love what you do, but you can know how great you feel doing it.
When I was invited to sing with Pavarotti, I had about two weeks to learn Italian.
When I started studying for the arias it was like going into training for a heavyweight title fight.
We used to call it recurrent airplay when someone had a hit.
There are certain people who have become better artists, but they're brilliant at marketing. I think someone who's been phenomenal like that is Madonna.
The whole industry evolves around a great song.
The Top 40 is geared toward 20 and under, not 20 and up. That's the audience I'm geared to.
The bigger you are, the harder they come down on you.
Someone told me there was a publisher that could find a good home for my songs, but I didn't want to give up my pursuit of a career in the business as an artist.
Sinatra, here's a guy who plays a tough guy in all his movies, but was allowed to be vulnerable when he stepped up to the microphone.
One song will launch you, but you don't want to be a one-song artist.
No matter how great we get with digital formats of instrumentation, nothing really quite duplicates the real thing.
It's understanding the intention of a composer that allows a producer and an arranger to make those moments speak.
I'm proud of my mentors. Ray Charles is the strongest influence on me as a singer.
I was blown away by the control and the range that I was hearing. I'm listening to Pavarotti and thinking, What the hell have I been doing with my voice all these years?
I kept looking to do songs that were written years ago and would live or outlive all of us, and the one thing they had in common was Sinatra.
I have to be happy in the here and now because every time you start focusing on your legacy you're really setting yourself up for disappointment.
I have friends who've tried to break into the UK, who went back with their tails between their legs. Fortunately I've had the opposite experience.
For years I've kept a list of dream projects.
Dr. King is so inspiring, so impressive, so moving as a human being.
A lot of my success comes from black music. It's something I'm very proud of.
As you get older, your experiences become more precious. Nothing material is important to me. It's people who are precious.Collection: People
Tonight I feel like a prisoner on fire, waiting desperately... denied, sentenced forever more. Only your love can set me free.Collection: Passion
On singing in the swimming pool: "If I can move the water, I can move the people.Collection: Moving
The bigger you are, the harder they come down on youCollection: Bigger
Whoever best serves the song is going to be served by the songCollection: Song
To be honest I listen to the female opinion on my photos. If all the girls in the office choose a certain shot, even if I don't like it, it becomes a front runner because, really, what do I know about how others perceive me?Collection: Girl
No matter how great we get with digital formats of instrumentation, nothing really quite duplicates the real thingCollection: Real
You know, fans who think we were made for each other and describe it in excruciating detail. You get peculiar things and beautiful things. But either way they're clearly thinking about you, which is nice.Collection: Beautiful
When your car is about to go off a cliff, it’s a weird time to be thinking about gas mileage and drag coefficients; better to take the right control action—look out the window and steer or use the brake until you’re back on course.Collection: Thinking
With the internet, things are so much more immediate. People taste-test things to see if they want to buy the CDCollection: Cds
It's understanding the intention of a composer that allows a producer and an arranger to make those moments speakCollection: Understanding
I still get butterflies. It's because there's a certain level of responsibility you carry when doing a concert. You've got to sound at least as good as the record.Collection: Responsibility
I'm pretty irreverent. There is a lot of need to find humour in life. Although I'd never be as disrespectful to laugh at someone's expense.Collection: Laughing
One song will launch you, but you don't want to be a one-song artistCollection: Song
Its a combination of melody and lyrics, not one without the other. Its a confluence of these different elements that makes something powerful.Collection: Powerful
When you have great songs that are going to live longer than the composers, everything you can do to bring those different elements and nuances out, serve the songCollection: Song
I accept that appearance is a big thing in this business. But being around Hollywood and having actor friends and doing music videos, it does make you more aware of how you look. With music videos they send you rough cuts, and in certain frames of me, I just see a nose advert.Collection: Cutting
The whole industry evolves around a great songCollection: Song