Top 63 Quotes & Sayings by Michael Bolton
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American musician Michael Bolton.
Last updated on April 14, 2025.
The whole industry evolves around a great song.
I love songwriting. It's second to my love for singing in how I express myself.
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.
It's understanding the intention of a composer that allows a producer and an arranger to make those moments speak.
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?
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.
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.
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.
We used to call it recurrent airplay when someone had a hit.
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.
A lot of the greatest compositions were made famous by Sinatra.
The Top 40 is geared toward 20 and under, not 20 and up. That's the audience I'm geared to.
A lot of my success comes from black music. It's something I'm very proud of.
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.
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.
One song will launch you, but you don't want to be a one-song artist.
It's an important thing to remember where you came from.
No matter how great we get with digital formats of instrumentation, nothing really quite duplicates the real thing.
Black music has increased my enjoyment of what I do. It has increased my range, my ability to reach into myself and accept myself.
Considering the amount of information we're bombarded by, it's amazing if a song can transcend time.
You're presuming too much by using the word legacy - presuming that someone is going to care.
I'm proud of my mentors. Ray Charles is the strongest influence on me as a singer.
When I started studying for the arias it was like going into training for a heavyweight title fight.
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.
The bigger you are, the harder they come down on you.
When I was invited to sing with Pavarotti, I had about two weeks to learn Italian.
You can't make everybody love what you do, but you can know how great you feel doing it.
With the internet, things are so much more immediate. People taste-test things to see if they want to buy the CD.
Dr. King is so inspiring, so impressive, so moving as a human being.
To sing along with Stevie Wonder, you had to make your voice do things it was not accustomed to doing.
Whoever best serves the song is going to be served by the song.
Tonight I feel like a prisoner on fire, waiting desperately... denied, sentenced forever more. Only your love can set me free.
A 'passing' test doesn't mean 'no problem.' It means no problem *observed*. This time. With these inputs. So far. On my machine.
When I started studying for the arias it was like going into training for a heavyweight title fight
Whoever best serves the song is going to be served by the song
It's not quite the Tom Jones show, but yes, I've had undergarments. If I get a bra chucked on stage I'll hold it up so the audience can decide what to think. And I'll usually blame a guy for doing it.
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.
To sing along with Stevie Wonder, you had to make your voice do things it was not accustomed to doing
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.
On singing in the swimming pool: "If I can move the water, I can move the people.
The whole industry evolves around a great song
One song will launch you, but you don't want to be a one-song artist
I like the simple 'I love your work' letters. You never get sick of people's appreciation. They think they're troubling you, but it's lovely people associate my songs with certain moments in their lives.
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
As you get older, your experiences become more precious. Nothing material is important to me. It's people who are precious.
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.
Yes!!! I booked a commercial!!!
I'm proud of my mentors. Ray Charles is the strongest influence on me as a singer
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.
Its a combination of melody and lyrics, not one without the other. Its a confluence of these different elements that makes something powerful.
It's understanding the intention of a composer that allows a producer and an arranger to make those moments speak
The bigger you are, the harder they come down on you
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
The more complicated the movie, the more complex the budget, the more lonely it gets. There's a point where ... who do you go to, other than prayer and friends?
With the internet, things are so much more immediate. People taste-test things to see if they want to buy the CD
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.
But I'm not superstitious. I don't really eat dinner before I go on stage, because digesting a lot of food kind of shuts you down. And I try not to get involved in emotional conversations with anyone beforehand either, so I've got a clear head.
No matter how great we get with digital formats of instrumentation, nothing really quite duplicates the real thing
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?
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