Singer/songwriter Michael Bolton had an extensive, though not very
successful, career under his real name, Michael Bolotin, before
emerging in the mid-'80s as a major soft rock balladeer. He turned up
on RCA Records in the mid-'70s singing in a gruff, Joe Cocker-like
voice both his own blue-eyed soul songs and cover tunes. Neither record
buyers nor critics were much interested by the result. He then became
the lead singer in Blackjack, a heavy metal band that made two albums
for Polydor at the end of the '70s and the start of the '80s. In 1983,
he changed his name to Michael Bolton, signed to Columbia Records as a
solo act, and relaunched his career.