Long-time fans still come first for Bolton

US crooner is grateful to his core followers for fuelling him

Nov 04, 2017 06:00 am

It has been six years since veteran crooner Michael Bolton collaborated with US comedic hip-hop trio The Lonely Island but their hit song Jack Sparrow is still, in his own words, "the gift that keeps on giving".

The track, which features Bolton singing aggressively about movies such as the Pirates Of The Caribbean films, appeared on skit show Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a digital short in 2011.

"The day after we appeared on SNL, I came down the stairs and my daughter was at the kitchen table reading the comments and she said, 'Dad, you are not going to believe this.'. I asked, 'Good?'. She said, 'It is phenomenal'," the 64-year-old singer-songwriter recalled.

He was speaking on Tuesday at a press conference to promote his upcoming concert at The Star Performing Arts Centre, organised by Subaru.

Jack Sparrow is now a YouTube phenomenon with more than 170 million views and has unlocked a much younger fan base for Bolton. Some new fans are not even familiar with his chart-toppers in the late 80s and 90s.

He told The New Paper: "I can recognise in their eyes when they are walking over whether it is about my records or Jack Sparrow."

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Best known for belting out powerful love ballads like When A Man Loves A Woman and How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, Bolton, while excited to have attracted a new generation of fans, takes care not to alienate his long-time supporters.

He said: "I want to continue growing and appealing to that new audience but never at the cost of losing my core audience, which has kept me touring and recording for so many years."

To that end, he revealed that the lyrics to Jack Sparrow were tweaked twice and toned down - due to its hilarious but "disgusting" language - before he agreed to participate.

TV producers have also hit Bolton up in recent years for comedic stints.

This year, he was in two episodes of US sitcom Fresh Off The Boatand starred in the Netflix variety special Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special.

Although his recent work has been cheeky and even raunchy, he believes there are lines that cannot be crossed.

He said: "There are moments in new music that seem to diminish the value of women. I am for the opposite of that. I have three daughters, and I was raised by a single mother.

"So I am irreverent and my sense of humour is irreverent, but I am dead serious about certain issues."

Bolton also headlined the Asia-based reality TV singing competition Bolt Of Talent, which follows his search for Asia's top musical talent, this year.

Speaking about his involvement in the show as a judge, he recounted his own experiences.

"It took me years before I had my first hit song, so I understand the passion and the hunger these young musicians have."

Bolt Of Talent's Filipino winner Lance Busa and Sandra Riley Tang of local music group The Sam Willows will be making guest appearances in the Singapore leg of Bolton's Asian Dream Tour, which kicked off in Manila yesterday.

He last performed here in 2015 and has fond memories of Singapore, saying that the local crowd is one that "can get crazy" and is fun to perform for.