Michael Bolton

Singer-songwriter Michael Bolton was born Michael Bolotin on February 26, 1953 in New Haven, Connecticut, where his father, George, and his mother, Helen, were also born. As a boy, he lived with his family in several locations in the city, including on Whalley Avenue, Elm Street and Ella Grasso Boulevard. Before becoming the singing sensation known to millions across the globe, he was very active in the New Haven scene.

Musical beginnings, Joy, Blackjack

Bolton had become proficient on the saxophone by age seven and began writing songs at age nine. When he was 14, he formed his first band, The Nomads, and the group signed a singles contract with Epic Records when Bolton was 16. With his parents’ permission, he dropped out of high school at age 15 and left home to travel across the US while pursuing music full time. He took odd jobs, including as Paula Abdul’s babysitter, according to a September 2013 article in The New Haven Register.

After returning to Connecticut later in his teens, he joined a garage-rock group called Joy, whose single “Bah Bah Bah” became a top-40 hit in Connecticut, before becoming part of the heavy metal band Blackjack. Recorded at Trod Nossel Studios (formerly Syncron) in Wallingford, their song “Love Me Tonight” cracked the top 20 on Buffalo’s WYSL and several other stations in the Northeast, gaining them enough attention to land opening spots for Peter Frampton and other acts while headlining at area venues including Toad’s Place (previously Hungry Charlie’s).

1980s, 1990s success, Plagiarism lawsuit, The Shags

Since then, Bolton has been enormously successful, most notably as a pop-ballad singer, selling over 75 million albums and winning several Grammys. In the late 80s and early ‘90s, while collaborating with famed songwriters such as Diane Warren and Desmond Child, he had a string of hits including his covers of Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman.” His commercial achievements aside, a number of critics has labeled his material “derivative” and in 2000 he went through a legal highly publicized legal battle with The Isley Brothers over alleged plagiarism. To settle the claim, Bolton agreed to a substantial financial settlement, according to an April 2024 story in The Independent.

Interestingly, there’s a connection between Bolton and the very popular 1960s band The Shags (of West Haven). Bolton’s older brother Orrin was a roadie for that group and introduced him to the band. Reportedly, Carl Augusto (billed as Carl Donnell when he was member of The Shags) helped teach young Bolton how to play the guitar.

(by Tony Renzoni)

Tony Renzoni is the author of Connecticut Rock ‘n’ Roll: A History (The History Press, 2017) and portions of this piece are taken from that book