For better or worse, Michael Bolton would ditch his hard rock persona from previous records, instead adopting the more softer crooner side which had started to show itself during his 1987 released The Hunger. Between 1987 and 1988, the artist was in a dire financial situation and facing a potential career end with label Columbia. Facing foreclosure on his home, during nights you could find him loading trucks until 4:00 AM in Bridgeport Connecticut, then driving straight to the studio to cut tracks.
Though Columbia considered shelving the album, and dropping him, they ultimately decided to release, How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, as a single in January 1989. The track would shoot up the charts to number one, with royalties providing the financial relief Bolton needed to get his home back. This was followed by the full album in June.
Soul Provider produced five top forty hits and spent almost four years on the Billboard 200. Selling over six million copies, it would become his biggest seller to date, being certified 6X platinum in the USA alone. It would also go multiplatinum in Canada, Australia, and the UK, while reaching Gold in New Zealand. By 1990, his peak annual income reached between ten and twelve million dollars, definitely putting to rest his financial difficulties...for the time being.
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The album certainly has its hits, and I appreciate it for that. Though most of them aren't my cup of tea. It does, however, also contains my all-time favorite from him; How Can We Be Lovers If We Can't Be Friends.
While I know a lot of the "hit" tracks, mainly the hits, Georgia On My Mind, How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, and When I'm Back On My Feet Again, I was hoping that there would be other hidden gems among them. I found this in, You Wouldn't Know Love, a song noted as one of the hit singles, but which I don't recall ever hearing before.
Michael Bolton entered the 1990's with his even bigger success, Time, Love & Tenderness (1991), which sold even more copies than Soul Provider. Unfortunately, this would begin a long legal battle, when the Isley Brothers filed suit in 1992 over copyright infringement and plagiarism of their 1966 song, Love Is A Wonderful Thing. The suite wouldn't be settled until April of 1994. Not only was it in favor of the Isley's, granting them a 5.4-million-dollar judgement, but the longevity racked up massive legal fees for both parties, which Bolton and his label were ultimately responsible for.
Rather than accept the verdict, Bolton continued to pursue appeals, racking up even more legal fees through 2000, when all of this was ultimately denied in federal appeals, and the verdict upheld. Though his label would pay all cost associated with the suit, they would then sue Bolton and co-writer Andrew Goldmark to recoup those damages, as they argued the infringement was their fault.
While all of this didn't serve to impact his overall wealth, what did happen was that his album sales started to drop, and his popularity waned. The once 8 and 6X platinum seller dropped to 4x in 1992, 3X by 1993, and just platinum in 1996. Things only got worse from there with his 1997 album that only went gold and would serve to be his last for Columbia Records. All future albums to date (2023) would see him label hopping and not selling enough units to reach any sales certifications.
Bolton took another blow when in 1999 he was the brunt of the joke in MTV's film, Office Space. The once respected adult contemporary artist was now the punchline across America.
Regardless, the story does have a happy ending. In 2011, Bolton would lean into the joke himself, joining The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone) on their album Turtleneck & Chain for the track, Jack Sparrow. It's debut on SNL would take the internet by storm, making it one of the hottest trending searches and songs for weeks. As of 2025, it has over 247 million views, and that number just keeps growing, sustaining long term popularity. I dare say it's what he'll be remembered for most when it's all said and done.
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