Anyone who loves songs that spur up the deepest feelings of romance and welled-up tears knows Michael Bolton. His impact on the music industry is unmatched and has earned him more than one Grammy Award.
He appeared on Sway's Universe to discuss his latest television role on The Celebrity Dating Show and even divulged who influenced him to pursue his path in singing and songwriting. He's got great taste.
Bolton told the morning show that he was shaking in his boots to meet the one and only Tina Turner and then flowed into who he listened to growing up in New Haven, Connecticut.
"I wound up getting a lot of airplay and I always considered it an honor because my primary influence as a kid was Ray Charles," he shared, "And Stevie (Wonder), and Marvin (Gaye). To me, I was the student and they are the masters."
The legendary Ray Charles is known as the "Father of Soul" for his iconic contribution to soul music. He brought it mainstream with timeless songs like "Georgia on My Mind." and overcame multiple tragedies in his life.
His onset blindness in childhood and the deaths of his brother and mother heavily impacted his life, and fans look up to him for everything he went through prior to his genius music.
His legacy has been retold in biopics and books, and we can't begin to summarize it in the length of an article. Bolton's connection to Charles' music shows his understanding of blues and R&B, which both heavily translate into his own albums.
The "When a Man Loves a Woman" artist further noted his performance with Charles as one of the best moments of his life. The two duetted "Georgia on My Mind" in 1991 on a television performance.
He detailed the memory, "They walked me over him to say hello and I said, 'The student finally meets the master.' He just had an ear-to-ear grin on his face. We did 'Georgia on My Mind' together and we performed two other times."
Some celebrities say one should never meet their hero, but that obviously isn't the case when it comes to Ray Charles and the way he completely altered how we listen to music. Bolton said that having the approval and acceptance of Charles meant a lot to him.
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