American singer, songwriter Michael Bolton celebrated 50 years in the entertainment business last year with the release of a Greatest Hits collection and recording a ‘Symphony of Hits’ for BBC Radio 2’s long running series FRIDAY NIGHT IF MUSIC NIGHT with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the London Palladium in March.

After starting out in the heavy metal and hard rock genre with solo work and as frontman for ‘Blackjack’ during the mid 1970s-’80s, Michael changed styles and became known for his pop rock ballads in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, selling over 75 million records, with eight top ten albums and two No.1 singles on the Billboard charts. His hits include ‘Said I Loved You But I Lied’, ‘Time, Love and Tenderness’, ‘How Am I Supposed To Live Without You’ and the cover version of ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’, the last two winning Grammy Awards for Best Male Vocal Performance after four nominations. He has also collected six American Music Awards.

Michael is due to return to London to play the Royal Albert Hall this October. He kindly signed my drawing at the Palladium after the concert.