Michael Bolotin, known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those he recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. He became better known for his series of pop rock ballads, recorded after a stylistic change in the late 1980s.
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used in a broad range of popular music, traditional music, and world music styles.
Hi Infidelity is the ninth studio album by American rock band REO Speedwagon, released on November 21, 1980, by Epic Records. The album became a big hit in the United States, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200. It went on to become the biggest-selling album of 1981, eventually being certified 10 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Of the four singles released, "Take It on the Run" went to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the band got their first of two number one hits with "Keep On Loving You".
Audio-Visions is the seventh studio album by American progressive rock band Kansas, released in 1980. The album was reissued in remastered format on CD in 1996 on Legacy/Epic and again in 2011, as a Japanese import vinyl-replica CD, as well as part of the Sony/Legacy domestic boxed set, Kansas Complete Album Collection 1974-1983, which packages all of the band's original releases on Kirshner and affiliated labels CBS/Columbia.
Welcome to Wherever You Are is the eighth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, which was released on 3 August 1992. With grunge and alternative music breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra, and a much more "raw" sound to their music. In its four star review of the album, Q called it "... a far more engaging and heartfelt collection than anything the group has put out in recent memory ... It rocks," and listed it as one of the 50 Best Albums of 1992. It was the first album by an Australian artist to debut on the UK album chart at number one since AC/DC's Back in Black, released in 1980.
Blackjack was an American rock band, active from 1979–1980, featuring Michael Bolton, Bruce Kulick, Sandy Gennaro and Jimmy Haslip. The band was short-lived, released two albums, the self-titled Blackjack in 1979 and Worlds Apart in 1980, and embarked on a small US nationwide tour.
Graduation is the third studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West, released on September 11, 2007, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions took place between 2005 and 2007 at several studios in New York and Los Angeles. It was primarily produced by West himself, with contributions from various other producers, including DJ Toomp. The album also features guest appearances from recording artists such as Dwele, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Mos Def, DJ Premier, and Chris Martin. The cover art and its interior artwork were designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami.
Time, Love & Tenderness is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Michael Bolton. The album was released on April 23, 1991, by Columbia Records; it was produced by Walter Afanasieff and Michael Bolton. To date, the record has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album of his career.
"Numb" is a song by rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1993 album Zooropa and was released in June 1993 as the album's first single. The song features a monotonous mantra of "don't" commands spoken by guitarist the Edge amidst a backdrop of various sound effects and samples. The noisy composition and lyrical concept for "Numb" were inspired by the theme of sensory overload, which had prominently been incorporated into the Zoo TV Tour. Lead singer Bono and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. provided backing vocals on the track.
"I Found Someone" is the name of a chart single originally written and composed for Laura Branigan by Michael Bolton and Touch keyboardist Mark Mangold. The song was a bigger hit for Cher in 1987, reaching the top 10.
"Hungry Heart" is a ballad written and performed by Bruce Springsteen on his fifth album, The River. It was released as the album's lead single in 1980 and became Springsteen's first big hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart peaking at number five.
"Girlfriend" is a song by English rock band Wings, from their 1978 album London Town. It was written by Wings frontman Paul McCartney, who originally intended it to be sung by Michael Jackson. Jackson then covered the song the following year on his 1979 album Off the Wall, and in 1980 it was released as the 5th and final single of that album.
Blackjack is the eponymous debut album of the American rock band Blackjack. The album was recorded shortly after the band's formation in early 1979 at Criteria Studios in Miami and released on Polydor Records on June 18, 1979.
"Behind the Mask" is a 1979 song by the Japanese synth-pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra. The composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, wrote the first version for a television commercial. This was expanded with the band and the British lyricist Chris Mosdell for inclusion on the 1979 Yellow Magic Orchestra album Solid State Survivor. In the US and the UK, "Behind the Mask" was released as a single from the album X∞Multiplies in 1980.
"No Mistakes" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his eighth studio album, Ye (2018). The song features vocals from Kid Cudi, Charlie Wilson and Caroline Shaw. It was produced by West, while co-produced by Che Pope and Shaw, with additional production from Mike Dean and Eric Danchick. The producers of the song, with the exception of Danchick, wrote it alongside Cyhi the Prynce, Malik Yusef, Kenneth Pershon and Bump J. Songwriting credit was added for Slick Rick due to the song sampling his work and as it samples music by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, Edwin Hawkins was credited as a songwriter. The song contains samples of "Children Get Together", performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, as well as "Hey Young World", performed by Slick Rick.
Charles Kent Wilson, also known as Uncle Charlie, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and the former lead vocalist of the Gap Band. As a solo artist Wilson has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards and 11 NAACP Image Awards, received a 2009 Soul Train Icon Award, and was a recipient of a BMI Icon Award in 2005. In 2009 and 2020, he was named Billboard magazine's No. 1 Adult R&B Artist, and his song "There Goes My Baby" was named the No. 1 Urban Adult Song for 2009 in Billboard.
"4th Dimension" is a song by American hip hop duo Kids See Ghosts, composed of the rappers Kanye West and Kid Cudi, from their eponymous debut studio album (2018). The song features a guest appearance from Louis Prima, who was credited as a featured artist due to his work being sampled. It was produced by West, with additional production from Mike Dean and Noah Goldstein. The producers co-wrote the song with Kid Cudi and Prima, with the latter of the two receiving credit as a result of it sampling music by him. A hip hop song, it samples Prima's "What Will Santa Claus Say " and Shirley Ann Lee's "Someday". Lyrically, the song features Kids See Ghosts presenting their thoughts to stop themselves from becoming worried.
"Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American hip hop recording artists Kanye West and Jay-Z, from their collaborative album Watch the Throne (2011). Additional vocals are provided by Swizz Beatz and Acapella Soul, and Swizz Beatz also produced the song. It plays an interlude afterwards that samples "Tristessa" by Orchestra Njervudarov. The song was praised by music critics, with Jay-Z usually pointed out as the main star. Rolling Stone listed it as the 20th best song of 2011.
"Never Let Me Down" is a song by American rapper and producer Kanye West, that features Jay-Z and J. Ivy, from West's debut studio album The College Dropout (2004). It was released as the album's eight track, produced solely by West and samples "Maybe It's the Power of Love" by Blackjack. West and Ivy each provide one verse–the latter's is a poem–while Jay-Z has two verses. Music critics mostly had praise for it, but tended to view Jay's appearance in a negative light. In 2011, Billboard listed the song as the second greatest collaboration between Kanye and Jay. Although an accompanying music video wasn't ever produced for "Never Let Me Down", the audio of it was used in one of West's videos for "Jesus Walks". The song has managed to develop a significant legacy over time, despite never being released as a single.
"Hurricane" is a song by American rapper Kanye West and Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd featuring fellow American rapper Lil Baby, from the former's tenth studio album Donda (2021). The song features additional vocals from the Sunday Service Choir and KayCyy. It came from a jam session at Archwood Music Studio and was passed on by Chance the Rapper to West, who shared a preview in September 2018. The song was originally slated for inclusion on West's since scrapped album, Yandhi, and went through multiple reiterations prior to release, with the final version being debuted in July 2021. On August 8, 2021, it was accidentally made available via certain streaming services before being pulled less than 24 hours later, but was officially released with the rest of the album on August 29, 2021. It was also eventually sent to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations as the album's lead single on September 14, by GOOD Music and Def Jam. An R&B, hip hop, and pop jam with an atmospheric beat, it contains organs and bass.
