michael bolton to address evening commencement

Thu., May 28

singer, songwriter

During the course of his extraordinary career, Michael Bolton -- singer, songwriter, and social activist -- has sold more than 53 million albums and singles worldwide, and has won, among his other numerous awards, two Grammies for Best Male Vocalist and six American Music Awards. A native of New Haven, Conn., he has earned a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and sold out arenas worldwide. The dynamically diverse performer has also sung and recorded with such iconic talents as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Ray Charles, played guitar with B.B. King, and had his music sampled by hip-hop superstar Kanye West (featuring megastar Jay-Z) and also on a CD/DVD by John Legend.

A prolific songwriter as well, Mr. Bolton has composed songs for legendary artists including Barbra Streisand, KISS, Kenny Rogers, Kenny G., Cher, Peabo Bryson, Patti Labelle, Joe Cocker, Marc Anthony, Greg Allman, Wynonna Judd, and many others. He has earned multiple honors as a songwriter, including BMI's Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year, and Million-Air awards, ASCAP's Writer and Publisher Awards, and a Hitmaker Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He's one of a very few artists to have written with the incomparable Bob Dylan. Mr. Bolton has also collaborated with noted songwriters Diane Warren, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Desmond Child, and Babyface. 

Mr. Bolton believes in giving back in his own way, too. A dedicated social activist, he established the Michael Bolton Foundation 16 years ago - now Michael Bolton Charities, Inc. (MBC) - to provide assistance, education, and shelter to children and women at risk from poverty, as well as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Since its inception, the MBC has raised significantly more than $7 million in funding for local and national charities. The organization focuses its efforts in Connecticut and New York, with the goal to deepen and empower children's engagement in their own educations and futures and to develop educational support through scholarships, workshops, incentives, and internships. The foundation also collaborates with the corporate and business community, state and local governments, schools at all levels, and social services to develop outreach programs and employment opportunities for children across socioeconomic and multicultural lines.

Through the MBC, Mr. Bolton has also been deeply involved in, among other campaigns, the struggle to raise awareness about domestic violence. He is vice chair of the board of advisers of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) and, in May 2008, he served as co-chair of the 30th anniversary worldwide celebration of the violence against woman's movement.

Mr. Bolton served as executive producer for the Lifetime Network's documentary "Terror at Home: Domestic Violence in America," for which he wrote and recorded the song "Tears of the Angels," which was nominated for an Emmy Award. Mr. Bolton's organization has enabled him to testify before both houses of Congress, notably as a champion of The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and as an advocate for the safety of women and children generally. He believes that of all the opportunities that his career has afforded him, this is the most important.

Mr. Bolton has served as honorary chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America, national chairman for This Close for Cancer Research, and is a board member for the National Mentoring Partnership and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Among the philanthropic awards Mr. Bolton has received are the Lewis Hine Award by the National Child Labor Committee, the Martin Luther King Award by the Congress of Racial Equality, and the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.