Songfacts®:

• "When A Man Loves A Woman" was originally recorded by the soul singer Percy Sledge in 1966, reaching #1 in the US and #4 in the UK. Michael Bolton's cover took the song back to #1 in the US in 1991.
• Bolton got the idea to cover this song while he was recording his Time, Love & Tenderness album. Columbia Records executives Tommy Mottola and Donnie Ienner visited the studio to listen to some of the songs he was recording, and as they were listening, Bolton said, "I want to do another oldie remake." Mottola and Ienner simultaneously said to Bolton that he should do "When a Man Loves a Woman," and Bolton enthusiastically agreed.
• Co-producer Walter Afansieff played the organ on Bolton's recording. Afansieff had played the song at clubs and weddings for many years.
• Bolton originally didn't like his vocal on this song. A couple of weeks after finishing the Time, Love & Tenderness album, he flew from Los Angeles back to New York City to redo the vocals, only to change his mind when he and Afansieff listened to the tape.
• This song won the 1991 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Bolton won the same award two years earlier with "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," but lost it the previous year when he was nominated for his cover of "Georgia On My Mind."
• Jim Carrey spoofed Bolton with a performance of "When a Man Needs a Big Hit" on the '90s sketch-comedy series In Living Color. Carrey sings, "When a man needs a big hit, only one thing he gotta do. Swipe another song from a long-dead brother," before his head explodes on the high note at the end of the song.
• Bolton sang this at the Grammy Awards in 1992, accompanied by Kenny G on saxophone. They started collaborating a few years earlier, including on the track "Missing You Now" from Bolton's Time, Love & Tenderness album.