When A Man Loves A Woman

Album: Time, Love & Tenderness (1991)
Charted: 8 1
Play Video

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.

Comments: 2

  • Jeff from Austin, TxMichael Bolton's hairline was awesome on this track.
  • Wayne from Crockett, TxWhen Bolton won the Grammy for this song in 1991, from the podium he thanked everyone EXCEPT Percy Sledge. He later apologized for the omission.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.