Michael Bolton tells the tale of working with The Lonely Island "Jack Sparrow" ten years later

Michael Bolton talks to Yahoo Entertainment and revisits what it was like working with The Lonely Island on SNL's "Jack Sparrow" ten years later.

Video Transcript

- Guys, Michael Bolton is here.

- Oh, great. Send him in.

MICHAEL BOLTON: Hey, guys.

- Hey.

- Thanks for coming.

MICHAEL BOLTON: I'm really sorry I'm late. I just got caught up, watching the Pirates of the Caribbean marathon.

Working with the Lonely island guys was one of my most enjoyable and greatest experiences. So they reached out to me, and I was already a ginormous fan. And they said, they wanted to do this concept for a video, and I told them that I loved the concept. But some of the lyrics were a little bit raunchy, a little bit across the line for the fans who, I think, are sitting in the audience for my shows. They said, you know, we can make it a little less raunchy. We can clean it up a little bit, for sure.

So we worked on it. And we've cleaned it up a little bit and just sending you the new version to see what you think. So I was so excited that they were that into it, that they were going to continue focusing on me getting ready to do it, and I read it. And it started to feel great, and all of a sudden, they got to a point that was even darker than the first one.

I think it kind of started going in the other direction, so I told them that. And the next one I got, I was somewhere near Atlanta, and I read it. I was beaming, because I thought-- I said, I could do this. How do we do it? And they said, can you get to a recording studio, where you are?

I said, yeah, I'm near Atlanta, and there's a lot of studios there. They said, let's book a time. We'll get you in there and then have you sing it. We'll produce it from, you know, wherever we are. We'll all be online. The next thing I knew, I was going in to sing (singing) that is the [? tale. ?]

--of Captain Jack Sparrow. Pirates so brave on the sound of seas.

I loved it, and it's ironic and funny that they wrote my part in there. And they said, I wrote this big, sexy hook, I think, you're really going to love, and they wound up writing this big, sexy hook. They let me stack all the harmonies on top of it, so all those big, giant choruses, like me on top of me on top of me. But the melody and their concept is all theirs.

So I got into the studio, and they were producing as if they were in the room. And they really knew what they were doing. I was really impressed. They knew every element.

They were like a three headed monster [INAUDIBLE], and we were all excited about it. And then the next day I heard that they played it for some Saturday Night Live people, and they went crazy for it. And the next thing I knew after that was I was flying to New York and going to be in the studio when they aired it for the first time. And I was looking for the darkest corner in the room just in case it didn't go over, and I found a place.

I found the single darkest place in any building at A&E Network, and people were chuckling and laughing at the right places. And then John Mayer came over to me at the after party, and John's from Connecticut, as I am. And he said, tomorrow, you're going to see something you've never seen before. It's going to be crazy.

And I said, well, what do you mean? It is good? He said, you're going to have so many fans that don't even know your music. As much success you have with your music, this is a different world. And I said, well, I hope you're right, man. Thank you.

And then I drove home. When I came downstairs for breakfast, my daughter was sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through thousands of comments, including Justin Bieber, who said, Bolton's a beast. You got to check this out. And my daughter looked up at me and said, you're not going to believe what's going on. And I said, is it good? Is it all good?

It's all good. The next thing I knew, I was having a celebration drink with the Lonely Island guys in Los Angeles. We were celebrating arriving at 50 million views, and then it went to 100, and then 200. I'm not sure exactly what the number is now, but it was over 200 million views.

It manifests quickly, because I was at the airport. And these kids were staring at me, and they were they're, like, 14-year-olds, 16-year-olds. And I could tell it was all Jack Sparrow. It was all about Jack Sparrow.

When I walked through security in the airports, the guys sing When A Man Loves A Woman to me. And I go through, and there were women at the security area. They sing out How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, and when it's kids, it's all Jack Sparrow. We shot it in two days and nights. And there was nobody looking at their watch, complaining about the time, or how do we get out of there.

Everybody was having a great time, and I'm so glad I was of the mind of, you know, I was all in and trying stuff. You just shouldn't limit everything to what your preconceived notion is about it. With them, it's going to be funny. If not 100% of the time, 92.4% of the time.

It's going to be funny, and you're going to be glad you did it. The Scarface was just hilarious. I mean, I saw Al Pacino at the polo lounge in Los Angeles, and he looked up at me. And he smiled, and I was thinking, should I walk over there and talk to him? Because I did Scarface in the video, and he's always friendly to me. But I could tell he approved.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Erin Brockovich was a little bit traumatic for me, because I saw what I looked like in the camera lens. And I almost had a meltdown if I was going to need therapy immediately. But it turns out that the funniest part during the Erin Brockovich filming was left out, and that's where I'm holding the law books and holding the baby. And the next thing you know, I'm breastfeeding the baby.

That didn't make it into the final cut. I wasn't ready to leave by the end of the second day, which, I think, was a 12 hour day. I was, like, not wanting to stop, because it just was getting better and better. And they were getting constant feedback from the executives at Saturday Night Live that they were, like, flipping out over it, so it does make me want to do more.

I've got a song that, I think, would be perfect for the Lonely Island guys that I want to do. It would be fun to do a whole album with them. It's been incredible. It has opened, like, this much bigger universal door into projects.

I think when people see that you'll have fun, you want to have fun with self-deprecating, as long as it's funny, it works. It's funny. I have to be reminded by someone, like yourself, about what it was like, and what it means to me. And it takes me back in time to when I signed on. It was one of the best things I ever did. I call it the gift that keeps on giving.