Speaker 1: My goal. How are you. I'm hanging in How are you,
Speaker 1: my friend? I'm hanging into lots going on traveling in
Speaker 1: the world. I thought it was going to be easier,
Speaker 1: but it's Um, it takes its toll on you. But
Speaker 1: there's a lot of exciting, important things happening. Yeah, traveling
Speaker 1: doesn't get easier. I've discovered when I go to Africa
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I don't remember it being this difficult,
Speaker 1: even last year. What is happening here? Yeah, you're not alone,
Speaker 1: we're just um, we're getting older by um a little bit,
Speaker 1: a little bit, not much, but I love it. I
Speaker 1: love what I do. And then you know, what happens
Speaker 1: once you get to your destination is really great and
Speaker 1: a lot to be thankful for. And um, I never
Speaker 1: thought i'd be touring the world. You know when fifty
Speaker 1: years ago, when I was signed to EPICUM, I was
Speaker 1: just happy, too happy to make music. And what amazing
Speaker 1: music you make? Well, thank you, thank you so much,
Speaker 1: and look at you. I can't remember when it was
Speaker 1: we talked about your um leap of faith into the
Speaker 1: next evolution of your experience at radio and now you
Speaker 1: basically dominate radio. Well I told you I was going
Speaker 1: to take over the world with your sappy love songs
Speaker 1: and and I think we did that together. You weren't kidding? Yeah, No,
Speaker 1: God is good. I I still love being on the
Speaker 1: air today as much as I ever have. But the travel, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the travel is tough. Yeah, that's what i'd said. I said,
Speaker 1: once we get there, when it's showed time, it's all
Speaker 1: worth it, you know. And the audience is I'm so
Speaker 1: grateful for. But it's the two and from. It's the
Speaker 1: two and from. Don't you wish that, you know, we
Speaker 1: could do what they did in Star Trek, you know,
Speaker 1: and just topping that machine and de materialized and bet
Speaker 1: miss up study. Yeah, that would be maybe in our lifetime.
Speaker 1: We'll see it. But you know, I'm not knocking it.
Speaker 1: I'm right now. I'm focused on Detroit in the studio,
Speaker 1: building next album. I'm getting ready to tour Australia for
Speaker 1: a month. And something that I started five years ago
Speaker 1: is the Detroit comeback story. So that's what we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about today. You've produced a movie, yes, in
Speaker 1: the process of touring and recording and my day job,
Speaker 1: your day job, very good day job. Um, we found
Speaker 1: in Detroit you know, besides the great music that has
Speaker 1: been coming out of Detroit since since at least my childhood.
Speaker 1: Um that finally people are investing large amounts of money
Speaker 1: and resources to bring back Detroit, to rebuild and bring
Speaker 1: it back. And it's the film is not about just
Speaker 1: the wealthy people who love Detroit and are you know,
Speaker 1: giving people the tools and buildings and space and all
Speaker 1: of that. It's we've also filmed a lot of the
Speaker 1: individuals who make Detroit a great place to be and
Speaker 1: going back there every time in the last five years,
Speaker 1: every time we went back to film, there were new restaurants,
Speaker 1: new stores, more people in the offices. Until the last
Speaker 1: time we were there there was like nine full occupancy
Speaker 1: in all the buildings. That one very generous and and
Speaker 1: smart investor decided to go ahead and dive all the
Speaker 1: way in as that's Dan Gilbert from Quick and Lawrence
Speaker 1: and then the Illetts family who are on the Red
Speaker 1: Wings and Tigers and one of the most beautiful theaters
Speaker 1: in the world, the Fox Theater. Uh just happened to
Speaker 1: you know, have his family scrapes some money together and
Speaker 1: buy a pizza place that they would name Little Caesar's
Speaker 1: Pizza Little Caesars Pizza, which allowed them to buy the
Speaker 1: Tigers and the Red Wings UM and they're now building
Speaker 1: fifty city blocks of living space, working space, play space,
Speaker 1: fifty blocks of redevelopment. So that's really exciting. It's exciting
Speaker 1: for me to see. It's it's a great American dream
Speaker 1: comeback story and will be one of the biggest conducts
Speaker 1: in history for a city in America. So we love
Speaker 1: being a part of it, and we fell in love
Speaker 1: with so many of the people there that it's an
Speaker 1: emotional thing to watch the movie five years later, the
Speaker 1: edited final form, and it's going to be released on
Speaker 1: the fifteenth of May, one day only, in about five
Speaker 1: hundred theaters across America. And people can find out we're
Speaker 1: by going onto my UM website m Bolton dot com
Speaker 1: and they can also go on Stathom Events dot com.
Speaker 1: And it's exciting. It's a lot of work and finally
Speaker 1: come to fruition And now, what if what if somebody
Speaker 1: is you know, my daughter Sheyla, who you met many
Speaker 1: years ago, is expecting a baby any day. What if
Speaker 1: we're in the delivery room and we missed the fathom
Speaker 1: of it, Michael, what do we do how can I
Speaker 1: see the Detroit story or what if I'm you know,
Speaker 1: on the air doing this little radio show. I have
Speaker 1: a feeling, you know, people in high places if you
Speaker 1: can get you that film, I know. But how about
Speaker 1: my listeners who who don't know Craig getson or somebody like,
Speaker 1: is there a way to see it if they missed
Speaker 1: the Fathom event or is this just like a get
Speaker 1: there if they don't see it on the ft where
Speaker 1: it is in theater, They're going to have to wait
Speaker 1: until we decide who we're going with for the release
Speaker 1: of it for worldwide distribution. So we have some offers
Speaker 1: and we're negotiating, and we're going to choose the best
Speaker 1: partner who's going to give it the longest, healthiest life
Speaker 1: possible so that everyone can see it. And we're not
Speaker 1: going to drop it off were it will air one
Speaker 1: time only. This is a limited release in theaters, but
Speaker 1: it's a big splash. To get into theaters for a documentary,
Speaker 1: it's unusual. So tell me about some of the artists
Speaker 1: you've got and some of the music that we're going
Speaker 1: to hear when we go see it. Well, some of
Speaker 1: the artists who are mind blowing ore. Aretha Franklin first
Speaker 1: of all, who still lives in Detroit and loves it,
Speaker 1: and she talks about her childhood through her becoming years
Speaker 1: and developing years and her friendship with Smokey Robinson. How
Speaker 1: coolbox together? How cool must it be for some who
Speaker 1: was there in the heyday and then saw the demise
Speaker 1: to be able to witness the phoenix rising from the ashes,
Speaker 1: that's just got to be the best. Just gave me chills.
Speaker 1: That is really amazing. And we talked about it, and
Speaker 1: they all are weird because in the last five years
Speaker 1: everyone has seen the growth. You can you can't miss
Speaker 1: it really. Um. But yeah, I'll tell you this. I
Speaker 1: noticed even the very first request we put in for
Speaker 1: artists and and icons to step forward and you know
Speaker 1: and basically talk about Detroit, they all were all in,
Speaker 1: when can we do this? Where do you want us?
Speaker 1: You know? Um? Smokey Robinson is mesmerizing and his stories
Speaker 1: and his memory of you know, the Mega Studio of Motown,
Speaker 1: which is in a little house basically where hundreds of
Speaker 1: number one records came out of. Um it's Smokey talks
Speaker 1: about his childhood and says, um, he didn't realize he
Speaker 1: was poor until he wasn't. Everybody had the same thing
Speaker 1: growing up, and everybody loved music, and he was surrounded
Speaker 1: by great talent to people. But he's one of the
Speaker 1: ones who you know, has this infinite career, and he
Speaker 1: speaks with such youth and great energy and again so highly.
Speaker 1: His memories of Detroit ors are so deeply embedded. And
Speaker 1: then you've got people like Francis Ford Coppola, one of
Speaker 1: my favorite directors in my lifetime. And I never thought,
Speaker 1: why is Francis Ford's name? Why is Ford his middle name?
Speaker 1: Because that's the hospital where he was born. Um. Gary Bruckheimer,
Speaker 1: one of the most successful producers of TV and film.
Speaker 1: Um is just raving about Detroit and his family and upbringing.
Speaker 1: Alice Cooper, did you know he was from Detroit? I
Speaker 1: did not know that. One of the nicest people you
Speaker 1: will ever meet. By the way, um uh and my
Speaker 1: golf buddy, um and he was really happy to talk
Speaker 1: about all the sports that they used to go to
Speaker 1: and and how you know one block down is an
Speaker 1: Italian family of Italian neighborhood. Block from them is our Greeks,
Speaker 1: and from that Polish and they all got together and
Speaker 1: played baseball every day. That was their common connection. Um.
Speaker 1: Everybody basically created this love fest. So we've we call
Speaker 1: this movie a love letter to Detroit, not just from
Speaker 1: me um and enjoying and being attached to so many
Speaker 1: great people, but from all of these iconic legends, artists, producers, directors,
Speaker 1: moguls who are coming and giving back to Detroit. It's
Speaker 1: a love letter. And a lot of the negative and
Speaker 1: the darkest parts of Detroit's history have been covered, but
Speaker 1: no one has come in and said, wait a second,
Speaker 1: take a look at what's going on here. And this
Speaker 1: is the city that used to be the fourth largest
Speaker 1: city in America. And we have our chival footage that
Speaker 1: comes from the twenties, thirties, and forties, and you see
Speaker 1: Detroit looking like New York at its peak hour, people
Speaker 1: filling the sidewalks and over branding basically with energy and
Speaker 1: life and culture and now all that's coming back. But
Speaker 1: they're also it's also a city where during World War Two,
Speaker 1: the auto manufacturers turned their factories into um an arsenal
Speaker 1: for democracy, basically building armored vehicles that went over for
Speaker 1: our troops during the war. A lot of people don't
Speaker 1: know that either Detroit has given us a lot, and
Speaker 1: I think there's plenty of good reason to take a
Speaker 1: look at how did how great Detroit has been for us,
Speaker 1: but also how the few tour is looking really right there.
Speaker 1: And so if you're an artist, or if you're into
Speaker 1: a tech company or any type of business at all,
Speaker 1: there are opportunities in Detroit, and so we cover that
Speaker 1: and we recommend it. But as an amazing woman of
Speaker 1: Veronica Scott, whom her place is called the Empowerment Plan,
Speaker 1: she hires only women who are homeless. Um takes them
Speaker 1: from shelters, gives them jobs and skills, and they wind
Speaker 1: up getting homes, being reunited with their families, and um,
Speaker 1: she's one of our champion heroes. We have a lot
Speaker 1: of great people individuals. Um it's not just companies giving back,
Speaker 1: but it is still really important that the big three
Speaker 1: automakers continue doing well because they employ a lot of
Speaker 1: people and they give a lot back to their communities.
Speaker 1: There's there's so many great stories inside this one big story.
Speaker 1: But it's um, I'm American Dream Detroit and it's May fifteen.
Speaker 1: All across the country and our websites, um My Michael
Speaker 1: Bolton dot com will will lead you to where you
Speaker 1: can get tickets and where it's playing. And then after that,
Speaker 1: as you said, um, it will air. It will air
Speaker 1: as soon as we decide where our partner is going
Speaker 1: to be around the world, whether it's going to be television,
Speaker 1: cable or streaming. We'll soon find out soon. Now, how
Speaker 1: exciting I can tell you are in love with Detroit,
Speaker 1: Like like when you fall in love and give your
Speaker 1: heart completely you are just smitten or you just just
Speaker 1: made it sound like poetry, but it is poetry. It
Speaker 1: is poetry. And and when you were just talking about
Speaker 1: what's the woman's name who has the empowerment project Veronica
Speaker 1: Veronica Scott. When you impact lives and build families or
Speaker 1: rebuild family LEAs or reconnect families, you're changing the world.
Speaker 1: You're changing the world for good. You're changing You're not
Speaker 1: just impacting that family, because it has a ripple effect
Speaker 1: and it impacts the whole community. So, you know, people
Speaker 1: like going and seeing movies about superheroes and people with
Speaker 1: magical powers, but these are the real superheroes because their
Speaker 1: magical power is rebuilding lives. That's so exactly what this
Speaker 1: one courageous inspired woman does in Detroit day in, day out,
Speaker 1: and John Varvados during I was interviewing these people, if
Speaker 1: you can imagine me on the other side of the interview, UM,
Speaker 1: John Varvados went and checked out her place, UM and
Speaker 1: said that he would love to be in business with her.
Speaker 1: Everybody's amazed by by her work and her energy and
Speaker 1: what she's doing for individuals and families. And you're right,
Speaker 1: as it changes the world. It changes the world one
Speaker 1: family at a time. So if a woman has I
Speaker 1: know you're you're acutely keenly aware of domestic abuse. If
Speaker 1: a woman is homeless because she has suffered domestic abuse,
Speaker 1: or because she suffers from alcoholism or drug addiction or
Speaker 1: mental illness, chances are her kids are in foster care
Speaker 1: or farmed out to a family or a friend. So
Speaker 1: when her life is restored, their lives are restored. That
Speaker 1: impacts the whole community. Yeah, that's all right. You know
Speaker 1: all about this, This is UM. You know the patterns
Speaker 1: that are cyclical. You know you break those cycles by
Speaker 1: creating self esteem and individuals And I mean it's all good.
Speaker 1: It's very heavy subject matter that's very necessary to address,
Speaker 1: and I appreciate you talking about it. It kind of
Speaker 1: sounds Detroit was a homeless woman. For a while. Detroit
Speaker 1: was a beautiful, beautiful gem, a gorgeous, musically talented, shining,
Speaker 1: you know star, and then, through a series of misfortunes,
Speaker 1: became that homeless woman, and now is being restored to
Speaker 1: not only her former glory, but something far better. Another
Speaker 1: amazing metaphor. I'm writing it down, if you don't mind,
Speaker 1: I'm going to use it and use it. Use it, Michael,
Speaker 1: and keep changing the world for good. I'm so proud
Speaker 1: to know you, my class, so proud to know you. Well.
Speaker 1: Good luck. I haven't seen you in a long time.
Speaker 1: We need to get together and catch up. Last time,
Speaker 1: I tell our story, Michael, when I do my public
Speaker 1: speaking and and I tell people the truth that I
Speaker 1: had a major, major, major crush on you, and you
Speaker 1: invited me to come and spend some time with you,
Speaker 1: and I didn't know that showing up with eight of
Speaker 1: my kids was a bad idea. That was not a
Speaker 1: bad idea at all. That was fun. That was a
Speaker 1: fun day. Yeah. Remember you climbing your waterfall with a
Speaker 1: broken thumb um vaguely, yeah, fractured thumb you had fractured
Speaker 1: your thumb, and my son climbed to the top of
Speaker 1: your waterfall, and you heroically went and saved him. I
Speaker 1: remember these things, Michael, all in the day's work. Now,
Speaker 1: that was fun, and it was We had a beautiful
Speaker 1: day there too. But I was hoping it's a very
Speaker 1: positive memory because I was trying to explain to people.
Speaker 1: But we had some important guests coming up to Connecticut.
Speaker 1: So I don't know how you do it. I have
Speaker 1: no idea. I know three, my three daughters were more
Speaker 1: than enough to raise, especially the years, and and I'm
Speaker 1: adopting a two year old and you're you're saint. I'm crazy,
Speaker 1: is what. You're a crazy thing? All right? The Detroit Project,
Speaker 1: what's the what's the official title? American Dream Detroit. American
Speaker 1: Dream Detroit. But it's really a love letter to Detroit.
Speaker 1: I will be there, I will find my way. I
Speaker 1: will figure out a way to to make that happen
Speaker 1: and uh and we can all fall in love with
Speaker 1: the beautiful woman Detroit is. Now. That sounds perfect to me.
Speaker 1: It's music to my ears. Thank you, Michael, thanks for
Speaker 1: being here the same. Give me some new music to
Speaker 1: play too, Dude, going to promise you're working on it.
Speaker 1: Not right now in Los Angeles. I can't talk much
Speaker 1: about it, but it's it's going to be very, very lush,
Speaker 1: powerful record. We need you, My sappy love Songs show
Speaker 1: needs you. And if you get hook up with Smokey
Speaker 1: and have him do something new with you, that'd be great.
Speaker 1: Smoky idea. I love him. He's he's an inspiring guys.
Speaker 1: He's still things beautifully in tours and gives us inspiration
Speaker 1: about what the future is like if you take care
Speaker 1: of your voice. Um, a lot of great guests. There's
Speaker 1: an Eminem appearance in the film as well, in the
Speaker 1: commercial he did, and he doesn't do very much like that,
Speaker 1: so it was very impactful. But he did something for
Speaker 1: Detroit that's really powerful statement. But you know, smoking and
Speaker 1: we'll show up again somewhere together. Okay. Michael Bolton, thank
Speaker 1: you for being on the Delilah Show. I love you.
Speaker 1: I love you too. I hope to see you soon,
Speaker 1: do I