Who said Michael Bolton isn’t cutting edge? The 56-year-old AOR crooner says it was actually the bubblicious pop tart herself who first approached him to work together! “My manager and the label tag-teamed me on the phone about writing with a young artist named Lady Gaga who I had never heard of,” the Boltman recalls. “But they were raving–they said that she was a huge fan of mine and wanted to write with me.” Curly was quickly won over: “Less than a minute into ‘Just Dance’ [the first track on Gaga’s ‘The Fame’, I thought ‘this CD is gonna be huge!’ She reminded me of a young Madonna–with more exuberance and emphasis on the art rather than the marketing.” The pair hit it off so well that Lady helps out on the thunder-ballad “Murder My Heart”. Next up, Michael Bolton as gay icon!

by Mark Emge