Michael Bolton is opening up about his battle with brain cancer.
He spoke to People in an exclusive interview about his fight with glioblastoma, which he was diagnosed with in 2023. Glioblastoma is a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Bolton revealed he had successful emergency brain surgery on social media in January 2024. At the time, he didn’t disclose if the brain tumor was cancerous or not, nor did he suggest a specific reason behind the urgency of the surgery.
“He was in recovery in the hospital room singing within minutes,” his daughter Holly, 47, tells People. “I remember one of the nurses had no idea who he was, and she’s like, ‘Do you know he sings like this?'”
His family said they first noticed something wasn’t right when Bolton started experiencing nausea and balance issues in November 2023. Then after Thanksgiving, Bolton unexpectedly fell from his chair.
“That was when we were like, ‘Something’s wrong with his brain,'” Bolton’s daughter Taryn, 45, said. “Everything that happened was weird for him but not super alarming. When you look back at everything together … We missed so many things.”
After Bolton’s first surgery, he had a second surgery in January 2024 due to an infection. In October 2024, he finished radiation and chemotherapy treatment and now has MRIs every two months. According to People, his recent scan in April was clear.
Despite his illness, Bolton still meditates every day, golfs when he can, works out, takes voice lessons and does voice therapy online with a vocal coach. And he’s still writing songs, saying that it “feeds me.”
“I want to keep going. I feel there’s still a lot to do on the fight side,” he says. “I got a title for a song: ‘Ain’t Going Down Without a Fight.'”
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
