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Yes, of course, itsMichael Boltonand Jack Sparrow.
Lets rewind back to May 2011, whenSNLDigital Shortswere being traded around the internet like casefuls of pilfered doubloons.
And the pauper of the surf and the jester of Tortuga.
Oh, and if you ask him to focus up?
Hell insist on listing all his favorite films like a proto-Letterboxd user.
It was so much fun from start to finish, Bolton recalls.
There wasnt a time when anyone was looking at their watches or the clocks.
There wasnt a time when anyone was whining or complaining about how late the days were running.
Getting to that finish line, though, took a lot of patience.
At times, Bolton even felt Jack Sparrow might not come to fruition at all.
And yet it did, culminating in a two-day music-video shoot in Brighton Beach.
How did the Lonely Island present this idea to you?
I said, My daughters are so excited about me having this meeting with you guys.
And they said, Our moms are so excited about us having this meeting with you.
So they pitched Jack Sparrow to me.
The pitch was undoable.
It was beyond vulgar.
Thats a high mark to hit as the starting point.Whatever youre thinking, it was more vulgar than that.
I was playing at the Vatican, you know what I mean?
We can tweak it.
Well send you different ideas, and hopefully we can do something that will work for both of us.
We dont want anyone else.
I was really excited.
I knew how busy they were.
Theyre all directors and producers as well as stars.
They just went to some dark places.
Songs they had families to and grew up to.
At this point, I thought they were pulling me along.
I didnt know how likely it was that we would be doing anything together.
I happened to be performing in Atlanta while on tour, and I got this email from Andy.
I responded, I read the newest treatment and I think I can do it.
But I need to be in character when I do any lines as Al Pacinos character fromScarface.
They said, Thats not a problem.
Can you get to a studio?
I responded, Yeah, theres tons of great studios in the city.
We were recording in no time, with them guiding me over Skype for a few hours.
I call it the gift that keeps on giving.
What has that gift looked like through the years?Ive been really, really busy.
A lot of doors suddenly started opening after the Jack Sparrow video went viral.
I responded, I hope youre right.
I was sitting in the corner, almost hiding, just in case it didnt go over well.
The next day, I came downstairs and my daughter was at the kitchen table with a computer open.
She looked up at me, and Ive never seen that look on her face before.
She said, Dad, youre not going to believe whats going on.
I said, Just tell me its good.
She said, They love it.
How does he know who I am?
I started to understand what John Mayer was talking about.
It taught me something important: Have freakin fun.
You look for other ways to express yourself and build upon the core audience.
Once you know it can happen, it piques your interest to find out what you could do next.
Jack Sparrow made new friends and allies for me.
We started pitching shows to networks and streaming partners.
Ive never had an adult-contemporary artist in my house before.
The room was quiet.
No response at all.
One of the writers said to me, No, this is what we do.
I said, The adult-contemporary line sounded a bit flat when we rehearsed it.
Im wondering if you could tweak that line.
I have a vibrator named after you.
Everyone in the place stopped and broke out into laughter.
Oh, thats an excellent change.I loved it.
I learned a couple of things, and one of them is to trust your instincts.
I realized I could have all kinds of fun making music and making comedy.
It was all possible.
It sounds simple, but this sort of thing never crossed my mind before.
It then becomes all about the script, the script, the script.
I realized I needed to start having fun.
I had some friends … well, I dont think anything bordered on jealousy on a super-high level.
But they were thinking, Why arent I doing this for my career?
Whats my manager doing for me?
I recommended that they do what they can in any way possible to work with the Lonely Island guys.
It would be really wise for their careers.
You were reluctant in 2011 to share the lyrics you deemed too nasty and vile to sing.
But I remember the intention quite clearly.
They were basically testing the water to see what they could get me to do.
Total shock and awe.
We wound up surpassing the original goal of it.
Man, it was my happy place.
That was my condition.
Whats the one lyric that always makes you laugh?Now back to the good part.
Youvesaidyou were hoping to speak to Al Pacino about theScarfacehomage to see if he liked it.
Did you ever get your answer?I never did.
Hes always been very friendly to me in the past.
I certainly hope I didnt impair a positive relationship.
Theres a fan base out there.
You wouldnt have to twist my arm.
Matter of fact, Ill mention to them that you suggested it to me during this interview.
Well, Santana and Rob Thomas took 22 years to do their follow-up to Smooth.Wow, okay.
Thats a long time.
Id rather not wait that long.
Lets say five years.
Its a song I wrote with Mutt Lange.
Its one of my favorite songs to perform.
Theres just something about its feeling.
Is there such a thing as that?
That sounds much cooler than sexy.The critic has chimed in!
