Michael Bolton Says Relationship with Girlfriend Heather Kerzner 'Brightens' His Life (Exclusive)
Michael Bolton opens up in this week's issue of PEOPLE about the "happiness" his new romance brings
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Michael Bolton and Heather Kerzner at the 2023 MusiCares Persons of the Year gala in Los Angeles in February.When you're known for romantic ballads the way Michael Bolton is, it helps to have a special someone to turn to for inspiration.
Luckily for Bolton, who will release his new album Spark of Light on Friday, he's found just that in girlfriend Heather Kerzner, with whom he made his red carpet debut as a couple in February.
"It's been very natural — a kind of checking all the boxes,” the singer, 70, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "My work takes up a lot of space, and I've been learning what the whole process is of having someone who really brightens up your life."
Bolton says he and the socialite, 54, are longtime friends who have known each other for nearly 15 years, though their relationship only turned romantic last summer.
Though they walked the red carpet together in February at the MusiCares Person of the Year gala in Los Angeles, the Grammy winner remains wary of offering too much information when it comes to his romance.
Amy Sussman/Getty
Michael Bolton attends the Emmy Awards in Pasadena, Calif. in June 2022."How cautious am I in talking about this?" he asks, though he later acknowledges that "the people I love bring me a lot of happiness."
Bolton was previously married to Maureen McGuire, with whom he shares daughters Isa, Taryn and Holly. They divorced in 1990, and he was engaged to actress Nicollette Sheridan from 2006 to 2008 after they rekindled their ‘90s romance.
"I'm filled with more love and pride in my girls as they raise their own families," he says. "The people I love bring me a lot of happiness… The important things never really change. Love is the most important thing, the center of the universe. There's nothing greater."
Kerzner, meanwhile, is a mom of two who was previously married to late hotelier and casino mogul Sol Kerzner. They divorced in 2011, and she was briefly engaged to ex-Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson.
As he prepares for the release of Spark of Light, Bolton says he hopes the album — buoyed by new single "Beautiful World" — is a jolt of positivity amid dark times that was inspired by the pandemic.
"We were basically observing our friends and family and seeing that they all really needed some light, that it was so dark and oppressive and basically we were all just carrying layers of fear to our every day," he says. "And so we started to feel a sense of responsibility to deliver hope and promise and all these feelings that seem to be so elusive, and it started to become a feel-good record."
For more on Michael Bolton, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
