DETROIT, MI - Multiple Grammy Award-winning singer Michael Bolton has his sights set on Detroit for an ambitious project aimed to tell the world about its resurgence.
Bolton told MLive on Wednesday his production company is working on a documentary about "the comeback of Detroit" that is expected to be released early next year.
"What I see in Detroit is this kind of love and loyalty - through the best times and the hardest times," Bolton said. "And I love seeing that, and I love a comeback story.
"Detroit (and the effort to produce the documentary) has become a central theme for me, my management, my crew and my film company."
News of Bolton's documentary comes a few weeks before his Dec. 5 concert at the Macomb Music Theatre. The event is a benefit to support a local charity that benefits children in foster care.
Part of the effort involves production of a CD called "A Michigan Christmas of Hope" that features local musicians including Frankie Turner. Proceeds go to charity.
Bolton recently met with Quicken Loans found Dan Gilbert, singer Aretha Franklin, Motown legends like Smokey Robinson and several others for documentary interviews and research.
"I love Detroit," said Bolton, who filmed a portion at the Motown Historical Museum on East Grand Boulevard. "We have interviews from amazing people.
"Now I'm meeting all kinds of people that I didn't know were from Detroit."
Gilbert's plan to transform downtown Detroit through bold real estate ventures impressed Bolton so much that he made it a major focus of the currently untitled project.
"We've been meeting with Dan Gilbert and his group and getting a tour of what they've been building, what they're creating," Bolton said. "It's brilliant.
"We were allowed to bring some of our cameras in and film some of the process of rebuilding Detroit from the center out. And besides what they've done already, what the plans are are staggering. It's phenomenal."
Bolton said he still has plenty of more work to do on the documentary and is trying to get Kid Rock and other high profile people with Detroit ties involved in the project.
For more of my interview with Bolton, check out MLive.com this weekend.