Bill Bottrell

William Allen Bottrell is an American record producer and songwriter, perhaps best known for his production and uncredited guest appearance on Michael Jackson's 1991 single "Black or White", which topped the Billboard Hot 100. A Grammy Award recipient and six-time nominee, he has also produced for musical acts such as Madonna, Tom Petty, Electric Light Orchestra, Sheryl Crow, Elton John, and Five for Fighting, among others.

Biography Between 1967 and 1970, Bottrell attended Crescenta Valley Senior High in La Crescenta, California, he spent his junior year (1968–1969) at The Frankfurt International School in Oberursel, West Germany. He graduated in 1970 from Crescenta Valley Senior High. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara between 1970 and 1972, studying for a bachelor's degree in music.

In 1974, he married Elizabeth Jordan, whom he met in high school. That same year, Bottrell got his first job in music, as an engineer at California Recording Studio in Hollywood. In 1978, he moved over to Soundcastle Studios in Silverlake, where he met Jeff Lynne, who eventually hired him to engineer for ELO. In 1979 his daughter Adrianne was born. The 1980s were spent freelance engineering between Europe and Los Angeles, with clients including: The Jacksons, ELO, Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Harrison, Starship and Tom Petty. Daughter Laura was born in 1983. He worked for Michael Jackson at his house in Encino between 1983 and 1986, recording tracks for Bad. In 1988, Bottrell co-produced his first record, Aliens Ate My Buick by Thomas Dolby. In 1989, Michael Jackson asked him to co-produce, engineer and write songs for his album Dangerous, co-writing and rapping on the album's biggest hit, "Black or White". The song spent 7 weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the fall of 1991.

Bottrell's son William was born under difficult circumstances in 1990. That year, Bottrell built his own recording studio, Toad Hall Studio, next door to the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California and founded a weekly jam session called the "Tuesday Night Music Club". One of the resulting acts was Sheryl Crow, whose 1993 debut album (produced and co-written by Bottrell) was entitled Tuesday Night Music Club. Her single "All I Wanna Do" from that album won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year at the 37th Annual awards in 1994 for Bottrell and Crow. The album won two additional Grammys and sold 3.8 million in the US.

Bottrell was nominated for another Grammy for his work on Shelby Lynne's 1999 breakout album, I Am Shelby Lynne. During the making of that album, he closed his recording studio and moved his family of five to Northern California. His son William died after falling off a cliff in 1998. Bottrell separated from Elizabeth in 1998 and the couple divorced in 2000.

In 2020, Bottrell participated virtually in Kingvention: KV Global, the online edition of the annual Michael Jackson fan convention held during the COVID-19 pandemic. He later appeared in person at the 2022 Kingvention event in London.

Discography

1981: "Hold On Tight" – Electric Light Orchestra 1983: Northbound – Northbound 1983: Secret Messages – Electric Light Orchestra 1984: Victory – The Jacksons 1986: Balance of Power – Electric Light Orchestra 1987: Bad – Michael Jackson 1988: Aliens Ate My Buick – Thomas Dolby 1988: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 – Traveling Wilburys 1988: "Streetwalker" – Michael Jackson (released 2001) 1989: Like a Prayer – Madonna 1989: Full Moon Fever – Tom Petty 1989: "Monkey Business" – Michael Jackson (released 2004) 1990: I'm Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy – Madonna 1990: Toy Matinee – Toy Matinee 1991: Truth or Dare – Madonna 1991: Dangerous – Michael Jackson 1991: "Black or White" – Michael Jackson 1991: "Give In to Me" – Michael Jackson 1991: "Who Is It" – Michael Jackson 1991: No Soul No Strain – Wire Train 1992: Triage – David Baerwald 1993: Tuesday Night Music Club – Sheryl Crow 1994: When I Woke – Rusted Root 1995: "Earth Song" – Michael Jackson 1995: In Flight – Linda Perry 1997: Restless Heart – Tex Beaumont 1999: I Am Shelby Lynne – Shelby Lynne 2000: "Surrender" – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 2000: "For Real" – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (released in 2019) 2000: The House We Built – Alisha's Attic 2001: Songs from the West Coast – Elton John 2002: Welcome to My Party – Rusted Root 2002: Class of Dude – The Stokemen 2002: Rise – Kim Richey 2003: Free – Luan Parle 2004: Liam Titcomb – Liam Titcomb 2004: Benji Hughes – Benji Hughes (unreleased) 2004: The Battle for Everything – Five for Fighting 2005: Annie Stela – Annie Stela 2005: Sierra Swan – Sierra Swan 2005: Black Cadillac – Rosanne Cash 2006: "Save Me from Myself" – Christina Aguilera 2006: Bird on a Wire – Toby Lightman 2006: On The Jungle Floor – Van Hunt 2007: Ex-Sensitive – Ben Jelen 2008: Detours – Sheryl Crow