One positive side to being incapable of going to bed before midnight is that I get to embrace late night talk shows in all their glory. I’ve seen Betty White beat Jimmy Fallon in beer pong, a comeback by Hanson and last night, I was introduced to Chris Cornell by the one and only Jay Leno. He sang The Keeper, which truly is the epitome of an easy listening piece. The guitar line is simple, but done well enough to drive the song when coupled with Cornell’s croon.

Speaking of his voice…it sounds eerily similar to that of Michael Bolton (MB), simply because of the guttural tone. As a child who used to belt Michael Bolton songs to and from preschool, I mean this as a compliment, and a huge one at that. The combination of the MB (that’s what I’m going to call him) tone and easy listening composition comes together perfectly in The Keeper.

[Note: If you recognize the name Chris Cornell, it may be because he was a member and lead singer of both Audioslave and Soundgarden. Not 2 groups that show up under the keywords “easy listening,” but credit should be given to Cornell for being diverse.]