Michael formed the duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. On the cusp of fame, he decided to legally change his name to the more accessible George Michael. [4] The band's first album Fantastic reached No. 1 in the UK in 1983 and produced a series of top 10 singles including " Young Guns", " Wham Rap!", and " Club Tropicana". Their second album, Make It Big, reached No. 1 on the charts in the US. Singles from that album included " Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (No. 1 in the UK and US), " Freedom", " Everything She Wants", and " Careless Whisper" which reached No. 1 in nearly 25 countries, including the UK and US, and was Michael's first solo effort as a single. [13] [14] In December 1984, the single " Last Christmas" was released. [38] In 1985 Michael received the first of his three Ivor Novello Awards for Songwriter of the Year from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. [39] But beyond the indelible images, Michael was also a musical virtuoso, a true pop craftsman who single-handedly wrote and produced most of his discography. “First off, you're talking about a performer, writer, producer as well, and that's a key thing,” Thomas tells GQ. “Those records, they were fully formed ideas in his head. He knew exactly how he wanted them to sound, and it was this great mix of whatever pop was in the ‘80s—that second English wave—with some of his melodies and songs coming right out of a [’60s] Philly Soul playbook.” Songwriters Hall of Fame 2012 Nominees For Induction Announced" (Press release). Songwriters Hall of Fame. 18 October 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011 . Retrieved 18 October 2011. George Michael-The history". Twentyfive Live LLP. & Signatures Network. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008 . Retrieved 5 February 2010. a b c "Troubled personal life of pop superstar George Michael". Sky News. 27 December 2016 . Retrieved 27 December 2016.

When I first had the dream of becoming a recording artist, I was pretty discouraged even before really trying,” says Lambert, who eventually became the first openly-gay artist to have an album debut at number one in the US. “I thought, ‘Well, how is it going to work if I'm a gay guy? Look what happened to George Michael.’” Wham! performed their hits with scantily clad dancers and strobing disco lights. According to Napier-Bell, Michael tried to get the crowd to clap along to "Club Tropicana", but "they hadn't a clue – they thought he wanted applause and politely gave it", before adding that some Chinese did eventually "get the hang of clapping on the beat." [44] A UK embassy official in China stated "there was some lively dancing but this was almost entirely confined to younger western members of the audience." [44] The tour was documented by film director Lindsay Anderson and producer Martin Lewis in their film Wham! in China: Foreign Skies. [45] Lambert was just 16 when he heard news about Michael’s arrest. “I was not out of the closet yet—it was the ‘90s and it was a different time,” he tells GQ. “But I knew I was gay.” So why did I read this HUGE biography of George? I don't know. When he died in 2016, I thought, "Heart failure? That's weird, he wasn't that old... such a shame." Didn't think too much about it or him. But I've noticed over the past few years, I've been hearing "Careless Whisper" and "Last Christmas" a lot more. At the mall, in restaurants, radio, Spotify, TV, I don't know, it's been a resurgence it seems. And then I found myself singing along. 🫢 George Michael planned to release new album in 2017". NME. 26 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017 . Retrieved 22 January 2017.

A Life

On 23 July 2006, Michael was again accused of engaging in anonymous public sex, this time at London's Hampstead Heath. [190] Michael stated that his cruising for anonymous sex was not an issue in his relationship with partner Kenny Goss. [191] Gavin talks about how Nile Rodgers met with George at his home in Goring on Dec. 23 2016, but that’s not true. Rodgers was at GM’s home in Highgate that day and did not meet with George.

Pop icon George Michael was a music video master". Mashable. 25 December 2016. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021 . Retrieved 6 July 2021. Michael accuses BBC in war row". BBC News. 7 March 2003. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017 . Retrieved 26 December 2016. Overall I would say this is definitely interesting for fans of Michael, however the reader should take much of Gavin's writing with a pinch of salt. I would not recommend this to someone new to Michael, as it's both a slog and gives a very one-sided impression of a very complex character. Though in the epilogue Gavin concedes, Michael “Left his mark” on the cultural cataclysms of over three decades and provided gay artists with a conduit to pursue their endeavors openly, he also observes Michael suffered greatly for all his success. Sadly, this is true. Michael was vulnerable, guarded, frail, full of bravado, angel – and sometimes, demon. He was messy, and in that caldron of tumult he unearthed a searing creativity that only now – after his passing – do we realize the beauty of. George Michael’s legacy is his music – not his addictions. This biography does little to advocate for that bounty. Michael’s relationship with his mother grew the strongest following the death of Feleppa, a moment that Gavin referred to as the “first major blow” to Michael. At that point in his career, Michael had not come out, leaving his alleged relationship with Feleppa unknown to his mother. However, it was after his death that Michael penned a letter for his parents in which he came out. (It wasn't until 1998 that Michael came out publicly during an interview with CNN.)Following in the footsteps of George Michael in London". forunitedkingdomlovers.uk. 25 June 2021 . Retrieved 9 July 2023. On “Somebody to Love,” Michael revealed himself the heir apparent to Mercury’s combination of power and vulnerability, turning a stadium full of people into a choir the same way Mercury did at Live Aid in 1985. a b "George Michael's sister Melanie Panayiotou is found dead on Christmas Day aged 59". BBC News. 27 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021 . Retrieved 14 October 2021.

Michael, George; Parsons, Tony (15 July 1991). Bare: George Michael, His Own Story. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-013235-9.George was a control freak about the recording process in the studio, as well as making music videos. He often took over both mediums until it met his liking. He grew disgusted with the publicity hounds and decided to not even appear in his own music videos, preferring to hire and orchestrate famous models to lip synch his songs. He was addicted to various drugs and got into repeated car accidents where he would nod off at the wheel. Often times he would get off with a slap on the wrist because of who he was, but there came a time when the law could no longer look away without repercussions. I never had a moral problem with being gay", Michael told her. "I thought I had fallen in love with a woman a couple of times. Then I fell in love with a man, and realised that none of those things had been love." [163] Pandemic Playlist: George Michael's songs on sexuality will keep you pumped through Pride Month 2020 George Michael — or more precisely, Wham! — was my first concert as a kid. I had harbored a long-standing and passionate sixth-grade crush on George (whose full Greek name, Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, I also knew), and I was certain he would somehow see me in my lawn seat beside my father and our fates would intertwine. (My father, who had mysteriously “volunteered” to take me to every George Michael concert of my childhood, had a lot more in common with George than I did, but I would not find that out for twenty more years.)

Yet, even through his struggles and periods of grief for the loss of two of the most important people in his life, Michael was still able to find happiness in life. Gavin described him as a man with a “great sense of humor” who also took “enormous joy in giving to people.” Lesley Angold Panayiotou: What Happened To George Michael's Mother?". Dicy Trends. 8 July 2023 . Retrieved 19 October 2023. Litchfield, David (1985). "David Cassidy by George Michael". Ritz Newspaper No. 100. Bailey & Litchfield. pp.16–19. The “Faith” singer was said to have a “rare mother-son relationship.” Gavin described his mother as a woman who wanted nothing from her son, except for him to be happy. Michael released " Fastlove", an energetic tune about wanting gratification and fulfilment without commitment, in 1996. The single version was nearly five minutes long. "Fastlove" was supported by a futuristic virtual reality-related video. The single reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top spot. [13] In the US, "Fastlove" peaked at No. 8. [14] Following "Fastlove", Michael released Older, his third studio album. [92] In the UK, the album was particularly notable for producing a record six top three hit singles in a two-year span. [93]

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The definitive biography of George Michael, offering an expansive look at the troubled life of the legendary singer, songwriter, and pop superstar. This biography is not good. It’s essentially an excessively long tabloid article. It’s like the author read The Sun, The Daily Mail, & some gossip forums and decided to write a book. He seems far more interested in gossip and negative stories than anything else. Not to mention there are a bunch of mistakes that you wouldn’t expect to see from a supposedly well researched biography. For example, in the prologue alone, the author gets the years wrong for George’s Symphonica tour & the year in which he had pneumonia.