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11-06 George Michael's new track
12-25 R.I.P. George Michael
01-20 New George Michael album
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George Michael was the biggest British pop star of the 1980s, spinning a series of infectiously catchy pop singles into global stardom that sawhim sell
over 100 million albums worldwide. Blessed with good looks, a fine voice, and a knack for writing engaging melodies that worked wellwith dance-
friendly rhythms, Michael became the rare teen sensation who matured into a respected star as an adult, though his life afterachieving pop icon status
was not without personal and creative challenges.
Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963 in the North London suburb of Ea ...read more
George Michael was the biggest British pop star of the 1980s, spinning a series of infectiously catchy pop singles into global stardom that sawhim sell
over 100 million albums worldwide. Blessed with good looks, a fine voice, and a knack for writing engaging melodies that worked wellwith dance-
friendly rhythms, Michael became the rare teen sensation who matured into a respected star as an adult, though his life afterachieving pop icon status
was not without personal and creative challenges.
Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963 in the North London suburb of East Finchley; his father was a Greek
Cypriotrestaurant owner who changed his name from Kyriacos Panayiotou to Jack Michael when he immigrated to England in the 1950s. Michael's
familyrelocated to Bushey, Hertfordshire when he was in his early teens, and he struck up a friendship with one of his new schoolmates,
AndrewRidgeley. Both Michael and Ridgeley were interested in music, and in 1979 they formed a ska band called the Executive; the group didn't go
far,but it gave them a taste for the spotlight, and they took what they learned and in 1981 formed a pop duo called Wham! The early Wham!
demosimpressed executives at Innervision, an independent record label that signed the group to a contract. By 1982, Wham! had hit the U.K.
popcharts with "Wham Rap" and "Young Guns (Go for It)," and scored an American record deal with Columbia.
However, Michael and Ridgeley soon discovered how unfavorable their deal with Innervision was, and they opted out of their contract byforfeiting all
future royalties on material from their first album, Fantastic, to sign with Sony worldwide. The choice proved to be shrewd; Wham!'ssecond album,
1984's Make It Big, transformed them from British hitmakers to a genuine international sensation, as "Wake Me Up Before YouGo-Go," "Everything
She Wants," "Careless Whisper," and "Freedom" became wildly successful in the U.K., Europe, and the United States.Wham! soon became one of the
biggest new acts of the era, and in 1985 they became the first Western pop group to tour the People's Republicof China. But Michael displayed an
ambition that went beyond Wham!'s new success, and the "Careless Whisper" single was released with thecredit "Wham! Featuring George Michael,"
setting the stage for him to strike out on his own. In 1986, after Michael had released a proper solosingle, "A Different Corner," Wham! announced
their breakup and said farewell to their fans with a sold-out concert at London's WembleyStadium.
Michael wasted no time making his mark on his own, releasing his first solo album, Faith, in 1987. He produced and arranged the album, as wellas
writing the songs, and it managed to top Wham!'s phenomenal success, spawning a series of major hit singles (including "I Want Your Sex,""Father
Figure," "Kissing a Fool," and the title track) and selling over 20 million copies worldwide (close to ten million in the United States alone).Michael
promoted the album with a series of stylish, sexy music videos and a concert tour that found him playing 137 shows over the space of 16months.
Faith left no doubt that Michael was one of the new icons of pop music, and after recording successful duets with Elton John ("Wrap ItUp" and "Don't
Let the Sun Go Down on Me") and Aretha Franklin ("I Knew You Were There [Waiting for Me]"), he proved he had the respect ofveteran acts as well as
the younger audience.
However, Michael felt reined in by his image as a sexy pop singer, and after taking a well-deserved vacation in 1989, he released Listen
WithoutPrejudice, Vol. 1 in 1990, a set that was noticeably more somber, sophisticated, and personal than his previous work. Presumably to put
thefocus on his music rather than his image, Michael refused to appear in any music videos for the album and declined to tour in support; the
albumfared well commercially, but not as well as Faith, and Michael began expressing dissatisfaction with Sony, declaring his contract was
financiallyinequitable and creatively stifling. Michael sued Sony to end his contract, leading to a long and costly legal battle that ended in 1995,
withMichael signing to the newly launched DreamWorks Records label in the United States and Virgin in the rest of the world. (During the
interim,Michael released a live EP that included material he performed with the surviving members of Queen at the 1992 Freddie Mercury
TributeConcert.) In 1996, Michael finally released his third solo effort, Older, which followed in the more contemplative vein of Listen Without
Prejudice,Vol. 1. While the album went platinum in the United States, it was considered a commercial disappointment considering the success of
Michael'sprevious work, though it fared better in Europe and the U.K.
In 1998, Michael released Ladies and Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael, a two-disc anthology that featured solo material as well asrecordings
with Wham! It also included a new song, "Outside"; the song and its video were created in response to a widely publicized incident inwhich Michael
was arrested by an undercover cop in Los Angeles for "performing a lewd act" in a public restroom. After the arrest madeheadlines, Michael publicly
acknowledged his homosexuality, and in time it was revealed that the song "Jesus to a Child" from Older was writtenin tribute to his late partner
Anselmo Feleppa, who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 1993. In 1999, Michael released an album of covers, Songsfrom the Last Century, which was
released worldwide by Virgin after Michael parted ways with DreamWorks.
In 2002, Michael signed a new record deal with Polydor and released the single "Freeek," with a new album expected to follow. However,
thesubsequent full-length release, Patience, didn't arrive until 2004, and in a surprising move, it was issued not by Polydor, but the Sony-affiliatedEpic
label after Michael returned to the company he'd left nine years earlier. Michael also told journalists that he expected it to be his finalcommercially
released album, adding he hoped to release future material online, with any proceeds going to charity. A second two-disccollection, Twenty-Five, was
issued in 2008, and arrived after Michael once again found himself the subject of some controversy. In 2006 and2007, he had been arrested on drug-
related offenses in the U.K., and in 2010, he'd served four weeks in Suffolk's Highpoint Prison after pleadingguilty to driving under the influence of
cannabis. During a 2006 television interview, Michael smoked what appeared to be a joint and spokeopenly of his marijuana use, saying, "I'd say it's a
great drug, but obviously it's not very healthy. You can't afford to smoke it if you've gotanything to do."
Michael continued with the Twenty-Five tour in 2008, touring North America for the first time in 17 years. Over the next five years, Michaeltoured
regularly, starting the Symphonica tour in 2011. This orchestral pop show was captured on record by producer Phil Ramone, who diedbefore the album
could be released. Michael completed the album and issued it under the title Symphonica in March 2014; it reached number onein the U.K., and
number 60 in the U.S. His next project was a documentary, Freedom, plus the announcement that he was working on newrecordings, but he died
before anything was released, succumbing to heart failure on Christmas Day of 2016. « hide |
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