George Michael

For other people named George Michael, see George Michael (disambiguation).

George Michael
Michael performing in Houston, 1988
Born
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou

(1963-06-25)25 June 1963
East Finchley, Middlesex, England
Died25 December 2016(2016-12-25) (aged 53)
Goring-on-Thames, England
Resting placeHighgate Cemetery West, London
Other namesYog
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Years active1981–2016
Partners
  • Anselmo Feleppa (1991–1993)
  • Kenny Goss (1996–2009)
  • Fadi Fawaz (2012–2016)
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • piano
  • bass
  • drums
Labels
Formerly of
George Michael's voice
from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 5 October 2007.[1]
Websitegeorgemichael.com
Signature

George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon,[2] he is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with his sales estimated at between 100 million to 125 million records worldwide.[3][4] Michael was known as a creative force in songwriting,[5] vocal performance,[6] and visual presentation.[7][8] He achieved 10 number-one songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 and 13 number-one songs on the UK Singles Chart. Michael won numerous music awards, including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. He was listed among Billboard's the "Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time" and Rolling Stone's the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time".[9] The Radio Academy named him the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004.[10] Michael was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.[11]

Born in East Finchley, Middlesex, Michael rose to fame after forming the pop duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. Their first two albums, Fantastic (1983) and Make It Big (1984), reached number one on the US Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart. They had commercial success with singles "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", "Young Guns (Go for It)", "Bad Boys", "Club Tropicana", "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Last Christmas", "Everything She Wants", "Freedom", and "I'm Your Man". Their 1985 tour in China was the first by a Western popular music act, and generated worldwide media coverage.[12][13] Michael took part in Band Aid's UK number-one single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 and performed at the following year's Live Aid concert.

Michael's first solo single, "Careless Whisper" (1984), reached number one in over 20 countries, including the UK and US.[14][15] The second solo single, "A Different Corner", also reached number one in 1986. After Wham! disbanded that year, Michael released the number-one duet with Aretha Franklin, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". His debut solo album, Faith (1987), stayed at number one on the Billboard 200 for 12 weeks and topped the UK Albums Chart. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 25 million copies worldwide. The singles "Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Michael became the best-selling music artist of 1988, and Faith was awarded Album of the Year at the 1989 Grammy Awards. Michael's second solo album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990), was also a number one in the UK and yielded the Billboard Hot 100 number one "Praying for Time" and the worldwide hit "Freedom! '90".[16] Michael went on to release a series of multimillion-selling albums, including Older (1996), Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael (1998), Songs from the Last Century (1999), Patience (2004), and Twenty Five (2006). The albums earned him multiple hits such as "Jesus to a Child", "Fastlove", "Outside", "Amazing", and "An Easier Affair".

Michael came out as gay in 1998, and was an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser. His personal life, drug use, and legal troubles made headlines following an arrest for public lewdness in 1998 and multiple drug-related offences. The 2005 documentary A Different Story covered his career and personal life. His 25 Live tour spanned three tours from 2006 to 2008. In 2011 Michael fell into a coma during a bout with pneumonia, but recovered. He performed his final concert at London's Earls Court in 2012. Michael died of heart disease on Christmas Day in 2016, at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

  1. ^ "George Michael". Desert Island Discs. 5 October 2007. BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. ^ "George Michael: Chart topper and cultural icon dead at 53". CNN. 26 December 2016. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Troubled personal life of pop superstar George Michael". Sky News. 27 December 2016. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  4. ^ "KEEPING FAITH! WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC RENEWS PUBLISHING DEAL WITH GEORGE MICHAEL'S ESTATE" (Press release). PR Newswire. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rubiner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "The 20 best male singers of all time, ranked in order of pure vocal ability". Smooth Radio. 9 April 2020. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  7. ^ "George Michael's Style: Remembering His Top 5 Iconic Looks". Billboard. 27 December 2016. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. 1 January 2023. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  10. ^ "George Michael dominates airwaves" Archived 19 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine. BBC. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2023 Inductees". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference China was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Patrick, Al (28 April 1985). "East meets Wham!, and another great wall comes down". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  14. ^ "George Michael". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 April 2011. Archived 2 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ George Michael Album & Song Chart History Billboard. Retrieved 21 April 2011
  16. ^ "George Michael Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.