With the Wham! He recorded and sang his own song “Last Christmas”, which became the biggest hit among Christmas songs and grossed $ 35 million. However, George Michael went down in the history of music as a solo artist, creator of the Grammy-winning albums “Faith” and “Older”. December 25 was the fifth anniversary of his death.
–
There is something symbolic about the fact that the creator and performer of “Last Christmas” passed away on the first day of Christmas. It will soon be 40 years since its inception, and the next generations are still humming it during the festive season.
–
But George Michael he would not like to be remembered as the creator of one musical “piece”, even if it has a cult status today. He was a versatile musician.
–
KONKRET24: “Last Christmas” – a hit that wasn’t made for Christmas?
–
The pop-rock songs he recorded with Wham !, as well as those much more serious and mature from his solo albums – from the five Grammy Award-winning “Faith”, through soul-jazz “Older”, to the top of the charts. to the album “Symphonica”, recorded with a symphony orchestra in 2014.
–
The cover of George Michael’s most awarded album “Faith”press materials
–
The Age of Wham!
George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963 in London. His father was a Greek restaurateur who immigrated to England in the 1950s. Mother – an English dancer.
–
As a child, he was very shy due to his unattractive appearance. Obese, with glasses like bottle bottoms, he was the object of mockery of his colleagues. Only as a teenager he started to lose weight, he replaced glasses with contact lenses and from the ugly duckling he turned into a sexy George.
–
His musical talent was discovered by his beloved mother. She enrolled the boy in violin lessons and then encouraged him to sing. In high school, he met Andrew Ridgeley, who, like him, dreamed of becoming a musician. In 1981, teenage boys founded the band Wham !, which burst into the world music scene with great force. Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou became George Michael.
–
In the band he was the main vocalist, composer, author of most songs and producer. He was the undisputed leader from the very beginning.
–
In 1982, the band released their debut single “Wham Rap!”, Warmly received by the audience. The first album, entitled “Fantastic”, was No. 1 on the UK’s best-selling albums list for the first two weeks after its release. The second album “Make It Big” reached number one in the US charts.
–
Together, they have sold over twenty million records. Four singles – “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go”, “Freedom”, “I’m Your Man” and “The Edge of Heaven” – reached number one on the British charts. In December 1984, their most recognizable Christmas song, “Last Christmas”, written and sung by George, became a gigantic hit. Every year, during the holidays, it is broadcast on radio stations all over the world. Over the years, many other performers have also recorded their own versions of this song.
–
At just 17, George recorded the song “Careless Whisper”, but it wasn’t until four years later that he released it with Wham !, signing with his own name. It was supposed to be a test of whether the audience would accept him if he started performing solo.
–
Six million people bought the album, and Michael already knew that he was ready to pursue a solo career. However, he did not dare to do it until three years later.
–
George Michael, Sting and Simon LeBon during Band AID’s 1984 recording sessionChip E./Retna/PAP
–
Way to the top
23-year-old George Michael began his solo career with the release of the hit “I Knew You Were Waiting for Me”, sung in a duet with Aretha Franklin. The great lady of soul called him with a proposal to record a joint song. The song instantly became the most played number in the world, and for Aretha Franklin, the number one number in the US in 20 years.
–
On the cover of his first solo album “Faith” he appeared with a few days’ stubble and in a leather jacket. He was no longer the good boy from Wham! The first track from this album “I Want Your Sex” shocked the audience. The music video for it featured singer’s girlfriend Kathy Jeung at the time, and the song was banned by multiple radio stations in the UK and the United States for “sexually suggestive words” and scenes that suggested love foreplay. It was played only late at night, which did not prevent it from becoming a great hit. For many women, with this piece, George became the ideal of a man. At that time, no one had any idea about his homosexuality, and he himself hid his sexual orientation for fear of a career collapse. This was a time when the AIDS epidemic took over the world.
–
The album reached number one on the UK album chart and stayed at number one on the Billboard 200 for 12 weeks. It has sold 25 million copies worldwide. Michael became the best-selling music artist of 1988 and the biggest pop star in the world. The album “Faith” was awarded at the 1989 Grammy Awards as “Best soul and rhythm and blues album”.
–
The second album “Listen without Prejudice”, extremely mature and musically refined, was also a highlight. Rolling Stone magazine described him as “a distressed look at the wounds of the world.” There were lots of references to political events in it – a critique of Tony Blair’s government and his alliance with President Bush, whom Michael described as an idiot. The following songs directly criticized the war in Iraq and the actions of the American president.
–
But Michael also poured personal drama onto his solo albums. In 1993, a Brazilian designer died of AIDS Anselmo Feleppa, whom the artist called the love of his life. The death of the lover broke George. A touching song written a year later – “Jesus to a Child” – is dedicated to Feleppie. Michael explained before each performance that he wrote it for him. This raised questions from both his fans and the nosy record label because he never explained their relationship.
–
The despair after Anselmo’s death was accompanied by fearful weeks of waiting for the test results, which depressed George. He was sure he got HIV. He started taking strong psychotropics, mixing them with alcohol and drugs. It was then that he became addicted to them for good. He isolated himself from people for a while, even though he turned out to be healthy.
–
He only returned to the stage after meeting Kenny Goss, the British flight attendant with whom he had been associated for many years. He also hid this relationship. Until the outbreak of a scandal that forced him to come out, which covered his most perfect album, “Older”.
–
George Michael in June 2007 during a concert in AmsterdamEVERT ELZINGA / EPA / PAP
–
Trudne lata i coming out
In 1998, the media made headlines: “George Michael Arrested For Having Sex With A Man In Public.” The artist actually went to a public restroom, where he met a secret agent whom he offered sex to, having no idea who he was. As a result, he was arrested.
–
The whole thing had a lot of publicity all over the world. The next day, helicopters with photojournalists flew over his house. The headlines “Zip me up before you go go” appeared in the boulevard, paraphrasing the title of Michael’s hit. For his misdemeanor, he was sentenced to £ 500 and 80 hours of community service. His partner Kenny Goss then claimed he was tired of hiding and deliberately provoked the situation in order to reveal himself as gay.
–
Six months later, George recorded the single “Outside”, the video of which referred to the situation in the toilet with a policeman. In it he sang: “I think I’m finished with the couch, I’m finished with the corridor and the kitchen table, baby let’s go outside, in the glow, I know you want it, but you can’t say” yes “(…), don’t worry about it what others are saying “.
–
He said he came back to life when he no longer needed to hide his homosexuality, but still couldn’t do without drugs. The relationship with Goss broke up in 2009 because, as his partner said, he was unable to cope with Michael’s growing addiction. He predicted a tragedy.
–
It was getting louder and louder about the next scandals. First, the singer admitted driving under the influence of intoxicating substances, for which he was banned from driving. Two years later, he was punished for possession of hard drugs, including cocaine. In 2010, he drove his Range Rover into a shop window in London. Then the police found marijuana with him, and psychoactive substances were detected in his blood. The singer pleaded guilty and was eventually sentenced to eight weeks in prison.
–
After he left, he went to rehab and seemed to be back on the straight.
–
“Symphonica” – G. Michael’s album cover from 2014press materials
–
“Symphonica” i last christmas
The good time after rehab was short-lived, unfortunately, as George quickly turned back to hard drugs.
–
In 2011, serious health problems began, largely due to addiction to them. He had problems with the circulatory system, then more diseases joined.
–
In winter, he had to cancel his Symphonica tour, promoting the upcoming album under this title, due to serious complications from acute pneumonia. At that time, in a critical condition, he was sent to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Vienna, where he had to stay in a pharmacological coma for several days. After two months, however, he left the hospital and stated that he was healthy.
–
The Symphonica Tour was resumed and the final concert of the tour – at London’s Earls Court on October 17, 2012, was Michael’s last concert. He got involved with Lebanese Fadi Fawaz, a gay porn model, but told friends that “it’s nothing serious.”
–
In 2014, the album “Symphonica” was released, which gained sensational reviews and proved how versatile an artist George Michael is. “Brilliant”, “perfect”, “masterful” – these were the terms that accompanied all her reviews. In Poland, it has gained the platinum status.
–
George Michael was no longer active in public at that time. Only pictures taken from hiding place went to the media – it showed an obese man with glasses, unlike the Michael we knew. In June 2015, he checked into a drug rehabilitation center in Switzerland. In the only interview he gave at the time, he boasted that he hadn’t taken “anything” for over a year. Local residents sometimes saw him from afar when he sneaked past wearing dark glasses.
–
George Michael died on the first day of ChristmasOn December 25, 2016 at his estate in Goring, UK. Apparently he spent his “last christmas” alone, although Fadi Fawaz still lived with him. The coroner said the cause of death was “dilated cardiomyopathy”, which causes heart failure.
–
>> “The lights went out and everyone knew something was wrong”
–
He was buried on March 29 in London at Highgate Cemetery. After his death, many charities revealed that the artist supported them with gigantic amounts of money from the beginning of his career.
–
“The Rolling Stone” wrote, “He had great talent and was the voice of all those who feel pain in the face of the injustices of our world. His music was a balm to poverty, hypocrisy and hatred.”
–
photo-source">Main photo source: PAP / PA
—
