English singer (1963–2016)
The voice that made "Careless Whisper" and "Faith" global anthems — 10 US number-ones, 13 in the UK, over 25 million copies of one album alone. George Michael turned pop songwriting into an art of ache and groove, then spent decades navigating the gap between the image and the man.
Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley in 1963, he formed Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981 and became a fixture of mid-'80s pop before stepping into Band Aid and Live Aid. His 1987 solo debut Faith won the Grammy for Album of the Year and sold over 25 million copies worldwide, spawning a run of chart dominance that continued through Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 in 1990, Older in 1996, and Patience in 2004. He came out publicly in 1998 after an arrest for public lewdness, then became an outspoken LGBTQ rights advocate and HIV/AIDS fundraiser while tabloids tracked his legal tro…
Sourced, dated quotes from George Michael
I spent the first half of my career being accused of being gay when I hadn't had anything like a gay relationship.
I have to be honest here, I'm not really interested in selling records to people who are homophobic. I don't need the approval of people who don't approve of me.
I guess somewhere along the way He must have let us all out to play Turned his back, and all God's children Crept out the back door
Did you cling to the things they sold you? Did you cover your eyes when they told you That he can't come back, 'cause he has no children To come back for
The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
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