Biographic - Sunday April 2, 2017 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of "Faith" the album that conferred Global Superstar status on George Michael. George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in London on June 25, 1963. He formed the pop duo, Wham! with school pal Andrew Ridgeley, and the pair quickly conquered the pop charts worldwide. George was the band's singer, writer, arranger and producer, and the media quickly conferred passenger status on Ridgeley. Given George's obvious desire to transcend the limitations of teen pop, the duo's parting of ways was inevitable, and amicable when it came. They signed off with a packed concert at London's Famous Wembley stadium in 1986. George followed a Grammy-winning duet with soul legend Aretha Franklin on the 1987 chart-topper "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me" with the release of "Faith" the album that catapulted him to megastardom. It topped the U.S charts for 12 weeks, spawning four No. 1 singles. It went on to sell more than 25 million copies worldwide. But the constant touring and promotional duties took a heavy toll. For his next album, 1990s "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1" he declined to tour, appear in videos or do any promotional appearances. Relations with his record company soured, eventually resulting in a lengthy legal battle. Subsequent releases included his chart-topping duet with Elton John on "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" whose profits were donated to charity before he returned with "Older" his first studio album in 6 years. Melancholy in tone, "Older" reflected George's grief at the recent death of a lover. His sadness was soon compounded by the loss of his mother in 1997. He enjoyed great success with a double album of his greatest hits in 1998, but a 1999 album of cover songs performed relatively poorly. George's final studio album was 2004's multi-platinum "Patience" A second greatest hits album was released to mark the 25th anniversary of his music career. The "25 Live" world tour saw him perform in 41 countries before more than 2 million fans! Beginning with a high-profile arrest in Beverly Hills in 1998 that laid bare his private life George's subsequent brushes with the law and mounting health problems were played out in the media glare. In the days following his sudden death, at the age of 53, on Christmas Day last year, numerous tales emerged of his kindness and generosity, and the millions he had privately donated to charity.

Tags