George Michael & Wham! Biography [1963-2016] The person behind the star

At the age of 19, starting to be known, George Michael was on the verge of declaring himself bisexual, but he was not sure. In fact, it wasn’t until he was 24 years old (around 1987), that he was sure of his sexual orientation 👬

• However, Michael kept his homosexuality a secret because of the effect the news might have on his parents. He would keep the secret for the next 16 years of his life, with the burden it placed on him.
• During Wham!’s career there was much speculation about the possible love affair between George and Andrew, but Andrew was straight, and George stated on more than one occasion that he was not his type.

Once the problem with the record company was solved, Wham! went on tour in North America for 6 months.

• In addition to a great musical success, George Michael meets the actress Brooke Shields, with whom he would maintain a relationship for a while. Over the years, he would regret that deception.

George Michael’s reconciliation with his father

Since George left his studies in adolescence to pursue his dream in music, his relationship with his father was very bad. Everything would change the first time he attended a Wham! concert.

• It was in Glasgow that his father would see him perform for the first time, declaring:

When I saw the thousands of girls screaming madly for my son tears came to my eyes. I was wrong, how had I not seen this huge potential in my boy.

From that moment on his father was very proud of him, not because of his fame, but because of the good person he had become, the credit for which he gives to his mother.

In 1984, Wham! released their second album, Make It Big, which reached No. 1 in the United States and catapulted them to superstardom, especially for the legendary song ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go‘.

• George Michael was inspired by a message that his partner Andrew Ridgeley left him one day in a hotel. The note read: “don’t forget to wake me up before you go, George“.
• It was so popular that it gave rise to the fashion of T-shirts with slogans or short phrases, like the ones worn in the video.

The album was not a very cohesive work, except for the visuals, but Wham! maintained that sexy, youthful and fun halo.

Surprisingly the 2nd single “Careless Whisper“, is considered a George Michael solo track, even though it was co-written by Ridgeley.

• The song was the biggest hit of the band being in the Top 1 worldwide for several weeks.
• In any case, it was not a problem between Andrew and George.

Michael wanted on the one hand to write more personal songs and on the other hand to write songs for Wham! He would do so for a while.

George Michael and the Band Aid

In 1984, Michael threw himself completely into the Band Aid project, promoted by Bob Geldof to raise funds to fight hunger in Africa.

The result was the song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Do They Know It’s Christmas?)‘, which raised more than $150 million 💰

Following the success, they began their first world tour, including a 10-day stop in China in 1985, which marked the first visit to the country by a Western pop group.

• The trip was massively publicized and culminated in a concert at the Workers’ Gymnasium in Beijing in front of 10,000 Chinese fans.
• Wham! told that in China everything was perfect, unless you broke their rules 🥢
• It was all recorded in a documentary called ‘Foreign Skies: Wham! In China‘.

Although already in the late 80’s George was aware that fame did not make him particularly happy, his ego demanded more, he wanted to be the biggest superstar in the world like Madonna and Michael Jackson. And he knew how to do it:

• He designed a manly and aggressive character, with a stubble, earrings, sunglasses, boots and tight pants.
• It wasn’t all self-assurance, though. He said he always wore sunglasses so he wouldn’t have to look people in the eye, and they wouldn’t discover his insecurities.

In 1987 he began his solo career singing with the great Aretha Franklin, ‘I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)‘. It reached the top of all the charts.

• It would be her 3rd consecutive number 1, after ‘Careless Whisper‘ and ‘A Different Corner‘, released in 1986.

George Michael’s first solo album was also released in 1987, ‘Faith’. A tremendous success worldwide.

• In addition to playing several instruments on the album, Michael composed and produced all but one song.
• The first single, ‘I Want Your Sex‘, was banned by several TV and radio stations due to sexually explicit lyrics and his girlfriend, Kathy Jeung, appearing in a bodysuit and garter belt 💋
• Michael stated:

This song does not incite easy sex.

The second single, ‘Faith‘, would go on to become one of his most popular songs.

• It is a song with light touches of Rockabilly that amazed everyone.
• Faith has sold more than 25 million copies.

In 1988 George Michael embarked on a massive world tour.

In the meantime, he won the award for Best Soul and R&B Album 🏆, at the American Music Awards.

• No other white person had ever done it before, and although it was a huge merit and honor, it provoked a lot of criticism from some sectors of the American black community, leaving him quite sad.

The process of promotion, videos, tour, awards, etc. left him exhausted. Plus this time he didn’t have Andrew by his side to lean on. He felt lonely and frustrated, far from his family and friends.

• So much so that at his last concert of the tour in Florida in 1988, while singing the final song, ‘Careless Whisper‘, he recalled tears coming to his eyes thinking it might be his last time 😢

During 1990, George Michael told his record company, Sony, that he didn’t want to do any more promotions for his records. Of course, his label didn’t take it well! 🤬

• Sony tried to convince him, but George was always very stubborn and faithful to his decisions.
• It got to the point that he didn’t even want to appear in their music videos or on the album cover.

That’s how ‘Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1‘ was released, which critics call George Michael’s best album and one of the best of all time.

Unlike ‘Faith’, it had hardly any publicity, which reflected in sales.

• Michael tried to build a new reputation as a serious artist. The very title of the album, ‘listen without prejudice‘, said so.
• He left his guts and his heart on the album, as seen in the first single, ‘Praying for Time‘, which speaks of social ills and injustice and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• The second track, ‘Waiting For That Day‘, was an acoustic single 🎚️

Freedom! ’90 was a megahit, and the video, which also didn’t feature George Michael, was a revolution.

• The song alludes to the struggle of being a homosexual in the closet 🌈
• The video features the 5 biggest supermodels of the 90s: Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz and Cindy Crawford.
• In the final scenes he burns the leather jacket that made him so popular in ‘Faith‘, again symbolizing his breakup with the Pop superstar.

George Michael embarked on the ‘Cover to Cover‘ tour, which took him to Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Brazil, where he played at the Rock in Rio festival in front of 160,000 people. Among them was fashion designer, Anselmo Feleppa, who would soon become his romantic partner. Michael said:

You won’t believe it, but I couldn’t even look at him during the concert, he was so handsome that it broke my concentration.

Anselmo changed his life, it was the first time he really fell in love.

• They had 6 months of continuous vacation in what George Michael describes as “the happies time in his life 🧡“.

In 1991, George Michael sings with Elton John ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me‘ in a live concert.

• The single reached number 1 in the UK and US.
• Proceeds were split between 10 charities for children, AIDS, and education.

As the war between George and Sony continued, the British arm of the label supported Michael, but the American did not.

When everything was going great, George’s partner Anselmo started to get sick. George remembers looking up at the sky and screaming.

Don’t you dare do this to me.

He was tested in Brazil and without knowing the result at Christmas, they returned to London to spend a few days with George’s family, in what he describes as the worst moment of his life, wondering if he and his love might have AIDS.

• It turned out that Anselmo had it and George did not.

That same 1992 Freddie Mercury died of AIDS, at the tribute concert at Wembley in London, Michael sang ‘Somebody to Love‘. In his own words, it was the most incredible moment of his musical career. From this concert came the album Five Live.

Anselmo was the one who had pushed Michael to fight with Sony for his rights, so he decided to take them to court 👨‍⚖️

• Anselmo would die in 1993 at age 36 while having a blood transfusion in Brazil. George Michael was in Los Angeles, and when he knew his world became a blur.
• He was completely devastated, going into a depression, which would lead him to Prozac and cannabis.
• To make matters worse, he bought a dog, which would drown in the Thames.

The legal fight with Sony lasted a few months and he finally lost, but the relationship was so deteriorated that it forced Sony to sell George Michael’s rights to another record company, DreamWorks, which opened a new path for him.

In 1996, George Michael finally released ‘Older‘, his first studio album in 6 years.

• It included the smash hit ‘Fast Love‘, inspired by a brief affair Michael had with banker Brett Charles.
• The song includes a mythical funky saxophone and a sample of Patrice Rushen’s ‘Forget Me Nots‘.

His mother death

In October 1996, Michael performs an acoustic concert for MTV, as his first full-length performance in years.

• His mother was in the audience, who would die of skin cancer the following year.
• She was especially proud of him. George said that something magical happened at that concert, he felt his voice was in better condition than ever and in fact, it was the only concert in his life that while his mother was in the audience, he greeted her 👋

Again, George was knocked out for a while.

In 1998 the compilation ‘Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael‘ was released, which included both his best ballads and his most danceable songs.

His homosexuality becomes public

That same 1998, he is arrested for asking a policeman for sex 👮‍♂️

• The cop was plainclothes on a raid targeting homosexuals who habitually have sex in public restrooms in a Beverly Hills park.
• Michael was fined $810 and sentenced to serve 80 hours of community service.

Soon after the arrest, Michael would finally come clean about his homosexuality, which came as a great relief to him.

• To laugh at the situation, his new single, ‘Outside‘ parodies the arrest and talks about his coming out.

In 2004, George Michael released ‘Patience‘, his 5th album.

• George decided to promote it for the first time in 20 years and although he still didn’t like it, the truth is that it worked very well and became a worldwide number 1.
• At 41 years old, he finally accepted and felt comfortable with the way he looked. Who would have said he wasn’t before? But that’s how it was 🧔

 The album included 3 legendary songs:

• Freeek!: A danceable track, with a mix of R&B and Pop, although somewhat dark and controversial for its sexual lyrics.
• Flawles (Go to the City): Another dance hit by Michael, with an amazing rhythm and freshness.
• Shoot the Dog: A critique of the friendship between the UK and US governments during the Iraq war.
  • The video was a total scandal and although many people supported the message that George wanted to convey, he was showered with criticism, especially from the American public.
  • He did not expect it and the press hammered him harder than ever before, plunging him back into a serious depression.

In 2006 he was again accused of anonymous public sex, known as cruising. This time it was in London.

• Michael said that he went out in search of anonymous sex and that this was not a problem in his relationship with his partner Kenny Goss, although he would break up with him 3 years later 💔

Musically, he released ‘Twenty Five‘, her 2nd greatest hits to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his music career.

• It was another best-seller with 3 new songs: An Easier Affair, This Is Not Real Love (a duet with Mutya Buena, former Sugababes member), and a new version of Heal the Pain, recorded with Paul McCartney.

In 2006 George Michael had many incidents related to drug use:

• In October the police found him semi-conscious in the seat of his car, something that had already happened to him in May of the same year. He was banned from driving for two years and sentenced to community service.
• George confessed that his cannabis use was proving to be a problem, and that he was struggling with it.

In 2008 he was caught using in a public place, which would lead to him being stripped of a Brit Awards nomination.

• The following year he confessed to using around 25 joints a day 🚬, along with crack and cocaine.

In 2010 he drove his car into a store and was sentenced to 8 weeks in jail.

During those years he was still touring, accumulating $97 million, in addition to what he earned from private concerts he gave periodically, such as to billionaire Vladimir Potanin.

• Michael was the first artist to play at the new Wembley Stadium, although he was fined £130,000 for going 13 minutes over the set time 😲
• He also made his acting debut in the television series Eli Stone, where each episode is named after one of his songs.

In the spring of 2008 George Michael announced his retirement from the profession, although later it would not be so.

That same year, Michael played what was to be his last concert in Abu Dhabi, although in 2010 he returned for 2 shows in Australia.

In 2011 Michael released a cover of New Order’s ‘True Faith‘ for charity.

In 2014 George Michael released his latest album, ‘Symphonica‘, recorded during the tour of the same name between 2011 and 2012.

• The album includes a selection of his classics and songs by some of George’s favorite artists.
• He also announced a new tour but caught pneumonia in Vienna and was even in a coma for 10 days.