FEATURE:
George Michael at Sixty
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
The Influence and Impact of the Music Legend
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THIS is another feature…
PHOTO CREDIT: AFP/Getty Images
about the much-missed George Michael. I am writing about him, as 25th June would have been his sixtieth birthday. It is hard to believe that he is no longer around. The legend left us on 25th December, 2016. Without doubt one of the voices of his generation, there is so much to remember about him. I am ending with a career-spanning playlist, but I wanted to reflect on and dive into the influence and legacy of this incredible artist. Not only do I want to feature some pieces that describe his musical legacy and brilliance. I will end with an article that highlights his wonderful kindness. Someone who performed these incredible acts of generosity to those he didn’t even know! The debut Wham! album, Fantastic, was released on 1st July, 1983. With Andrew John Ridgeley, Michael helped create this incredible duo! The final Wham! album, Music from the Edge of Heaven, was released on 27th June, 1986. Michael launched his debut album, Faith, in 1987. His final studio album, Patience, was released in 2004. In his lifetime, he left the world with so much phenomenal music. I am going to get to some features that explore the legacy and influence of George Michael. Last year, Firstpost. wrote about how George Michael’s fight for artistic freedom and honesty inspired many. He definitely paved the way for others:
“Although most singer-songwriters know that with age comes wisdom in their songwriting, Michael’s music has always been a combination of sharp wit and cheekiness on the one side and introspection or defiance on the other. Which is why even in albums like Older which provide such an incisive look into Michael’s state of mind, you find that the songs travel through an entire gamut of human emotions.
His attitude towards protecting his individuality, honing his craft and controlling the narrative even when it isn’t in your favour, positioned George Michael as one of the most influential musicians of the 80-90s. His battle with Sony and eventual defeat paved the way for many record labels to be cognisant of the way they treat their talent. By their own admission in Freedom Uncut, George Michael may have lost the battle, but he did win the war.
You can see Michael’s distinct attitude in Adam Lambert, whose tremendous success with American Idol has only heralded him into a supremely talented openly gay singer; one who hasn’t needed to hide his sexuality to protect his career. That he reprises Freddie Mercury’s role in the band Queen feels almost like a generational passing of the baton with many intersections of music, creative force and sexuality.
Like Michael, Lambert too started off with a career that saw many female fans before becoming a gay icon. Although Michael got outted before he would’ve liked, he embraced his gayness in the later years, assured that he wouldn’t lose out on his female fan base. Lambert’s kohl lined eyes and mannerisms contribute greatly to his similarities with Michael as he struts on stage with the confidence of a man who recognises his own superlative talent.
Filling in for a vocal behemoth like Freddie Mercury can’t be easy; Michael too has maintained that singing at Mercury’s tribute concert shortly after his death was a humongous personal task but also a huge professional challenge. Today Queen can tour because Lambert has boldly taken on the mantle.
If Freddie inspired Michael who in turn inspired Lambert, this cross-generational influence transcends many other pop artists as well. Sam Smith, who has been deeply motivated by Michael’s song Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me with Elton John, said that it was Michael who gave him the confidence to become a solo queer artist. It had a lot to do with the former finding a way to bounce back from every curveball thrown his way.
For a singer who peaked at a time when Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson were ruling the charts in the US, British George Michael carved a niche for himself and became a darling across the pond until he was arrested by undercover cops in Los Angeles over soliciting charges. He never had a #1 hit in the US after that. Despite that, Older charted six hit songs making it one of Michael’s best albums.
Over five years since his passing, George Michael remains somebody you ought to have faith in. His fans and budding musicians continue to do the same”.
The BBC marked thirty years of George Michael’s Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1. Not as highly-regarded by critics as it should when it came out, it is now seen as a masterful work from an artist in a league of his own. It is quite an extensive feature. I have selected a few parts from it that are of interest. Nick Levine, in his 2020 piece, writes with such passion and admiration for the iconic George Michael:
“When George Michael released his second solo album Listen without Prejudice Vol 1 in September 1990, he wasn’t asking fans to embrace a captivating new persona as equivalent pop giants like Madonna and David Bowie did during their imperial phases. But in a way, he was attempting something just as audacious: he wanted to shed the misleading image he had created for himself as one of the most recognisable stars of the 1980s. Now he wanted to show the world more, though not yet all, of who he really was. “Today the way I play the game has got to change,” he sang on the album’s astonishing second single Freedom! ‘90, a song the producer Mark Ronson has described as a “funk groove masterpiece” and “the Mona Lisa”.
In the same song, Michael delivered the rather pleading refrain “I just hope you understand – sometimes the clothes do not make the man”, then drove home his message in the accompanying music video by torching his signature leather jacket from the Faith album campaign three years earlier. However, in a typically contradictory artistic statement, the video in which he asked us to embrace the new, more authentic him featured five huge supermodels of the era – Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford – but not a single glimpse of the artist himself. As singer-songwriter Leo Kalyan notes wryly, Freedom! ‘90 has “one of the most iconic music videos of all time – despite George Michael’s absence from it”. Indeed, Michael refused to appear not only in Listen without Prejudice Vol 1’s music videos, but even on its album cover. Though still only 27 years old, he already had the music industry clout to do exactly as he pleased.
Though Listen without Prejudice Vol 1 sold eight million copies worldwide and won Michael a Brit Award for best British album, it was widely regarded as a commercial disappointment after Faith’s blockbuster success. Michael felt his record label, Sony Music, had failed to promote it properly in the US and subsequently took them to court, alleging that the company treated him as “no more than a piece of software”. Because of this lawsuit, which Michael eventually lost, a planned follow-up album called Listen without Prejudice Vol 2 never materialised.
It’s fitting, though, that Michael gave three songs intended for the project – including the brilliant, hip-shaking hit single Too Funky – to Red Hot + Dance, an HIV/Aids charity album released in June 1992. Written by a closeted gay man at the height of the epidemic, Listen without Prejudice Vol 1 is an album steeped in the grief and confusion of the HIV/Aids era. Michael acknowledged in a 2007 Desert Island Discs interview that “Aids was the predominant feature of being gay in the 1980s and early 90s as far as any parent was concerned” and a major factor in his decision not to come out to his own family sooner. It’s little wonder that, as he became more emotionally honest in his music, he no longer sounded ready to party.
Now, nearly four years after Michael’s untimely death on 25 December 2016, Listen without Prejudice Vol 1 forms a cornerstone of his legacy – along with his early Wham! hits, 1987’s more ostentatious Faith and 1996’s fascinating and reflective Older album. “His music connects with so many people because he wrote classic songs about universal human experiences, but he always told the story through his individual lens,” says Kalyan.
Though he remained closeted and conflicted for another eight years following its release, Listen without Prejudice Vol 1’s steadfast rejection of pop star artifice is an important stepping stone in Michael’s journey to becoming the scrupulously honest man we now remember him as. He retained a certain mystique right up to his death, but Michael’s willingness to confront his public and private mistakes helped to pave the way for today’s more transparent pop landscape, where a superstar like Katy Perry feels comfortable discussing her depression in a radio interview, and other household names like Justin Bieber and Dua Lipa post apologies for tone deaf moments and past faux pas”.
It was an enormous shock to find out that he died. On Christmas Day 2016, the world had to find out that terrible news. In a year that claimed David Bowie and Prince, we lost another music genius! The outpouring of love and tributes proved that he was greatly loved. He had this huge and profound effect on so many. Truly, Michael was one of the artists of his generation. In a 2020 feature, we get some background and insight into a remarkable career:
“Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ then replaced ‘Careless Whisper’ before Wham!’s ‘Freedom’ finally saw George back on top for another three weeks. The song’s hit-run coincided with two other big milestones – the release of the Make It Big album and the group’s US breakthrough, which saw ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ top the Billboard Hot 100 in November. Wham!’s next single – a festive bonus for fans – looked certain to top the charts again, until George’s own participation in that year’s Band Aid single helped stall it at No.2. No matter. ‘Last Christmas’ would go on to be the biggest-selling single ever to miss No.1 in Britain and would remain in heavy rotation on December playlists ever after.
A world tour, supported by the song ‘Everything She Wants’, which made No.1 in the US in its own right (having been relegated in the UK to a supporting position to ‘Last Christmas’), led to the band being invited to be the first Western pop group to play in Communist China. The trip, in the April of 1985, marked the pinnacle of the pair’s international fame and was a PR triumph. While a new song, ‘I’m Your Man’, made No.1 in the UK and No.3 in the US that autumn, it was now clear that George was getting restless. His second solo single, ‘A Different Corner’, was released in 1986, showcased another dramatic shift forward in his songwriting and once again topped the UK charts.
The news the fans were dreading finally came when it was announced that Wham! would split that summer after a single concert at Wembley Stadium and a farewell release. ‘The Edge Of Heaven’, lifted from a final four-track EP, predictably topped the UK charts in time for the June live show.
George’s next move was a canny one. Pairing himself with the Queen Of Soul on the pop duet ‘I Knew You Were Waiting For Me’ rewarded him and Aretha Franklin with a transatlantic chart-topper and, crucially, helped lay the groundwork for his staggering domination of the US in the 18 months ahead. That campaign kicked off in the summer of 1987 with the release of ‘I Want Your Sex’, a Prince-inspired slice of pop-funk that got George banned from BBC Radio One’s daytime playlists.
In autumn, George’s solo album Faith hit the shops and, buoyed by the title track making No.1 in America and No.2 in the UK would go on to sell 25 million copies worldwide and make him the most successful star of the year stateside. ‘Father Figure’, ‘One More Try’ and ‘Monkey’ would all top the Billboard Hot 100, with some even reaching the R&B listings where white artists rarely made an impact. When Faith won Album Of The Year at the Grammys, George looked unstoppable. But in fact, an exhausting world tour to promote the record, and a growing sense of crisis around his private life, led him to reposition his career.
A two-year hiatus offered him pause for breath. The soberer Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1 was subsequently launched with the brooding ballad ‘Praying For Time’ and – controversially – no video. George felt overexposed and needed to pull back from the promotional blitzkrieg that had characterised Faith. While Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1 would sell respectably worldwide, its US performance, in particular, was muted, despite the inclusion of classic songs such as ‘Freedom 90’ and ‘Heal The Pain’.
The set’s more moderate sales helped exacerbate another row with his label, and a fresh legal battle and corresponding recording hiatus appeared to be looming. Still, George’s live schedule maintained a profile of sorts. Two memorable shows rewarded him with further UK No.1 singles – a duet with Elton John on ‘Don’t Let The Sun Go Down With Me’, which raised money for AIDS research, and another charity project that featured a set of covers largely drawn from his appearance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992. The same year, a new composition, ‘Too Funky’ – again raising money for AIDS research – had become a substantial radio and sales smash
In 1994, judges ultimately ruled in favour of George’s record company and, in time, an out-of-court settlement led him to join Virgin, where he finally released Older in 1996. In Europe, the record did well and included two British chart-toppers in ‘Jesus To A Child’ and ‘Fastlove’. The former was a tender tribute to the second man who changed George’s life. Anselmo Feleppa was George’s first true love but had died just a couple of years after meeting the star in 1991. This tragedy was compounded by the death of George’s mother, and the trauma appeared to tighten the artist’s reliance on drugs. With the US largely disinterested in his new material, the gaps between recordings grew longer while a scandal was about to blow the singer’s life apart.
George was arrested in an LA park after an April 1998 encounter with an undercover cop in a men’s toilet. The singer responded with typical grace and good humour, using the platform to confirm the rumours that he was gay, while an upcoming song from his hits collection later mocked the arrest in a memorable video for ‘Outside’. Calmer waters then appeared to characterise George’s life; there was the deepening relationship with a new partner, Texan Kenny Goss, and a 1999 compilation of covers, Songs From The Last Century, which showcased George’s amazing voice – if not, on this occasion, his own ability to craft a great song.
Duets with Whitney Houston and Mary J Blige gave George sporadic appearances on the singles charts while he appeared to be taking a more provocative turn with his solo work, most notably in the President Bush and Prime Minister Blair-baiting video for ‘Shoot The Dog’. But it would take until 2004 for another LP to appear. Patience featured another UK Top 5 success with ‘Amazing’, but sales were lower than George had likely hoped.
Like many before him, George took to the stage to reinvigorate his career and the 106-date 25 Live tour was a huge critical and commercial success worldwide. In 2009, he finally released another festive follow-up to ‘Last Christmas’, but the well-received new track, ‘December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas)’, failed to create the same cultural impact as its predecessor. More dates followed in 2011 with the Symphonica tour, which saw George reinterpret his classics and revisit some covers, but he fell seriously ill in Austria and was lucky to survive a brush with pneumonia. A live album from the tour became the last LP released by George in his lifetime”.
Before wrapping up, there are a couple of features that are almost tributes. Ones where people discuss what George Michael meant to them. In 2017, The Guardian interviewed some big names to get their stories about how Michael changed and enriched their lives. His death truly left this massive void. We will never see anyone like him again:
“Elton John: ‘On Christmas Day last year I lost a beloved friend’
George was always great fun to be with. He was never afraid to speak his mind. Like me, he’d often get himself into trouble by saying what he really thought. He was straightforward, which meant you always knew where you stood with him – rather than someone who will be nice in front of you and then horrible behind your back. So meeting up with George was always an event because he had such a definite opinion on everything and when opinions clashed it would make for an interesting evening.
People genuinely adored George and it wasn’t just the music. They felt for him and they felt his struggles; he was completely authentic. He wasn’t touring all the time or putting records out year after year. He was a true star. When you saw George perform you were going to see someone who really could sing beautifully and move you with his music. It was a treat. With all his trials, tribulations and the publicity, people could relate to the imperfection. We’re all imperfect and we all have our flaws. He had his fair share of pain in life and this came out in his songs.
Throughout his problems he kept dignified and tried hard to stay private. George, like the rest of us, made mistakes and sometimes publicly, but people could see what I personally was lucky enough to know about George. That he was one of the kindest, most generous people that I ever met in my life.
Mariah Carey: ‘It was so nice to sit down and have a proper conversation with him’
He was in Wham! when I was in school, and I used to love Careless Whisper. My friend Rene and I would sing it in gym class. We used to sing that song all the time. That was before I really knew about George, about Wham! It was Faith that became my favourite of his albums. It was a masterpiece, and it inspired and influenced me. I loved it so much.
I was a new artist on Sony when all the drama around Listen Without Prejudice happened, when there was the issue of him not wanting to appear in any of the music videos. I was behind the scenes [Carey’s then-husband, Tommy Mottola, was head of Sony in the 1990s, when Michael sued the label]. I would hear the executives behind closed doors, and I didn’t like what I heard them saying because I was a huge fan of George.
We first met in England, somewhere in London. We went for a three-hour dinner, and we had a lot in common: we both had these big issues with Sony. I love Sony now, it’s a totally different place, but at the time we’d both gone through our own situations with the label, and we had quite the conversation about it. It was a little traumatic.
He was very kind. We both loved music. We both loved writing and making music. And I loved him. We had a long talk about a lot of things that I’m sure many people would be interested in knowing. It was a really nice experience for me. When you’ve grown up listening to somebody, and really admiring them and their artistry, it’s nice to be able to sit down and have a proper conversation with them. Some of his songs are my favourite songs ever. I was so happy we were given the opportunity to get to know each other”.
I am going to end with a feature from Smooth Radio. They highlighted some of the many incidents where George Michael displayed incredible generosity and thoughtfulness. His amazing charity work and good heart is something that defines him! He was always looking out for other people. Rarely ever putting himself first. Ahead of what would have been his sixtieth birthday, it is moving hearing how he impacted other people. He was always keen to help and assist wherever he could:
“George Michael gave stranger £15,000 for IVF treatment
A woman who appeared on Deal or No Deal was given £15,000 by an "anonymous donor" after she talked on air about her reasons for applying for the TV show.
Lynette Gillard appeared on the game show with the hope of winning enough money to fund her IVF treatment.
George Michael had been watching the show and secretly called Channel 4 call the next day, offering to cover the whole cost.
Richard Osman, producer of Deal Or No Deal and co-presenter of Pointless, confirmed the story after the Star's death.
Taking to Twitter he wrote: "A woman on 'Deal Or No Deal' told us she needed £15k for IVF treatment."
"George Michael secretly phoned the next day and gave her the £15k."
It wasn't until Richard tweeted the story that Lynette found out who had donated the money.
Taking to Twitter she wrote to the presenter saying: "For many years I wondered who had donated this money, and now I know.
"Thank you. RIP George what an amazing person."
Lynette went on to fall pregnant with a little boy in 2017 and named him after the star, Seth Logan George Hart.
George worked undercover at a homeless shelter
After his death on Christmas Day, 2016, George's old colleagues came forward to reveal he had worked side-by-side with them at a homeless shelter.
The star had often visited the shelter, but had specifically asked that his co-workers keep his work a secret.
Emilyn Mondo revealed on Twitter: "George Michael worked anonymously at a homeless shelter I was volunteering at.
"I've never told anyone, he asked we didn't. That's who he was."
George gave stranger £25,000 to cover their debt
Supposedly George was in a cafe when he overheard an upset woman discussing her terrible debt.
The Wham! star quietly wrote a cheque for £25,000 and subtly gave it to the waitress on his way out.
She was under strict instructions to only give the cheque to the woman after he'd left.
George never wanted any attention or thanks for his kind gestures.
He threw a free concert "just for nurses" after mother's death
George Michael put on a free Christmas concert "just for nurses" in 2006.
Before he took to the stage at the Camden Roundhouse in London he said: "Almost 10 years ago, during the last week of my mother's life, I told my friends and family that if I ever played my own concerts again, I would make sure to do a free one for NHS nurses.
"The nurses that helped my family at that time were incredible people, and I realised just how undervalued these amazing people are.
"So I want to thank them with a Christmas concert," he said.
Nurse Sally Lyons remembers the concert well, saying that her and her colleagues still talk about the special night.
Speaking the The Roundhouse she says: "A nervous George Michael took to the stage with a bad cold and told us he’d played in front of crowds all over the world but was anxious because he’d never performed in front of so many heroes before.
"[George] will always be a hero to all of the nurses at the Roundhouse that night."
He singlehandedly kept charities afloat with donations
Another story that emerged after George's death was that he gave so much money to certain charities that it was only because of his donations that the organisations were able to keep going.
Kate Waugh took to Twitter to say: "A lady from a children's charity once told me they were only still afloat because of George Michael."
After his death Childline's Esther Ranzen revealed George had given the charity "millions".
The charity found said: "For years now he has been the most extraordinarily generous philanthropist, giving money to Childline, but he was determined not to make his generosity public so no-one outside the charity knew how much he gave to the nation’s most vulnerable children."
He stopped in the rain to help a woman change her car tyre
After George's death a story emerged from an Irish woman who was stunned when George Michael stopped to help her change her car tyre in London.
Mary Ryan recalled leaving work in the 1990's when she noticed to her distress that he car had a flat tyre.
Mary told The Journal: "Back in the early 1990s I was working on Edgware Road in London near the Sony Studios.
"I came out of work to find my little 1974 Ford Fiesta had a flat tyre.
"George Michael was coming out of Sony as I was standing there in the rain and helped me change my tyre….I’ve never forgot how kind he was.
"Sadly, I didn’t have the nerve to ask for his autograph”.
I am going to finish it there. There is a complete and essential George Michael playlist at the end. It includes some of his best work with Wham! I wanted to use this feature to show how he helped changed the music world. The impact he had on other artists. How Michael left behind this vital and incredible legacy. On 25th June, the world will remember him on his sixtieth birthday. It is clear that his brilliance will never fade away! We were very luck to have the wonderful George Michael…
IN the world.