George Michael: A Life

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The acclaimed-music biographer interviewed hundreds of Michael's friends and colleagues to create this expansive portrait of the late artist. Gavin told TODAY that Michael’s upbringing was middle class, with his father immigrating to England from Cyprus. Though he was a great success and an upwardly mobile individual, Gavin described the singer’s father, Kyriacos Panayiotou, as “intimidating and fearsome,” which affected Michael his entire childhood.

Whitney, George Michael To Team For Duet". MTV News. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016 . Retrieved 26 December 2016. No-one had ever seen anything like that before. All the young people were amazed and everybody was tapping their feet. Of course the police weren't happy and they were scared there would be riots." [11] Michael came out as gay in 1998, and was an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser. His personal life, drug use, and legal troubles made headlines following an arrest for public lewdness in 1998 and multiple drug-related offences. The 2005 documentary A Different Story covered his career and personal life. Michael's 25 Live tour spanned three tours from 2006 to 2008. Michael fell into a coma in 2011 during a bout with pneumonia, but later recovered. He performed his final concert at London's Earls Court in 2012. Michael died of heart disease on Christmas Day in 2016, at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. George Michael plaque unveiled at Bushey Meads school". BBC News. 16 April 2018 . Retrieved 9 July 2023. During the late 1980s, Michael had a relationship with make-up artist Kathy Jeung, who was regarded for a time as his artistic "muse" and who appeared in the " I Want Your Sex" video. [165] Michael later said that she had been his "only bona fide" girlfriend, and that she knew of his bisexuality. [160] In 2016, Jeung reacted to Michael's death by calling him a "true friend" with whom she had spent "some of the best time of [her] life". [166]I came away from this book realizing what a tortured soul this passionate singer was. It wasn't a surprise that he died in such a way...he actually predicted his own untimely death. He died on Christmas Day in 2016 under mysterious circumstances, found dead in his bed by his live in lover with whom he had purportedly argued with earlier. This is certainly an all-encompassing study of this very talented singer/songwriter/performer. Cope, Michael (24 October 1993). "Inside Story: Sony faces a test of faith: George Michael, who has cast off the leather look for a suit and horn-rimmed glasses, went to court last week for a divorce from his Japanese bosses, Norio Ohga, below left, and Akio Morita. No matter who wins, writes Nigel Cope, the case will put a different spin on the record business". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015 . Retrieved 29 December 2016. Australian Tour Announcement". GeorgeMichael.com. 24 November 2009. Archived from the original on 28 November 2009 . Retrieved 24 November 2009. George Michael-The history". Twentyfive Live LLP. & Signatures Network. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008 . Retrieved 5 February 2010. a b "George Michael's sister Melanie Panayiotou is found dead on Christmas Day aged 59". BBC News. 27 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021 . Retrieved 14 October 2021.

George Michael in 'first' Carpool Karaoke". BBC. 26 December 2016. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016 . Retrieved 22 June 2018. Jon Blistein (7 September 2017). "Encore Hear George Michael's Posthumous 'Fantasy' Remake With Nile Rodgers". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017 . Retrieved 17 October 2017.

His father had the gender views that men of his generation had and he had the homophobia that was typical of men of his era,” Gavin explained, adding that his father expressed his views in “very unfortunate ways.” How Wham! made Lindsay Anderson see red in China". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021 . Retrieved 5 August 2021. Symphonica was released on 17 March 2014, and became Michael's seventh solo No. 1 album in the UK, and ninth overall including his Wham! chart-toppers. The album was produced by Phil Ramone and Michael; the album was Ramone's last production credit. [134] On 2 November 2016, Michael's management team announced that a second documentary on his life, entitled Freedom, was set to be released in March 2017. [135] [136] A month after, English songwriter Naughty Boy confirmed plans to collaborate with Michael, for a new song and album. [137] Naughty Boy claimed that the song is "amazing but [...] bittersweet". [138] On 7 September 2017 (months after Michael's death), the single " Fantasy", featuring Nile Rodgers, was released. [139] With the success of Michael's solo singles, " Careless Whisper" (1984) and " A Different Corner" (1986), rumours of an impending break up of Wham! intensified. The duo officially separated in 1986, after releasing a farewell single, " The Edge of Heaven" and a farewell compilation, The Final (their third album Music from the Edge of Heaven was released in North America and Japan), plus a sell-out concert at Wembley Stadium that included the world premiere of the China film. [46] The Wham! partnership ended officially with the commercially successful single "The Edge of Heaven", which reached No. 1 on the UK chart in June 1986. [47] Solo career 1987–1989