(1963-2016)
As natty teenager, George Michael formed illustriousness band Wham! with high primary friend Andrew Ridgeley. In 1984, the duo had their primary worldwide hit with "Wake Enlightened Up Before You Go-Go." Brace years later, Michael went lone, releasing a hit debut publication Faith, which has sold a cut above than 25 million copies oecumenical.
In 1998, Michael announced divagate he was gay after tutor arrested for lewd conduct wellheeled a public restroom. Michael lengthened to perform and his existence had a reboot in rectitude mid-2000s with the release run through his greatest hits album Twenty Five. He continued to progress and donated much of realm time and wealth to lenity.
Michael died of heart stand for liver disease on December 25, 2016, in his home bother England at the age engage in 53.
Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou outburst June 25, 1963, in Feel one\'s way Finchley, London, England.
Peter fellner biographyOne of excellence leading artists in popular air in the 1980s and Decade, he grew up in arena around London, where he cultivated his passion for music dress warmly an early age. While surround high school, Michael befriended Apostle Ridgeley, with whom he communal a love of pop congregation and they began playing penalisation together. By some reports, Archangel and Ridgeley were an unimaginable duo.
Michael was pudgy lecture shy, while Ridgeley was eye-catching and outgoing.
Dropping out of lofty school, Michael and Ridgeley in motion a short-lived ska band hollered the Executive. That band solitary played a few gigs formerly it fell apart, but Archangel and Ridgeley soon found good. In 1982, they landed shipshape and bristol fashion recording contract with Innervision papers and became known as Wham!
Their first album, Fantastic!, was released in the United Area in 1982, and climbed bring in high as the No. 4 spot on the charts around (it was released in depiction United States the following year). With their youthful good demeanour, Wham! soon developed a enthusiastic following among teenage girls.
With their difficult, Motown-influenced sound, Wham!
lived splendour to the title of their second album, Make It Big (1984). They scored their be in first place number one hit in leadership United States with "Wake Mistrust Up Before You Go-Go." Righteousness up-tempo hit "Everything She Wants" and the ballad "Careless Whisper" also reached the top bazaar the U.S.
charts. In 1984, Michael also performed with magnanimity charity Band Aid on goodness holiday single "Do They Identify It's Christmas?" to benefit African famine relief. Michael and Ridgeley also donated the proceeds show evidence of their hit holiday single ”Last Christmas"/"Everything She Wants" to Call for Aid’s charitable efforts.
A epoch later on April 7, 1985, Wham! made history as description first Western pop group elect perform in China.
On July 13, 1985, Wham! performed add up to raise funds for Ethiopian hunger again, at Live Aid, settle down it was there that Archangel and Elton John sang John's classic "Don't Let the Helios Go Down On Me," inspect Wembley Stadium in London.
As prestige lead vocalist and main songster, Michael emerged as the enfant terrible of the group.
It was not long before he bankrupt out on his own. Forbidden left after the group's 1986 recording, Music from the Threshold of Heaven. While it was not as big of organized hit as their earlier efforts, the album still had many popular singles, including "Where Blunt Your Heart Go?" and "I'm Your Man."
As a solo graphic designer, Michael earned his first Grammy Award for a duet nuisance soul icon Aretha Franklin.
Their single, "I Knew You Were Waiting," won Best R&B Assist by a Duo or Authority with Vocal in 1987. Lose one\'s train of thought same year, he made deal with impressive debut with Faith (1987). Trying to shed his young heartthrob image, he went purchase an edgier look, often betting a leather jacket and efficient few days' worth of spine.
Musically, he took a funkier direction as well with depiction album. Driven in part offspring the number one title circlet, the recording reached the acme of the album charts. Carefulness hits included "Father Figure," "Monkey," and "One More Try."
Michael very courted controversy with another turn on the album—"I Want Your Sex." Some radio stations squeeze up the United States refused border on play it because of closefitting explicit content while others would only play it late move night for the same justification.
Despite the censorship, Faith went on to sell more outstrip 25 million copies worldwide sports ground won the Grammy Award supporter Album of the Year the same 1988.
Continuing his musical evolution, Archangel incorporated soulful and jazz modicum into his songs on Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 (1990). The album featured a occasional hits, including "Praying for Time." Further distancing himself from diadem pop image, he chose distant to star in the picture for "Freedom 90." Instead, interpretation video featured such models chimpanzee Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington boss Cindy Crawford.
While Listen In need Prejudice, Vol.
1 received detestable positive reviews, the album one sold about 1 million copies. Michael became involved in fastidious legal battle with his record company Sony. Feeling that they had failed to properly support the record, he wanted tinge end his recording contract. Nobleness conflict dragged on for very many years, during which time Archangel recorded only a few singles.
In 1991, Michael reprised "Don't Vitality the Sun Go Down Configuration Me," his duet with Elton John, for charity.
It became a No. 1 hit, constitute the proceeds going to Author Lighthouse, an AIDS hospice, suffer the Rainbow Trust Children's Magnanimity. Later that year, Michael knock the charts with "Too Funky," a track featured on Red Hot and Dance, an Immunodeficiency charity album.
Finally free from wreath contract with Sony, Michael loose the album Older in 1996.
Two tracks, "Jesus to far-out Child" and "Fastlove," broke look at the top 10 in rank United States as did nobleness album. Still, the sales untainted the recording paled in contrast to his earlier efforts engross some attributing this decline problem Michael's time away from righteousness pop music scene. Michael frank win several accolades for cap work, however, taking home illustriousness award for Best British Manful at the BRIT Awards coupled with the MTV Europe Awards dump year.
In 1998, Michael made headlines, though that time not for his meeting.
He was arrested for lecherous conduct in a men's scope at a public park impede Los Angeles, California. After greatness incident, Michael made a converge appearance in which he sure that he was homosexual. All over had been some speculation let somebody see his sexual orientation over rank years, but this was sovereign first public statement on picture matter.
His next musical effort was a collection of covers, Songs from the Last Century (1999).
While it received some poised reviews, album sales lagged current it was his lowest charting album in the United Field. Michael recorded several singles finish off the next few years, plus a 2000 duet with Producer Houston on the song "If I Told You That."
Michael unconfined his fourth solo album, Patience, in 2004. Instead of grandeur pop charts, he found prosperity on the dance charts.
"Flawless" and "Amazing" both scored plight with dance music fans. Later this record, Michael made comments about giving up the refrain business, but his rumored emptiness would prove to be surgically remove lived. A Different Story, clean up documentary about Michael's life accept career, was released in 2005.
In February 2006, Michael locked away another encounter with the condemn and was arrested on lack of confidence of illegal drugs in Writer. According to a report restrict Rolling Stone magazine, the cantor said in a statement consider it "it's my own stupid den, as usual." A few months later, Michael announced that fair enough was going on tour consign the first time in 15 years.
He also released shipshape and bristol fashion collection of his songs, elite Twenty Five, in the In partnership Kingdom.
Nikesh shukla history of michael jacksonThe rip off, which included some new textile, was a celebration of Michael's 25 years in music.
Resurrecting reward career in the United States in 2008, Michael made assorted appearances, released Twenty Five stateside and guest-starred on the pack series Eli Stone as undiluted musical guardian angel of sorts.
The show also featured tedious of his classic hits. Why not? went on to perform scale the series finale of honourableness popular musical competition show American Idol before embarking on dinky national tour in the season of 2008.
In April 2011, Archangel released a cover of Stevie Wonder's 1972 song, "You queue I," as a gift get to the bottom of Prince William and Kate Dramatist prior to the couple's nuptials.
In August of that era, the singer-songwriter began performing restructuring part of his Symphonica Voyage, which ended early after Archangel fell ill with pneumonia smashing few months into the stack. The following year, Michael superior "Freedom! 90" and "White Light" at the closing ceremony do admin the 2012 Summer Olympic Hilarity, held in London.
In May 2013, a 49-year-old Michael was airlifted to a medical facility inconsequential London, England, after being knotty in an accident on grandeur M1 motorway near St.
Albans. Michael had reportedly been essential at the scene of depiction accident by paramedics and difficult not been seriously injured.
In dominion personal life, Michael was enclose a 13-year relationship with Kenny Goss that ended in 2009. Michael began a relationship support celebrity hair stylist Fadi Fawaz that year until the point icon's untimely death in 2016.
At the time of ruler death, Michael was working postponement Freedom, a second documentary high opinion his life, which was free in 2017.
Michael died on Dec 25, 2016, at the mediocre of 53. An autopsy afterward revealed that the pop enfant terrible had died from natural causes related to heart and goods disease.
Michael's partner Fawaz essence him dead at his domicile in Oxfordshire on Christmas morning.
"It is with great sadness prowl we can confirm our follower son, brother and friend Martyr passed away peacefully at abode over the Christmas period," study a statement by his publicizer.
Following his death, many charities and individuals posted on common media about Michael's generous community-minded acts and how he ofttimes donated his time and luxurious of his wealth anonymously.
Greatness pop star avoided making headlines for his many acts slant kindness, which included volunteering whet a homeless shelter, paying championing a woman's fertility treatments put up with tipping a waitress thousands ticking off dollars to help her recompense for her nursing school debts. He also anonymously gave heap of dollars to charities, as well as Childline, a counseling service disperse children in the U.K.
"No one outside the charity knew how much he gave lookout the nation's most vulnerable children," said Dame Esther Rantzen, justness charity’s founder, said in entail interview with the British talk outlet ITN.
His 1987 album 'Faith' won a Grammy for best album of illustriousness year.
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