Szerkesztő:Kriszta67/George Michael

George Michael
Életrajzi adatok
Születési név	Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou
Született	1963. június 25. (60 éves) Radlett, Hertfordshire, Anglia
Származás	Görögország
Elhunyt	2016. december 25. London, Anglia
Pályafutás
Műfajok	pop, dance-pop, Blue-eyed soul
Aktív évek	1980–2016
Együttes	Wham!
Kapcsolódó előadó(k)	Wham!, Band Aid, Mutya Buena
Hangszer	Piano John Lennon model "Z" Steinway
Hang	tenor, bariton
Tevékenység	zenész, producer
Kiadók	Columbia Records, DreamWorks Records, Virgin Records, Epic Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Polydor
[http://GeorgeMichael.com George Michael weboldala]
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George Michael (született Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, 1963. június 25-én) kétszeres Grammy-díj győztes angolénekes-dalszerző, aki a 80-as évekeben lett népszerű, amikor megalapította a Wham! nevű pop duót, egykori iskolatársával, Andrew Ridgeley-vel. Michael első szóló kislemeze, a Careless Whisper megjelenésekor az énekes még a duó tagja volt és világszerte 6 millió példány kelt el a lemezből.

2010-ig Michael több, mint 100 millió lemezt adott el, ebből 7 brit 1. helyezett kislemezt, 7 brit elsőhelyezett albumot, 8 amerikai első helyezett kislemezt és 1 Amerikában első helyezett nagylemezt. 1987-es debütáló szólóalbuma,a Faith több, mint 20 millió példányban kelt el világszerte. 2004-ben a Radio Academy szerint a 1984 és 2004 között időszakot nézve Michael dalait játszották legtöbbször a brit rádiók.

2006-ban George Michael 15 év után újra bejelentette, hogy turnéra indul. A 25 Live című turné világméretű volt, 3 évig tartott (2006-ban, 2007-ben és 2008-ban)

2011. augusztus 11-én Michael egy 64 állomásos európai turnéra indult, amelynek neve Symphonica Tour. A turné 2011. december 19-ig tart. A turné érdekessége, hogy az énekest szimfonikus zenekarok kísérik.

Korai évek

George Michael (Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou) Angliában, Hertfordshire megyében, Bushey-ben született. Apja Kyriacos Panayiotou, egy cipusi görög restaurátor volt, aki az 50-es években költözött Angliába és a nevét Jack Panos-ra változtatta. Michael anyja, Lesley Angold Harrison angol táncosnő volt, 1997-ben hunyt el rákban. Az énekes anyai nagymamája zsidó származású volt. Michael gyerekkorának nagy részét Észak-Londonban töltötte. Tinédzser éveinek elején a család Radlettbe költözött és Michael beiratkozott a Bushey Meads School-ba. Egyszer Michael hegedűleckéket vett Gwen Johnson-tól, akit később meghívott a Wham! koncertjére Wembleyben.

Michael a Bushey Meads Schoolban ismerte meg Andrew Ridgeley-t, aki felajánlotta neki, hogy tanítja. Mind a kettőjüknek hasonló ambíciói voltak, mind a ketten zenészek akartak lenni.

Michael zenei pályáját DJ-ként kezdte, fiatal közönség előtt játszott klubokban és Bushey közelében lévő iskolákban, Stanmore-ban és Watfordban; ezt követte a rövid életű ska formáció Ridgeley-vel, a The Executive (tagjai voltak: Andrew Ridgeley bátyja, Paul, Andrew Leaver, David Mortimer és David Austin.

Zenei karrierje

Wham!

Egészen 1981-ig, amíg meg nem alapította a Wham! együttest Andrew Ridgeley-vel, Michael nem volt sikeres. A banda első albuma, a Fantastic az első helyen végzett az Egyesült Királyság slágerlistáján, és több top 10 kislemezt eredményezett, köztük a Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)-t és a Club Tropicana-t. Második nagylemezük, a Make It Big volt az áttörés, amely a duót nemzetközi szupersztárrá változtatta, Amerikában a slágerlisták első helyén végzett. Az albumról az alábbi kislemezek jelentek meg: a Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go , a Freedom, az Everything She Wants és a Careless Whisper, az utóbbi single lett Michael első szóló kísérlete kislemezre.

Michael énekelt az eredeti Band Aid segélykoncerten, a Do The Know It's Christmas című számban és a Last Christmas/Everything She Wants című kislemeze bevételét felajánlotta jótékony célra. (hivatkozás) Ezen kívül háttérvokált énekelt David Cassidy 1985-ös sikerdalán, a The Last Kiss-en és ugyanabban az évben Elton John nagy sikerű Nikita című dalán, és a Wrap Her Up-on. 1985-ben Michael interjút készített David Cassidy amerikai énekessel David Litchfield legendás újságjában, a Ritz Newspaperben.

A Wham! 1985 áprilisában Kínába ment turnézni, ők voltak az első népszerű nyugati zenei produkció, aki Kínába látogatott és ez világszerte nagy média-nyilvánosságot kapott, amelynek középpontjában Michael állt. A turnét az ünnepelt filmrendező, Lindsay Anderson dokumentálta, producere Martin Lewis volt, filmjükben, a Foreign Skies: Wham! hozzájárult Michael karrierjének növekedéséhez.

With the success of Michael's solo singles, "Careless Whisper" (1984) and "A Different Corner" (1986), rumours (hír, szóbeszéd) of an impending (közelgő, fenyegető) termination (megszűnés) of Wham! intensified (fokozódott). The duo officially separated during the summer of 1986 after releasing a farewell single, "The Edge Of Heaven" and a singles compilation, The Final, plus a sell-out concert at Wembley Stadium that included the world premiere of the China film. The Wham! partnership ended officially with the commercially unsuccessful single "Where Did Your Heart Go?", which reached #1 on the UK chart in November 1986.

Szóló kislemezeinek - a Careless Whispernek (1984) és az A Different Cornernek - sikere miatt a Wham! megszűnéséről szóló híresztelések fokozódtak. A duót 1986 nyarán hivatalosan szétválasztották, mivel megjelent búcsúzó kislemezük, a The Edge of Heaven és egy kislemez-válogatásalbum, a The Final, plusz egy a Wembley Stadionban készült telt házas koncert filmje,

Szólókarrier

George Michael vágya az volt, hogy a Wham! közönségénél kifinomultabb közönségnek készítsen dalokat. A szólókarrierje kezdetekor, 1987 elején, készített egy duett-dalt Aretha Franklinnel. Az I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) egy egyszeri projekt volt, amelyben egyik kedvenc előadójával együtt énekelhetett és amely segítette Michaelt abban, hogy elérje a célját. A szám első lett az Egyesült Királyság kislemezlistáján és a Billboard Hot 100 listán is.

Az I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) a harmadik szóló No. 1 kislemeze lett Michaelnek az 1984-es Careless Whisper (a Wham! Make it Big című albumáról) és az 1986-os A Different Corner után. Továbbá ez volt az első olyan kislemeze, amelynek szövegét nem egyedül írta. A társszerző, Simon Climie, addig ismeretlen volt, bár korábbi csapatával, a Climie Fisherrel ért már el sikereket 1988-ban.

Az I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) 1988-ban Grammy-díjat hozott az énekesnek a Legjobb R&B Előadás - vokál-duett vagy csapat kategóriában.

Faith

During the autumn of 1987 Michael released his first solo album, Faith. In addition to playing a large number of instruments on the album, he wrote and produced every track on the recording, except for one, which he co-wrote.

The first single released from the album was "I Want Your Sex," during the summer of 1987. The song was banned by many radio stations in the UK and USA, due to its sexually suggestive lyrics. MTV would broadcast the video, featuring celebrity make-up artist Kathy Jeung in a basque and suspenders, only during the late night hours. Michael argued that the act was beautiful if the sex was monogamous. Michael even recorded a brief prologue for the video in which he said: "This song is not about casual sex." One of the racier scenes involved Michael writing the words "explore monogamy" on his partner's back in lipstick. Some radio stations played a toned-down version of the song, "I Want Your Love," which was mainly the word "love" replacing "sex." When the tune reached the US charts, American Top 40 host Casey Kasem refused to say the song's title, referring to it only as "the new single by George Michael." In the US, the song was also sometimes listed as "I Want Your Sex (from 'Beverly Hills Cop II')," since the song was featured on the soundtrack of the movie.

Despite censorship and radio play problems, "I Want Your Sex" reached #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on the week of August 8, 1987. Moreover, the single remained in the Top 10 for six weeks, and the Top 40 for a total of fourteen weeks. The song charted at #3 in Britain. In 2002, several years after the major controversy concerning the release of the song, the music video was featured at #3 on MTV's countdown of the most controversial videos in the channel's history.

The second single, "Faith," was released during October 1987, just a few weeks before the album. "Faith" would go on to become one of his most popular songs. The song scored #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA, and #2 in the UK singles chart. The famous video provided some definitive images of the 1980s music industry in the process — Michael in shades, leather jacket, cowboy boots, and Levi's jeans, playing a guitar near a classic-design jukebox. "Faith" scored #1 on 12 December, and maintained that score for four consecutive weeks.

The album scored #1 in the UK and in several markets worldwide. In the United States, the album had 51 non-consecutive weeks of Billboard 200 Top 10 scores, including 12 weeks at #1. "Faith" had many successes, four of which ("Faith," "Father Figure," "One More Try," and "Monkey") scored #1.

Eventually, "Faith" scored Diamond certification by the RIAA for sales of 10 million copies in the US. To date, global sales of Faith are more than 20 million units.

Faith-Turné

During 1988, Michael embarked on a world tour. The nightly set list included from the Wham! era "Everything She Wants" and "I'm Your Man", as well as covers of "Lady Marmalade" or "Play That Funky Music." In Los Angeles, California, Michael was joined on stage by Aretha Franklin for "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)."

That same year, he sang backing vocals for long-time friend and Wham! bass player Deon Estus on "Heaven Help Me." The song, written by both artists, just missed scoring in the British top 40, but scored #5 in the United States.

According to Michael in his film, A Different Story, success did not make him happy, and he started to think there was something wrong in being an idol for millions of teenage girls. The whole Faith process (promotion, videos, tour, awards) left him exhausted, lonely and frustrated, and far from his friends and family. During 1990, he told his record company Sony that he did not want to do those kinds of promotions anymore.

Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1

Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 was released in September 1990. For this album Michael tried to create a new reputation for himself as a serious-minded artist — the title is an indication of his desire to be taken more seriously as a songwriter. Michael refused to make any kind of promotion for this album, including no music videos for the singles released. The first single, "Praying For Time", was released in August 1990. It concerned social ills and injustice; the song was hailed by critics as it reached #6 in the UK and then #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 despite the absence of a video. A video was released shortly thereafter, consisting of the lyrics on a dark background. Michael did not appear on this video or subsequent videos for the album.

The second single "Waiting For That Day" was an acoustic-heavy single, released as an immediate follow-up to "Praying For Time". It reached #27 in the US and #23 in the UK in October 1990.

The album reached #2 in the Billboard 200 list, being blocked from the top spot by MC Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em For the remainder of 1990 the album remained in the Top 10, and scored a total of 42 weeks inside the entire list. In the UK, the album reached #1 for one week. It spent a total of 88 weeks on the UK albums charts, and was certified 4 times Platinum by the BPI. The album produced 5 UK singles, which were released quickly, within an eight-month period: "Praying For Time", "Waiting For That Day", "Freedom '90", "Heal The Pain", and "Cowboys And Angels" (the latter being his only single not to chart in the UK top 40).

"Freedom '90" was the only single to be supported by a music video. The song also alludes to the struggles of being a closeted homosexual man, and acted as a catalyst to his effort to end his publishing contract with Sony Music. As if to prove the song's sentiment, Michael refused to appear in the video, directed by David Fincher, and instead recruited supermodels Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz, and Cindy Crawford to lip-sync. It also featured the reduction of his sex symbol status. The song was a lengthy six and a half minutes long. The addition of the year to the title was to distinguish it from "Freedom", a #1 hit for Wham! back in 1984. It had contrasting fortunes on each side of the Atlantic — a #8 success on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US (buoyed by heavy rotation of the video on MTV), but only #28 on the UK singles chart.

"Mother's Pride" gained significant radio play in the United States during the first Gulf War during 1991, often with radio stations mixing in callers' tributes to soldiers with the music. It reached #46 on Billboard Hot 100 with only airplay.

In the end Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 sold around 8 million copies.^[forrás?]

Red Hot + Dance

During 1991 George Michael embarked in the "Cover to Cover Tour" in Japan, England, the US, and Brazil, where he performed at the "Rock in Rio" event. In the audience in Rio, he saw and later met Anselmo Feleppa, the man who would become his partner.

The tour was not a proper promotion for Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. Rather, it was more about Michael singing his favourite cover songs. Among his favourites was "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" a 1974 song by Elton John; Michael and John had performed the song together at the Live Aid concert in 1985, and again on Michael's concert at London's Wembley Arena on 25 March 1991, where the duet was recorded. The single was released at the end of 1991 and became a success on both sides of the Atlantic.

As successful as the 1974 record had been, it was as a duet that "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" had its greatest success and reached number 1 on the UK singles chart and on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was the only #1 scoring single of the modern era to be recorded at an outdoors venue. Proceeds from the single were divided among 10 different charities for children, AIDS, and education.

In the meantime the expected following album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2, was scrapped for reasons unknown, although possibly due to Michael's frustration with Sony. Among Michael's complaints was that Sony had not completely supported the release of his previous album, resulting in its poor performance in the US as compared to Faith. Sony responded that Michael's refusal to appear in promotional videos had caused the bad response.

Michael ended the idea for Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2 and donated three songs to the charity project Red Hot + Dance, which gained money for AIDS awareness, while a fourth track "Crazyman Dance" was the B-side of 1992's "Too Funky". Michael donated the "Too Funky" royalties to the same cause. The song was lyrically a basic, animalistic plea from Michael for sexual activity with an individual, and musically it was the most upbeat record he had released since Faith almost five years previously.

"Too Funky" was Michael's final single for his publishing deal with Sony Music before he started legal action to extricate himself from his contract. The song did not appear on any George Michael studio album, although later it was included on his solo collections Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael in 1998 and Twenty Five in 2006. The video featured Michael (sporadically) as a director filming supermodels Linda Evangelista, Tyra Banks, Beverly Peele, Estelle Lefébure and Nadja Auermann at a fashion show. "Too Funky" was a success, reaching number 4 in the UK singles chart and number 10 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Five Live

George Michael performed at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on 20 April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium. The concert was a tribute to the life of the late Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, with all proceeds going to AIDS research. Michael performed "Somebody to Love". The performance of the song was released on the "Five Live" EP.

Five Live, released in 1993 for Parlophone in the UK and Hollywood Records in the US, features five — and in some countries, six — tracks performed by George Michael, Queen, and Lisa Stansfield.

"Somebody to Love" and "These Are the Days of Our Lives" were recorded at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. "Killer", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", and "Calling You" were all live performances recorded during his "Cover to Cover Tour" from 1991.

All proceeds from the sale of the EP benefited the Mercury Phoenix Trust. Sales of the EP were very strong through Europe, where it debuted at number 1 in the UK and several European countries. Chart success in the United States was less spectacular, where it peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200 ("Somebody to Love" reached #30 on the US Hot 100).

Older

During November 1994, at the first edition of the MTV European Music Awards George Michael appeared after a long seclusion, giving a touching performance of a brand-new song, "Jesus to a Child". The song was a melancholy tribute to his lover Anselmo Feleppa, who died during March 1993.

The song was Michael's first self-written success in his homeland for almost four years and entered the UK singles chart straight at #1and #7 in The Billboard in the same month of release. It became his first solo single to enter the UK charts at the top, and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA. It was also Michael's longest UK Top 40 single at almost seven minutes long. The exact identity of the song's subject — and the nature of Michael's relationship with Feleppa — was shrouded in innuendo at the time, however, as Michael had not confirmed he was homosexual, and did not do so until 1998. The video for "Jesus to a Child" was a beautiful picture of images recalling loss, pain, and suffering. Nowadays, Michael consistently dedicates the song to Feleppa before performing it live.

The second single, released in April 1996, was "Fastlove", an energetic tune about wanting gratification and fulfilment without commitment. The song was somewhat unusual for a popular song, in that it does not have a defined chorus and that the single version is nearly five minutes long. "Fastlove" was supported by a futuristic virtual reality related video.

"Fastlove" scored #1 in the UK singles chart, spending three weeks at the top spot. In the US, "Fastlove" peaked at #8, and is his most recent single to reach the top 10 in the US charts.

"Fastlove" is written about Michael's brief love affair with city banker Brett Charles whom he met in Kazakhstan while writing.

Following "Fastlove" Michael finally released Older, his first studio album in six years and only the third of his solo career, even though Wham! had been terminated for a decade. The album's US and Canada release was particularly notable as it was the first album released by David Geffen's now-defunct DreamWorks Records.

In October 1996, Michael performed a concert at Three Mills Studios, London for MTV Unplugged. It was his first long performance in years, and in the audience was Michael's mother. The next year, she died of cancer.

Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael

Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael is a greatest successes collection released during 1998 (see 1998 in music). The collection of 28 songs (29 songs are included on the European and Australian release) are separated into two halves, with each containing a particular theme and mood. The first CD, titled "For the Heart" predominantly contains Michael's successful ballads, while the second CD, "For the Feet", consists mainly of his popular dance tunes.

Ladies and Gentlemen... is notable for containing a large number of compilation tracks and duets that had not previously appeared on his albums, including his duet with Aretha Franklin, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"; "Desafinado", a duet in Portuguese with Brazilian legendary singer Astrud Gilberto; and the Elton John duet "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me".

Ladies & Gentlemen was released through Sony Music Entertainment as a condition of severing contractual ties with the label. He would later return to Sony to release his 2004 album Patience.

The first single "Outside" was a humorous song about his arrest for soliciting a policeman in a public restroom. "As", his duet with Mary J. Blige, was released as the second single in many territories around the world. It scored #4 in the UK charts.

Songs from the Last Century

Songs from the Last Century, released in December 1999, consists of old standards, plus new interpretations of more recent popular songs such as: "Roxanne" written by Sting, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", and the Frank Sinatra classic "Where Or When", written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Each of the 11 tracks was co-produced by Phil Ramone and George Michael.

Patience

Patience debuted at number one on the UK album charts and at number two in Australia on 22 March 2004.

Patience was George Michael's first album composed of original material since 1996. The controversial single "Shoot the Dog", was a critical song about the friendly relationship between the US and the UK governments regarding the Iraqi War. In the animated music video for the song, Tony Blair is depicted as the "dog" that follows his "owner" George W. Bush everywhere.

Michael appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show on 26 May 2004 to promote the album. On the show Michael spoke of his arrest, of his revealing his homosexuality, and his resumption of public performances. He allowed Oprah's crew inside his home outside of London. He performed "Amazing", the second single from the album, and his classic songs "Father Figure" and "Faith".

Twenty Five

Twenty Five was George Michael's second greatest successes album, celebrating the 25th anniversary of his music career. Released in November 2006 by SonyBMG, it debuted at #1 in the UK.

The album contains songs chiefly from George Michael's solo career, but also from his earlier days in Wham! and comes in two formats: two CDs or a limited edition three CD set. The 2-CD set contained 26 tracks, including 4 recorded with Wham! and 3 new songs: "An Easier Affair"; "This Is Not Real Love" (a duet with Mutya Buena, formerly of Sugababes, which peaked at #15 in the UK Charts); and a new version of "Heal the Pain" recorded with Paul McCartney. The limited edition 3-CD version contains an additional 14 lesser known tracks, including one from Wham! and another completely new song, "Understand".

The DVD version of Twenty Five contains 40 videos on two discs, including 7 with Wham!.

To commemorate his "Twenty Five" album, George Michael toured the US for the first time in 17 years, playing large venues in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, St. Paul/Minneapolis, Chicago and Dallas.

Élet a Twenty Five után

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During the 2005 Live 8 concert, George Michael joined Paul McCartney on stage, harmonising on The Beatles' classic "Drive My Car".

Michael was one of several remixers commissioned in 1990 to work on dance mixes for Bananarama's "Tripping on Your Love". Bananarama covered "Careless Whisper" for their Exotica album in 2001, and the track was also released as a single in France.

George Michael during a concert in Munich in 2006

Michael received £1.5 million (US$3 million) to perform a 1-hour concert in Moscow for the 300 guests of Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin on the Eve of 2007. Some equipment was damaged in a fire caused "by badly wired pyrotechnics that went off a few hours after George Michael's band and crew had left".^[forrás?]

In 2006, George Michael started his first tour in 15 years, 25 Live. The tour began in Barcelona, Spain, on 23 September and finished in December at Wembley Arena in England. According to his website, the 80-show tour was seen by 1.3 million fans.

On May 12, 2007 in Coimbra, Portugal, he began the European "25 Live Stadium Tour 2007", including London and Athens, and ending on 4 August 2007 in Belfast, UK. There were 29 tour dates (as of 21 April 2007) across Europe.

On June 9, 2007 Michael became the first artist to perform live at the newly renovated Wembley Stadium in London, where he was later fined £130,000 for overrunning the programme for 13 minutes.

On March 25, 2008 a third part of the 25 Live Tour was announced for North America. This part included 21 dates in the United States and Canada. This was Michael's first tour of North America in 17 years.

The album Twenty Five (album), was released in North America on 1 April 2008 as a 29-song, 2-CD set featuring several new songs (including duets with Paul McCartney and Mary J. Blige and a song from the short-lived TV series, Eli Stone) in addition to many of Michael's successful songs from both his solo and Wham! career. In addition, a companion 2-disc DVD of 40 videos was also made available.

George Michael made his American acting debut by playing a guardian angel to Jonny Lee Miller's character on Eli Stone, a TV series that was broadcast in the USA. In addition to performing on the show as himself and as "visions", each episode of the show's first season was named after a song of his.

George Michael appeared on the 2008 finale show of American Idol on 21 May singing "Praying for Time". When asked what he thought Simon will say of his performance, he replied "I think he'll probably tell me I shouldn't have done a George Michael song. He's told plenty of people that in the past, so I think that'd be quite funny."

On the 1st of December, Michael played a last concert in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, as part of the 37th National Day Celebrations.

On December 25, 2008 George Michael released a new track December Song on his website for free. It was hoped that fans who download the song would donate money to charity. Though the song is not available anymore on his website, it remains available on file sharing networks and on October 29, 2009 the BBC said that George Michael was to join the race for the UK Christmas number one as a remastered version of December Song would go on sale on December 13.

On June 9, 2009, Michael joined Beyoncé Knowles on stage during "If I Were A Boy" at the last UK show of her world wide tour I Am… Tour.

It was also reported that George Michael would perform December Song on ITV1's X Factor. On 12 December 2009, he performed a duet with Joe McElderry who was an X Factor finalist at the time.

After months of speculation George Michael has announced that he will be performing 2 shows in Australia for the first time since 1988. He is to perform in February 2010 in Perth and then Sydney.

Magánélete

Szexualitása

Michael was initially private about being gay; nonetheless, his sexual orientation was already well known among many music business insiders during his Wham! career, while his public image was still a heterosexual one.

In a 2007 interview, Michael said that he kept his homosexuality secret due to worries over the effect it would have on his mother.

Kapcsolatai

Michael established a relationship with Anselmo Feleppa, whom he had met at the 1991 concert Rock in Rio. Feleppa died of an AIDS-related brain hemorrhage in 1993. Michael's single "Jesus to a Child" is a tribute to Feleppa (he consistently dedicates it to him before performing it live), as is his 1996 album Older.

Since 1996, Michael had been in a long term relationship with sporting goods heir Kenny Goss. Goss opened the Goss Gallery in May 2005 in Dallas, which shows contemporary art, including those collected by the couple. They have homes in London and Dallas. In late November 2005, it was reported that Michael and Goss would register their relationship as a civil partnership in the UK, but due to negative publicity and his upcoming tour, they postponed it to a later date. There are reports of their relationship secretly ending in December 2008, though this has been denied by Michael.

Los Angeles-i incidens

Questions of his sexual orientation persisted in public until April 7, 1998, when he was arrested for "engaging in a lewd act" in a public toilet in a park in Beverly Hills, California. He was arrested by an undercover policeman named Marcelo Rodríguez, in a sting operation using so-called "pretty police".

In an MTV interview, George Michael stated: "I got followed into the restroom and then this cop — I didn't know it was a cop, obviously — he started playing this game, which I think is called, 'I'll show you mine, you show me yours, and then when you show me yours, I'm going to nick you!"

After pleading "no contest" to the charge, Michael was fined US$810 and sentenced to 80 hours of community service. Soon afterwards, Michael made a video for his single "Outside" which was obviously based on the public toilet incident and which featured men dressed as policemen kissing. Rodriguez claimed that this video "mocked" him, and that Michael had slandered him in interviews. In 1999, he brought a US$10 million court case in California against the singer. The court dismissed the case, but an appeals court reinstated the case on December 3, 2002. The court then ruled Rodríguez, as a public official, could not legally recover damages for emotional distress.

After the incident, Michael became explicit about his sexuality and his relationship with Kenny Goss, a former cheerleader coach and sports clothing executive from Dallas, and his partner since June 1996.

On July 23, 2006 George was again accused of engaging in anonymous public sex, this time at London's West Hampstead Heath Park. The anonymous partner was later discovered to be 58-year-old Norman Kirtland, an unemployed van driver. Despite stating that he intended to sue both the News of the World tabloid who photographed the incident and Norman Kirtland for slander, George stated that he openly cruises for anonymous sex and that this was not an issue in his relationship with partner Kenny Goss.

On June 17, 2008, George Michael said he was thrilled by California's legalization of same-sex marriage, calling the move "way overdue."

Drogok

On 26 February 2006, Michael was arrested for possession of Class C drugs, an incident that he described as "my own stupid fault, as usual." He was cautioned by the police and released.

Michael was arrested in Cricklewood, north London, after motorists reported a car obstructing the road at traffic lights. He pleaded guilty on 8 May 2007 to driving while unfit through drugs. He was banned from driving for two years, and sentenced to community service. During September 2007, on Desert Island Discs, he said that his cannabis use was a problem — he wished he could smoke less of it and was constantly trying to do so.

On 19 September 2008, Michael was arrested in a public toilet in the Hampstead Heath area of London for possession of Class A and C drugs. He was taken to the police station and cautioned for controlled substance possession.

On 5 December 2009, in an interview with The Guardian, Michael explains he had cut back on cannabis and now smokes only 'seven or eight' spliffs per day instead of the 25 he used to smoke.

Politikai állásfoglalása

Michael wrote "Shoot the Dog", a song critical about the friendly relationship between the US and UK governments and their involvement in the Iraq War.^[forrás?]

During 2000, George Michael joined Melissa Etheridge, Garth Brooks, Queen Latifah, the Pet Shop Boys, and k.d. lang, to perform in Washington, D.C. as part of 'Equality Rocks' - a concert to benefit the Human Rights Campaign.^[forrás?]

During 2007, he sent the £1.45 million piano that John Lennon used to write "Imagine" around the United States on a "peace tour," having it on display at places where violence had taken place, such as Dallas' Dealey Plaza where U.S. President John. F. Kennedy was shot.

He devoted his concert in Sofia, Bulgaria from his "Twenty Five Tour" to the Bulgarian nurses prosecuted in the HIV trial in Libya.

Jótékonyság

During 1984, he sang as part of Band Aid on the charity song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for famine relief in Ethiopia. This single scored #1 on the UK music charts over Christmas 1984, holding Michael's own song, "Last Christmas" by Wham!, at #2. Michael donated the royalties from "Last Christmas" to Band Aid and subsequently sang with Elton John at Live Aid (the Band Aid charity concert) in 1985.

The proceeds from the single Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me were divided among 10 different charities for children, AIDS and education.

Michael is supporting a campaign to help raise US$32 million (GBP15 million) for terminally ill children.

Vagyona

According to reports with the 25 Live tour alone in 2 years between 2006 and 2008 he is said to have earned 48.5 million pounds (97 million dollars) as well as earning millions more for private concerts he does periodically such as for Billionaire Vladimir Potanin and super rich fashion shop owner Sir Philip Green . According to the "rich list" of the Timesonline.co.uk.com, as of 2009 George Michael is worth 90 million pounds in currency alone.

Besides owning several multi million dollar homes worldwide, Michael and his partner Kenny Goss have amassed a huge art collection valued at 100 million pounds.^[forrás?]

Memoárok

In 1991 George released an autobiography titled "Bare" through Penguin Books which he co-wrote with writer Tony Parsons. The over 200 page book goes over various aspects of his life, and includes a relationship he had with a former girlfriend.

On 16 January 2008, Michael signed a contract with HarperCollins for an autobiography which he is to write "entirely himself".

Health troubles

On 26 October 2011, Michael had to cancel a performance at London's Royal Albert Hall due to viral infection. On 21 November 2011, Michael was admitted to hospital in Vienna after complaining of chest pains at a hotel two hours prior to him performing at a venue there for his Symphonica Tour. Michael was later confirmed to have suffered from pneumonia and until 1 December was in an intensive-care unit. While Michael appeared to be "in good spirits" and was responding well to treatment following his admittance, hospital officials said on 25 November, that Michael's condition had "worsened overnight". This development led to Michael's remaining 2011 dates, most of them in the United Kingdom, to be cancelled and postponed. Michael's friend, celebrity hairstylist Fadi Fawaz, told press that Michael's health was improving "by the hour". On 1 December, doctors in the hospital Michael is staying in, announced that the singer was "steadily improving" and had moved out of the intensive care unit.

Bibliográfia

• 1991: George Michael, Tony Parsons: Bare: George Michael, His Own Story. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0140132359
• 1998: Tim Wapshott, Nicolas Wapshott: Older: Definitive Biography of George Michael. Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd. ISBN 978-0283063176
• 2008: Bob Jovanovic: George Michael: The Biography. Piatkus Books ISBN 978-0749909802
• 2011: Robert Steele: Careless Whispers: The Life and Career of George Michael. Omnibus Press ISBN 978-1780380155

Diszkográfia

See also Wham! discography

Albumok

Stúdióalbumok 1987: Faith 1990: Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 1996: Older 1999: Songs from the Last Century 2004: Patience

Válogatásalbumok 1998: Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael 2006: Twenty Five Koncertlemezek 1993: Five Live

Első helyezett dalok

Amerikai első helyezett kislemezek (10) 1984: "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (Wham!) 1985: "Careless Whisper" (Wham! featuring George Michael) 1985: "Everything She Wants" (Wham!) 1987: "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (with Aretha Franklin) 1987: "Faith" 1988: "Father Figure" 1988: "One More Try" 1988: "Monkey" 1990: "Praying for Time" 1991: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (with Elton John)

Első helyezett kislemezek az Egyesült Királyságban (12) 1984: "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (Wham!) 1984: "Careless Whisper" 1984: "Freedom" (Wham!) 1984: "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (Band Aid) 1985: "I'm Your Man" (Wham!) 1986: "The Edge of Heaven" (Wham!) 1986: "A Different Corner" 1987: "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (with Aretha Franklin) 1991: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (with Elton John) 1993: Five Live EP (with Queen and Lisa Stansfield) 1995: "Jesus to a Child" 1996: "Fastlove"

Turnék

• Faith World Tour (1988-1989)
• Cover to Cover (1991)
• 25 Live (2006-2008)
• George Michael Live in Australia (2010)

Lásd még

• George Michael chart records and achievements
• List of best-selling music artists
• List of artists who reached number one in the United States
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart
• List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart
• List of artists by total number of U.S. number-one singles
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• List of number-one singles (UK)
• List of artists by total number of UK number one singles
• List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart

Külső források

A Wikimédia Commons tartalmaz Kriszta67/George Michael témájú médiaállományokat.

• George Michael official website
• Kriszta67/George Michael az Open Directory Project-ben
• George Michael - de Wham! au 25Live - French Blog

Előző U2 for The Joshua Tree

Grammy Award for Album of the Year 1989 for Faith

Következő Bonnie Raitt for Nick of Time

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