George Michael
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou arrived in East Finchley, Middlesex on the 25th of June 1963. He was the youngest child and only son of a Greek Cypriot restaurateur named Kyriacos Panayiotou and an English dancer named Lesley Angold. His family moved to Kingsbury shortly after his birth before settling in Radlett during his early teens. At Bushey Meads School he adopted the nickname Yog and met Andrew Ridgeley. Both boys shared a singular ambition to become musicians. Michael busked on the London Underground playing Queen songs like "39" while Ridgeley played guitar nearby. They formed a short-lived ska band called the Executive with Ridgeley's brother Paul and other local friends. By 1981 they had rebranded as Wham! and legally changed Georgios to George Michael for better marketability. Their first album Fantastic reached number one in the UK in 1983. The duo produced top ten singles including Young Guns and Club Tropicana. Make It Big became their second album and hit number one in the US. Careless Whisper reached number one in nearly 25 countries including the UK and US. This track marked Michael's first solo effort despite being credited to Wham!. In December 1984 the single Last Christmas arrived and charted at number two behind Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? which Michael also performed.
Michael released his debut solo album Faith in late October 1987 after a series of successful singles. The first single I Want Your Sex faced immediate censorship from many radio stations due to its sexually suggestive lyrics. MTV broadcast the video only during late night hours featuring makeup artist Kathy Jeung in a basque and suspenders. The song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number three in the UK. The title track Faith followed in October 1987 and became one of his most popular songs. It spent four consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 making it the best-selling single of 1988 in the US. The music video showed Michael wearing shades, leather jacket, cowboy boots and Levi's jeans playing guitar near a classic jukebox. Faith topped the UK Albums Chart and spent 51 non-consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Billboard 200 including 12 weeks at number one. The album sold over 25 million copies worldwide and was certified Diamond by the RIAA for sales of 10 million copies in the US. Critics praised the work as a superbly crafted mainstream pop rock masterpiece. In February 1989 Faith won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 31st Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles.
On the 7th of April 1998 Michael was arrested for engaging in a lewd act in a public restroom at the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills California. Undercover policeman Marcelo Rodríguez conducted a sting operation that led to the arrest. Michael pleaded no contest to the charge and was fined US$810 plus sentenced to 80 hours of community service. This event publicly outed him as gay shortly after he had stated confidence in his sexuality following a relationship with a man. He made a video for his single Outside which satirized the incident featuring men dressed as policemen kissing. Rodríguez claimed this video mocked him and sued Michael for US$10 million in 1999 though the court eventually dismissed the case regarding emotional distress damages. The arrest marked a turning point where his personal life and drug use began making headlines regularly. In February 2006 he was arrested again for possession of Class C drugs and later faced charges for driving while unfit through drink or drugs in August 2010. These legal troubles significantly altered his career trajectory and public image.
Michael joined other British and Irish pop stars in November 1984 to form Band Aid singing on Do They Know
It's Christmas? for famine relief in Ethiopia. The single became the UK Christmas number one holding Last Christmas at number two. He donated royalties from Last Christmas to Band Aid and sang Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me with Elton John at Live Aid in 1985. His 2002 single Shoot the Dog criticized the relationship between Tony Blair and George W Bush regarding the war on terror. He voiced concern about the lack of public consultation in the UK regarding the bombing of Iraq. In 2007 he sent John Lennon's piano used to write Imagine around the United States on a peace tour displaying it at sites like Dallas' Dealey Plaza. Michael performed a free concert for NHS nurses in London in 2006 thanking them for caring for his mother who died of cancer in 1997. He also supported the Terrence Higgins Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support anonymously throughout his life. Following his death charities revealed he had privately supported them for many years including donating millions to Childline.
Michael struggled with substance abuse for many years including cannabis use
which he admitted was a problem on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in September 2007. On the 21st of November 2011 Vienna General Hospital admitted him after he complained of chest pains during his Symphonica Tour. He suffered from pneumonia and slipped into a coma until the 1st of December when hospital officials confirmed his condition worsened overnight. After waking from the coma he developed a temporary West Country English accent raising concerns about foreign accent syndrome. The Symphonica Tour resumed in March 2012 but ended prematurely due to his health issues. His final concert took place at London's Earls Court on the 17th of October 2012. In June 2015 he checked into a drug rehabilitation facility in Switzerland before returning to public performance later that year.
In the early hours of Christmas Day 2016 Michael died in bed at his home in Goring-on-Thames Oxfordshire at age 53. His partner Fadi Fawaz found his body. A senior coroner in Oxfordshire attributed his death to natural causes due to dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver disease in March 2017. His funeral was held on the 29th of March 2017 in
a private ceremony where he was buried at Highgate Cemetery alongside his mother and sister Melanie. His will left most of his £97 million estate to his sisters father and friends excluding bequests to Fawaz or Kenny Goss. In 2023 Michael was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Kate Bush Willie Nelson Missy Elliott and Rage Against the Machine. Andrew Ridgeley served as his induction presenter. At the time of his death he had sold between 100 million and 125 million records worldwide making him one of the best-selling music artists ever.
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Common questions
When and where was George Michael born?
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou arrived in East Finchley, Middlesex on the 25th of June 1963. He was the youngest child and only son of a Greek Cypriot restaurateur named Kyriacos Panayiotou and an English dancer named Lesley Angold.
What were the biggest hits from George Michael's solo career?
His debut solo album Faith released in late October 1987 included the number one singles I Want Your Sex and Faith which spent four consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold over 25 million copies worldwide and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in February 1989.
Why did George Michael get arrested in Beverly Hills in 1998?
On the 7th of April 1998 Michael was arrested for engaging in a lewd act in a public restroom at the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills California during a sting operation by undercover policeman Marcelo Rodríguez. He pleaded no contest to the charge and was fined US$810 plus sentenced to 80 hours of community service.
How did George Michael die and when was his funeral held?
In the early hours of Christmas Day 2016 Michael died in bed at his home in Goring-on-Thames Oxfordshire at age 53 due to natural causes including dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver disease. His funeral was held on the 29th of March 2017 in a private ceremony where he was buried at Highgate Cemetery alongside his mother and sister Melanie.
What charities did George Michael support throughout his life?
He supported the Terrence Higgins Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support anonymously throughout his life and donated millions to Childline following his death. Michael also performed a free concert for NHS nurses in London in 2006 thanking them for caring for his mother who died of cancer in 1997.