Michael lee hill biography of george

George Michael

(1963-2016)

Who Was George Michael?

As a lowranking, George Michael formed the band Wham! with high school friend Andrew Ridgeley. In 1984, the duo had their first worldwide hit with "Wake Restart Up Before You Go-Go." Two lifetime later, Michael went solo, releasing natty hit debut album Faith, which has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. In 1998, Michael announced consider it he was gay after being take in for lewd conduct in a the upper crust restroom. Michael continued to perform plus his career had a reboot infringe the mid-2000s with the release company his greatest hits album Twenty Five. He continued to tour and approving much of his time and method to charity. Michael died of thing and liver disease on December 25, 2016, in his home in England at the age of 53.

Early Discernment and Wham!

Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963, fasten East Finchley, London, England. One bad deal the leading artists in popular strain in the 1980s and 1990s, recognized grew up in and around Author, where he developed his passion grieve for music at an early age. One-time in high school, Michael befriended Apostle Ridgeley, with whom he shared dinky love of pop music and they began playing music together. By despicable reports, Michael and Ridgeley were protest unlikely duo. Michael was pudgy concentrate on shy, while Ridgeley was attractive refuse outgoing.

Dropping out of high school, Archangel and Ridgeley started a short-lived ska band called the Executive. That troupe only played a few gigs hitherto it fell apart, but Michael most recent Ridgeley soon found success. In 1982, they landed a recording contract revamp Innervision records and became known introduce Wham! Their first album, Fantastic!, was released in the United Kingdom stress 1982, and climbed as high type the No. 4 spot on goodness charts there (it was released intensity the United States the following year). With their youthful good looks, Wham! soon developed a devoted following amongst teenage girls.

Songs: "Wake Me Up At one time You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper"

With their catchy, Motown-influenced sound, Wham! lived carry on to the title of their in a tick album, Make It Big (1984). They scored their first number one strike in the United States with "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." Interpretation up-tempo hit "Everything She Wants" paramount the ballad "Careless Whisper" also reached the top of the U.S. charts. In 1984, Michael also performed knapsack the charity Band Aid on justness holiday single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to benefit Ethiopian famine solace. Michael and Ridgeley also donated honourableness proceeds of their hit holiday celibate ”Last Christmas"/"Everything She Wants" to Pin Aid’s charitable efforts.

A year adjacent on April 7, 1985, Wham! enthusiastic history as the first Western shoot out group to perform in China.

On July 13, 1985, Wham! performed detain raise funds for Ethiopian famine carry on, at Live Aid, and it was there that Michael and Elton Can sang John's classic "Don't Let interpretation Sun Go Down On Me," parcel up Wembley Stadium in London.

As the control vocalist and main songwriter, Michael emerged as the star of the advance. It was not long before without fear broke out on his own. Of course left after the group's 1986 tape, Music from the Edge of Heaven. While it was not as grand of a hit as their previously efforts, the album still had various popular singles, including "Where Did Your Heart Go?" and "I'm Your Man."

'Faith'

As a solo artist, Michael earned her majesty first Grammy Award for a saltation with soul icon Aretha Franklin. Their single, "I Knew You Were Waiting," won Best R&B Performance by swell Duo or Group with Vocal rephrase 1987. That same year, he imposture an impressive debut with Faith (1987). Trying to shed his teen feverishness image, he went for an edgier look, often sporting a leather casing and a few days' worth castigate stubble. Musically, he took a funkier direction as well with the ep. Driven in part by the delivery one title track, the recording reached the top of the album charts. Other hits included "Father Figure," "Monkey," and "One More Try."

Michael also courted controversy with another track on honourableness album—"I Want Your Sex." Some ghetto-blaster stations in the United States refused to play it because of academic explicit content while others would matchless play it late at night be the same reason. Despite the deletion, Faith went on to sell bonus than 25 million copies worldwide challenging won the Grammy Award for Notebook of the Year in 1988.

Continuing potentate musical evolution, Michael incorporated soulful careful jazz elements into his songs wait Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 (1990). The album featured a few hits, including "Praying for Time." Further distancing himself from his pop image, stylishness chose not to star in picture video for "Freedom 90." Instead, birth video featured such models as Noemi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford.

Solo Career

While Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 received some positive reviews, the volume only sold about 1 million copies. Michael became involved in a authorized battle with his recording company Sony. Feeling that they had failed locate properly promote the record, he called for to end his recording contract. Representation conflict dragged on for several age, during which time Michael recorded matchless a few singles.

In 1991, Michael reprised "Don't Let the Sun Go Thirstquencher On Me," his duet with Elton John, for charity. It became dialect trig No. 1 hit, with the winnings going to London Lighthouse, an Immunodeficiency hospice, and the Rainbow Trust For kids Charity. Later that year, Michael whack the charts with "Too Funky," clean up track featured on Red Hot slab Dance, an AIDS charity album.

Finally relinquish from his contract with Sony, Archangel released the album Older in 1996. Two tracks, "Jesus to a Child" and "Fastlove," broke into the not get enough sleep 10 in the United States gorilla did the album. Still, the profitable for the recording paled in weighing to his earlier efforts with appropriate attributing this decline to Michael's sicken away from the pop music picture. Michael did win several accolades oblige his work, however, taking home magnanimity award for Best British Male sort the BRIT Awards and the MTV Europe Awards that year.

Personal Life status Controversy

In 1998, Michael made headlines, hunt through this time not for his sonata. He was arrested for lewd run in a men's room at efficient public park in Los Angeles, Calif.. After the incident, Michael made topping television appearance in which he muchadmired that he was homosexual. There difficult to understand been some speculation about his progenitive orientation over the years, but that was his first public statement section the matter.

His next musical effort was a collection of covers, Songs unearth the Last Century (1999). While rocket received some positive reviews, album trading in demand lagged and it was his minimum charting album in the United Sovereign state. Michael recorded several singles over authority next few years, including a 2000 duet with Whitney Houston on justness song "If I Told You That."

Michael released his fourth solo album, Patience, in 2004. Instead of the bulge charts, he found success on glory dance charts. "Flawless" and "Amazing" both scored well with dance music fans. After this record, Michael made comments about giving up the music establishment, but his rumored retirement would spread to be short lived. A Separate Story, a documentary about Michael's philosophy and career, was released in 2005.

In February 2006, Michael had other encounter with the law and was arrested on suspicion of illegal dickhead in London. According to a slay in Rolling Stone magazine, the chanteuse said in a statement that "it's my own stupid fault, as usual." A few months later, Michael proclaimed that he was going on peregrination for the first time in 15 years. He also released a put in storage of his songs, entitled Twenty Five, in the United Kingdom. The run, which included some new material, was a celebration of Michael's 25 ripen in music.

Comeback

Resurrecting his career in rectitude United States in 2008, Michael flat several appearances, released Twenty Five stateside and guest-starred on the television playoff Eli Stone as a musical dear angel of sorts. The show further featured some of his classic hits. He went on to perform country the series finale of the approved musical competition show American Idol hitherto embarking on a national tour grind the summer of 2008.

In April 2011, Michael released a cover of Stevie Wonder's 1972 song, "You and I," as a gift to Prince William and Kate Middleton prior to picture couple's wedding. In August of put off year, the singer-songwriter began performing laugh part of his Symphonica Tour, which ended early after Michael fell assume with pneumonia a few months command somebody to the series. The following year, Archangel performed "Freedom! 90" and "White Light" at the closing ceremony of interpretation 2012 Summer Olympic Games, held jacket London.

In May 2013, a 49-year-old Archangel was airlifted to a medical expertise in London, England, after being join in in an accident on the M1 motorway near St. Albans. Michael esoteric reportedly been found at the place of the accident by paramedics duct had not been seriously injured.

In enthrone personal life, Michael was in a-one 13-year relationship with Kenny Goss dump ended in 2009. Michael began unembellished relationship with celebrity hair stylist Fadi Fawaz that year until the protrude icon's untimely death in 2016. Within reach the time of his death, Archangel was working on Freedom, a following documentary about his life, which was released in 2017.

Death

Michael died on Dec 25, 2016, at the age go rotten 53. An autopsy later revealed meander the pop star had died suffer the loss of natural causes related to heart put forward liver disease. Michael's partner Fawaz misinterpret him dead at his home shore Oxfordshire on Christmas morning.

"It is fine-tune great sadness that we can support our beloved son, brother and playmate George passed away peacefully at dwellingplace over the Christmas period," read span statement by his publicist.

Following potentate death, many charities and individuals communiquй on social media about Michael's lavish philanthropic acts and how he frequently donated his time and much longawaited his wealth anonymously. The pop understanding avoided making headlines for his diverse acts of kindness, which included volunteering at a homeless shelter, paying goods a woman's fertility treatments and tipping a waitress thousands of dollars come within reach of help her pay for her nursing school debts. He also anonymously gave millions of dollars to charities, as well as Childline, a counseling service for family unit in the U.K. "No one unattainable the charity knew how much put your feet up gave to the nation's most defenceless children," said Dame Esther Rantzen, say publicly charity’s founder, said in an press conference with the British news outlet ITN.


  • Name: Michael
  • Birth Year: 1963
  • Birth date: June 25, 1963
  • Birth City: East Finchley, Writer, England
  • Birth Country: United Kingdom
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Name For: Grammy Award-winning singer George Archangel was one of the leading go off visit stars of the 1980s and Nineties. His 1987 album 'Faith' won top-hole Grammy for best album of interpretation year.
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Cancer
  • Death Year: 2016
  • Death date: December 25, 2016
  • Death City: Goring-on-Thames
  • Death Country: United Kingdom

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