George Michael
![Michael performing in [[Houston]], 1988](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/George_Michael.jpeg)
Born in East Finchley, Middlesex, Michael rose to fame after forming the pop duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. Their first two albums, ''Fantastic'' (1983) and ''Make It Big'' (1984), reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and UK Albums Chart. They had commercial success with singles "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", "Young Guns (Go for It)", "Bad Boys", "Club Tropicana", "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Last Christmas", "Everything She Wants", "Freedom", and "I'm Your Man". Their 1985 tour in China was the first by a Western popular music act, and generated worldwide media coverage. Michael took part in Band Aid's UK number-one single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 and performed at the following year's Live Aid concert.
Michael's first solo single, "Careless Whisper" (1984), reached number one in over 20 countries, including the UK and US. The second solo single, "A Different Corner", also reached number one in 1986. After Wham! disbanded that year, Michael released the number-one duet with Aretha Franklin, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". His debut solo album, ''Faith'' (1987), stayed at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 for 12 weeks and topped the UK Albums Chart. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 25 million copies worldwide. The singles "Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey" reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Michael became the best-selling music artist of 1988, and ''Faith'' was awarded Album of the Year at the 1989 Grammy Awards. Michael's second solo album, ''Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1'' (1990), was also a number one in the UK and yielded the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number one "Praying for Time" and the worldwide hit "Freedom! '90". Michael went on to release a series of multimillion-selling albums, including ''Older'' (1996), ''Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael'' (1998), ''Songs from the Last Century'' (1999), ''Patience'' (2004), and ''Twenty Five'' (2006). The albums earned him multiple hits such as "Jesus to a Child", "Fastlove", "Outside", "Amazing", and "An Easier Affair".
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. Provided by Wikipedia
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
-
11
-
12
-
13
-
14
-
15
-
16
-
17
-
18
-
19
-
20