George Michael

[Whatthefunk]

I was talking with my Ds12, earlier, about the late, great, George Michael and he asked, was he still alive... I told him, that sadly he had died. He asked me how, and it occurred to me , that I don't know. I was a massive fan, back in the day, and was sad at his passing. Was his cause of death ever made public?

This is not real LOVE that should say...

Another huge fan here, was lucky enough to see him live.

A fan from early days of wham! And had several friends and relatives say then that he was little better than a "one hit wonder".... I could see they were wrong from the start.

So talented and so sweet, with a dry, self deprecating (usually) sense of humour.

Though I think my favourite stories about him (lovely though the charitable ones are) are:

Accidentally coming off as a wanky fan by saying "hi dave" to David bowie in a recording studio I think. He thought he was his personal friend also called Dave

And

The story about how faith was written, the producer (I think) saying at the time something like "well in the old days we'd just do the intro, first 2 verses and chorus and then straight into the bridge with a blues vibe"

And George going "you mean like this" and basically writing Faith on the spot!

Think the producer called him cocky or something for it.

(And yes I'm now fully expecting fans who've read bare more recently than me to rip my post to shreds )

Must re-read it's a great book for 80's nostalgia as well as George.

I am with you AnyFucker, I miss him so much. His passing was tragic, such a good, kind soul.

I love music and have been to hundreds of concerts. George had the best live voice I ever heard. Absolutely pitch perfect. I saw him six or seven times, from Wham! through to Symphonica although the Wham! concert was somewhat marred by the incessant screaming. 😀

He was a true artist, a poet, songwriter, singer and live performer par excellence. RIP George, you are still so loved.

Loved George Michael. So sad that he died alone. The best songwriter of my time.

I remember starting a thread on here "AIBU to be worried about George Michael?" or it might have been in Chat, after he had that strange incident where he tried to get out of a car on the motorway.

He was a deeply troubled soul and his addictions beat him in the end. Elton John tried to help him and he passed it off as Elton being an interfering old queen.

Poor guy. I think he never got over the death of Anselmo.

I've watched the video of his cover of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, where EJ makes a surprise guest appearance on stage, about 100 times. Infact I'm going to have a little look now to set me up for the day. Just pure wonderful amazingness. Such a huge loss to music.

"But George comic relief is to help people like you"
What a true gentleman, much missed.

I lived in Goring until recently and the amount of fans that would stand outside his house was unbelievable. I am quite young so he wasn't really someone I would listen to but he must have meant a lot to his fans! He would often visit the local pub if he was in his Goring house.

It's funny how much you can find out about someone in the public eye after they've gone. Usually bad stuff these days, so to find out that George was a secret philanthropist was so heartwarming. I miss him because of that more than his music because people like that are a rare breed.

His death still hurts. I have been a massive fan of his for years and grateful I got to see him live in Earls Court.

The way he treated Andrew Ridgley speaks volumes of his character. George was 90+% of the writing and performance in Wham! but he brought his friend along and gave him co-writing credit which has made Andrew a very wealthy man.

Sadly he was living a very unhealthy lifestyle in the years before his passing, a lot of drug use and drinking. Loss of his mother and former partner seem to have really hit him hard.

Wham special on BBC4 right now !

I adored George Michael. His end just seemed so brutal and tragic. He was a lovely soul.

A Different Corner is my ultimate George song.

We are watching, and chortling, over the BBC4 Wham thing.

I didn't know what he died of - I assumed drug overdose.

He put Andrew Ridgeley on the credits for last Christmas so he would never have to worry about money. What a man.

The music of my youth. What a kind and gentle soul he was, miss him lots

Oh and Freedom and Spinning Wheel. I love George! Gonna dig out my albums.

Just talking about this with DS whilst watching the TOTP Wham special.
It makes me so sad that he basically self destructed. I just love his voice and his music. It all came out after his death that he had been extremely generous to charities like Childline and never asked for recognition.
I saw him on the Faith tour with a special guest appearance by Andrew Ridgley. Fantastic.I think his music will last a long time because of its quality and is superb voice.

Absolutely adored him!

After he died, bizarrely, this is the song I think of most often

Although "Flawless" is a close second

So so sad. Love George Michaels voice, so effortless unlike the squealy warbling you get today.
I also feel really sad about Whitney Houston another huge 80s star who had it all in that time and lost it through her demons.

Pink ah, we have lovely singers today too! I'm sure George would agree - and would still be performing with some of them now.

Back before all the hacking fuckwitery I was MrsGeorgeMichael.

I think our bodies are vessels that have a limited capacity for energy. George burned his energy so very brightly his body was exhausted so early. Like a Supernova. He was big, bright and bathed us in rays than left their own tattoos on our soul.

I miss George Michael too. I was a Wham fan and then got into him again in his later years.
His death hit me like a sledgehammer, he was only 5 years older than me. The first time I heard Careless Whisper after he died I just cried and cried...for him, for myself and for the loss of youth and innocence. Those opening bars are just so sad and evocative.
Watch him sing Different Corner on Parkinson, it will break your heart.

That’s lovely @AI2O3

So sad when he died
Just watched the Wham! tribute on BBC4.

@RosaWaiting I know I just can’t stand all the “over the topness” that singers do these days

Simpler times eh.
My 3 year old loves wham though.