Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in London on June 25, 1963, there has never been another artist quite like George Michael.
Up to the time of his death, he had sold more than 115 million records worldwide. Over the course of his career, he had eight songs hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and he’s been ranked 40th on their list of Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time. He was nominated for eight Grammys and won two, is among the best-selling British acts of all time, and was a philanthropist for HIV/AIDs research and the fight to end world hunger. George Michael died on Dec. 25, 2016. He was found by his partner on Christmas morning at his home in Goring-on-Thames. The exact cause of death was inclusive. After further tests, an autopsy attributed it to natural causes. At age 53, George Michael left us too soon, but he made a huge mark on this world. In honor of his upcoming birthday, we’re taking some time to celebrate the music he created. RIP, George Michael, you’ll forever have a top spot on our Best Artists Ever playlist. |
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George Michael's song Too Funky was released in 1992 on the charity album Red Hot + Dance. It was Michael's final single for Sony Music before taking steps to extricate himself from the contract. Originally intended for the album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, Michael donated Too Funky, along with two others, to the project Red Hot + Dance, which raised money for AIDs awareness. It later appeared on his1998 collection, Ladies & Gentleman: The Best of George Michael.
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Monkey is from George Michael's 1988 debut solo album, Faith. Monkey reached No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 and was Michael's first chart-topper on the US Hot Dance Club Play. The song became his sixth solo number one and the fourth from the Faith album. George Michael is one of three artists (Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston are the other two) who had four or more consecutive number one singles during the 1987–88 era, from one album.
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I Want Your Sex was released in June 1987 as the first single for the album, Faith and the third hit for the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack. Despite censorship and airplay issues due to the sexual nature of the song, it reached No. 2 on Billboard Hot 100. American Top 40 host, Casey Kasem refused to say the title, referring to it as "the new single by George Michael." Though it was one of Michael's biggest hits, he never performed the song after the Faith World Tour.
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Written and produced by George Michael, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go was released on Wham!'s 1984 album, Make It Big. The inspiration came when Wham! partner, Andrew Ridgeley had wrote his parents a note to "wake me up before you go" but accidentally put two "ups" so he added two "gos". The song became the band's first US and UK number one hit. Since, it has been certified platinum and was voted as the13th favorite 1980s hit by the British public.
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Freedom! ‘90 was released in 1990 from George Michael’s album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. The “90” was added to prevent confusion with Wham!’s song, Freedom. George Michael didn’t appear in the Freedom! ‘90 video. Inspired by Peter Lindbergh’s January 1990 British Vogue cover, Michael asked Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford to lip sync the song in his place. In retrospect, the video is darkly profound.
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Amazing was released in 2004 and included on the album, Patience. The song is about Michael's former partner, Kenny Goss. When released, it landed in the top spot on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs in the US, debuted at the fourth slot on the UK charts, and was No. 1 in Italy and Spain. In our opinion, Amazing is one of George Michael's most underrated songs. It's a subtle tune, but the more you listen to it, the more it grows on you. It's simply amazing.
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Praying for Time is from George Michael's 1990 album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. It was Michael's ninth number one, after spending one week at the top of Billboard Hot 100. It would also go on to be his his last solo to top the charts. Praying for Time is a somber reflection of social injustice, and it was Michael's first politically-charged song since his Wham! days.
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Outside was released as the lead single on George Michael's 1998 greatest hits compilation album, Ladies & Gentleman. The song was his first single after being arrested for engaging in a lewd act in Beverly Hills, which forced Michael to reveal his sexuality publicly. Outside openly discusses his community service and the reasons he had the affair.
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Careless Whisper was George Michael's debut solo single, though he was still performing with the band Wham!. It was released in July 1984 and is often credited as being by Wham! featuring George Michael due it being included on the album, Make It Big. The song was co-written by Andrew Ridgeley and hit number one in nearly 25 countries and sold over 6 million copies worldwide.
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Star People '97 was the fifth single from George Michael's 1997 album, Older. The song hit the top spot on the US Dance Club songs. The album version is called Star People, but for the radio single, "97" was added because the single is a remix of the original. The song is about materialism and uses part of The Gap Band's 1980 hit Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me).
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Father Figure is the fourth single from George Michael's 1987 album, Faith. Released in 1988, the song hit number one on Billboard Hot 100 but only 11 in the UK, marking the first time Michael didn't reach the Top 10 in his home country. It was a staple at Michael's concerts, and though it didn't hit the top spot when released, it is now one of the most frequently-played songs on the radio in the UK.
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Waiting for That Day is from George Michael's album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. Released in 1990 as the second single to the album, Waiting for That Day became Michael's first single in the US to not make the Top 10. The chords and rhythm are similar to The Rolling Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have co-writing credits for the song.
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Fastlove is from George Michael's 1996 album, Older. Older was Michael's first studio album following a six-year hiatus. Though Fastlove didn't chart in the US, the song marked Michael's last number one single in the UK before his death. The song is an upbeat tune about the need for gratification and fulfillment without commitment and is his seventh most-downloaded track in the UK.
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Faith was the second single from George Michael's 1987 album, Faith. The song reached number one on Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for four weeks. It was also deemed by Billboard to be the number one song of the year in the US in 1988. It helped make him an icon and no George Michael tribute is complete without it. The song's simple and one of our favorites of all-time.
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BONUS TRACK
Written by George Michael and recorded by Wham!, Last Christmas hit No. 2 for UK's top Christmas song of 1984, knocked out of No. 1 by Band Aid project's Do They Know It's Christmas?. Michael was involved with Band Aid and Wham! donated all proceeds from Last Christmas, with its B-side Everything She Wants, to help end the Ethiopian famine.
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