Ex-Wham singer George Michael dies

[webfact]

Publicist: British singer George Michael dead at age 53

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY and GREGORY KATZ

 

LONDON (AP) — George Michael, the British pop superstar who reached early fame with WHAM! and went on to a solo career lined with controversies and chart-topping hits that blended soul and dance music with daring social and personal commentary, has died, his publicist said Sunday. He was 53.

 

Michael died at his home in Goring, England. His publicist, Cindi Berger, said he had not been ill. Michael's manager, Michael Lippman, says the cause of death was heart failure. His family issued a statement through Thames Valley Police saying that he "passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period.

 

"The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage."

 

Before Lippmann's announcement, police issued a statement calling the death "unexplained but not suspicious" and that "a post mortem will be undertaken in due course."

 

The loss of Michael continues a year of grief in the music industry, with David Bowie, Prince and Glenn Frey among those dying before age 70.

 

One of the giants of '80s and '90s music, and an early idol for the MTV generation, Michael enjoyed immense popularity from the start with hits such as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," ''Young Guns (Go For It)" and "Freedom." As a solo artist, he developed into a more serious singer and songwriter, lauded by critics for his powerful vocal and expressive range. He sold well over 100 million albums globally, earned numerous Grammy and American Music Awards, and recorded duets with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti and Elton John among others.

 

"I have lost a beloved friend — the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist," Elton John wrote on Instagram.

 

He reached the very heights of success, but agonized over being a celebrity. He spoke of cutting back on tours and interviews and letting his work speak for itself. One aging superstar thought he was behaving like a fool: In a public letter dated Sept. 9, 1990, Frank Sinatra advised Michael to "loosen up" and "swing, man."

 

"The tragedy of fame is when no one shows up and you're singing to the cleaning lady in some empty joint that hasn't seen a paying customer since Saint Swithin's day," Sinatra wrote.

 

Michael, with tailored good looks and an easy stage manner, formed the duo WHAM! with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. Helped by MTV, founded around the same time, easily crossed the Atlantic to become popular in the United States with Michael, as lead singer, usually the focal point.

 

He started his solo career shortly before WHAM! split, with the release of the megahit single "Careless Whisper," making a seamless transition. Critics generally viewed his WHAM! songs as catchy but disposable pop and gave his solo efforts far higher marks.

 

Throughout his career, his drug use and taste for risky sex brought him into frequent brushes with the law, most famously in 1998 when he was arrested for public lewdness in Los Angeles. Yet, he managed to turn the incident into fodder for a popular song that poked fun at his behavior, and his acknowledgment of his homosexuality at that time made him even more popular with his fans.

 

His first solo album, 1987's "Faith," sold more 20 million copies, and he enjoyed several hit singles including the raunchy "I Want Your Sex," which was helped immeasurably by a provocative video that received wide air play on MTV.

 

The song was controversial not only because of its explicit nature, but also because it was seen as encouraging casual sex and promiscuity at a time when the AIDS epidemic was deepening. Michael and his management tried to tamp down this point of view by having the singer write "Explore Monogamy" on the leg and back of a model in the video.

 

At the time, Michael had not disclosed his homosexuality, and much of his chart success was based on his sex appeal to young women. His look was raw and provocative, with tight jeans, tight T-shirts, black leather jackets and designer stubble, and his videos pushed the accepted limits with many lingerie-clad models vying for Michael's attentions on screen.

 

But Michael's situation changed abruptly in 1998 when he was arrested for lewd conduct in a public toilet in Los Angeles after being spotted by a male undercover police officer.

 

The arrest received international media attention, and seemed for a brief time to jeopardize Michael's stature as a top recording artist.

 

But instead of making excuses for his behavior, he went on to release a single and video, "Outside," that made light of the charges against him and mocked the Los Angeles police who had arrested him.

 

Like all of his efforts at the time, it sold in prodigious numbers, helping him put the incident behind him. The arrest also prompted him to speak openly about his sexual orientation.

 

These years represented the height of Michael's commercial success, which at times was marred by a protracted legal dispute with his record company Sony.

 

He remained a strong musical force throughout his career, releasing dozens of records and touring to adoring crowds despite a growing number of run-ins with police, many of them stemming from a series of driving-under-the-influence-of-drugs incidents, including several crashes.

 

Michael was an acknowledged user of marijuana and prescription sedatives and several times was found slumped over his car's steering wheel after using both at the same time.

 

His driver's license was finally revoked for five years in 2010 after Michael drove his Land Rover into the side of a Snappy Snap photo shop with so much force that his vehicle dented the wall.

 

A passer-by remembering Michael's early career wrote the word WHAM on the spot his SUV had hit.

 

He was also arrested a second time in public toilets — this time in North London in 2008 for drug use, an incident that prompted him to apologize to his fans and promise to get his life in order.

 

He also offered an apology to "everybody else, just for boring them."

 

A year earlier, he had told a television interviewer that his problems stemmed from a self-destructive streak and his attention-seeking nature.

 

He said at a press conference in 2011 that he felt he had let young people down with his misbehavior and had made it easier for others to denigrate homosexuals.

 

Despite these personal setbacks, Michael's musical performances remained strong even as his material moved farther from the teen tunes that first brought him to stardom.

 

The Telegraph newspaper in 2011 described a London concert appearance as an impressive event, calling his voice, "A rich, soulful instrument, it's capable of serious emotional heft, expertly matching the confessional tone of his own material."

 

Michael, with strong Greek-Cypriot roots, was born Georgios Panayiotou in England. He and schoolmate Ridgeley formed a ska band called the Executive when they were just 16 before moving on to form WHAM!

 

"I wanted to be loved," said Michael of his start in the music field. "It was an ego satisfaction thing."

 

Michael was active in a number of charities and helped raise money to combat AIDS, help needy children and support gay rights. He had a long-term relationship with Kenny Goss, but announced onstage in August 2011 that the two had broken up

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-12-26

[berybert]

As good live as on record.  Not many can say that.  Only the true stars.

Oh and 2016 you can <deleted> off now.

Edited December 26, 2016 by berybert
mmmm

[naboo]

Last Christmas.

[DM07]

Great singer, great songwriter!

I love his "Older"- album!

RIP- another great voice, silenced forever!

[gk10002000]

I don't see where it is sad.  The man abused and mistreated himself for years.

[sfokevin]

49 minutes ago, Yahooka said:

RIP George .

Never enjoyed Wham,but his early solo work was pure class IMO.........."Cowboys & Angels" is an great example........cool jazz and soul merged together.

 

 

 

 

Then you never saw this... One can only imaging the wonderful and sordid gay sex that happened between takes ;-)...

 

 

[berybert]

Hard to believe someone who wrote this

Also wrote this

Thanks for the memories.

[Berkshire]

35 minutes ago, berybert said:

As good live as on record.  Not many can say that.  Only the true stars.

Oh and 2016 you can <deleted> off now.

 

Yes, best George Michael song.  I first heard this song with the accompanying video.  Pretty original, just the lyrics, nothing else....

 

 

[canuckamuck]

I always suspected he had talent, but the pop music scene in the 80's was so cringeworthy I was poisoned to anything connected to Wham. Interesting to see he had some fans. Sorry for your loss.

Edited December 26, 2016 by canuckamuck

[berybert]

1 minute ago, canuckamuck said:

I always suspected he had talent, but the pop music scene in the 80's was so cringeworthy I was poisoned top anything connected to Wham. Interesting to see he had some fans. Sorry for your loss.

I have friends like you who still only listen to music from the 60's because that was their era.

One of the joys of not having a closed mind is you get to enjoy far more things, good or bad.

 

[webfact]

Music legend George Michael dies aged 53

Patrick Atack

 

Singer George Michael has died aged 53, his publicist has announced.

 

The star is said to have passed away peacefully at his home in Oxfordshire, on Christmas day.

 

Michael found fame as part of the 80’s pop duo Wham! along with Andrew Ridgeley.

 

After hits such as ‘Last Christmas’ with Wham!he had a successful solo career, recordings chart-toppers like ‘Faith’ and the album ‘Older’.

 

George Michael came out as gay in 1998, and has been an icon for many in the LGBT community due to his uncompromising attitude.

 

He was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, to a Greek Cypriot father and British mother, in North London.

 

The singer had a legal and medical troubles throughout the years, including being arrested for drug possession, and a battle with severe pneumonia in 2011.

 

He sold over 100 million albums over nearly four decades.

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-12-26

 

 

[canuckamuck]

 

Just now, berybert said:

I have friends like you who still only listen to music from the 60's because that was their era.

One of the joys of not having a closed mind is you get to enjoy far more things, good or bad.

 

Your quite wrong, the 80's was my era, Class of 84. But most of the pop music in that period is sideshow garbage. I like music from a wide range of genre's and from before and after the 80's. But I do lean towards Blues, Classic Rock, and lately Jazz.

[cedel]

http://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/12/25/news/singer-george-michael-succumbs-to-hivaids-at-53-in-london/2421.html

 

His former brazilian lover died from AIDS and in 2011, George nearly died from a pneumonia... 

We lost a great talent, a wonderful voice... R. I. P. 

Edited December 26, 2016 by cedel

[Boon Mee]

This is a pretty good interview with Michael from 2007. He talks about his life and his favorite records.

 

He said something interesting. The interviewer asked if his stage persona of "George Michael" was an act and an invention, and he said something like, "Well, at first I thought it was. But I realized later that everything you do, including the lies you tell, are actually you. After all, this persona is what I wanted people to think I was."

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008006s

[metisdead]

Troll posts have been removed. 

[Boon Mee]

 

Good tune...

[CGW]

Its only a few years ago that he "apparently" fell out off a car doing 70 on motorway, remember that? situation was never really explained!

He had a great voice, RIP

[phantomfiddler]

Sad that so many of the truly great musicians are popping their clogs. I,m not feeling so well myself

[meatboy]

how many of us used to sing it every morning wakeing up with a beautiful asian bird in patts,[early 80's.

WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO.

[berybert]

6 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

 

Good tune...

I used to love going out and buying the middles for juke box records just to see how many scratches they had.

 

 

[Prbkk]

4 minutes ago, meatboy said:

how many of us used to sing it every morning wakeing up with a beautiful asian bird in patts,[early 80's.

WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO.

 

Yes, it takes a particular talent to turn "you make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day" into a winning pop lyric.

[Airalee]

RIP

Edited December 26, 2016 by Airalee

[Lex Talionis]

He certainly didn't age well.

 

For some idiotic reason the families always try to suppress the cause of death. It will out eventually. Always. And suppressing it only leads to sordid speculation like AIDS.

 

Polite? Why it's the truth and truth, besides being the best policy, is always good manners.

[DM07]

51 minutes ago, Leicamera said:

Crap Music anyways.....AIDS likely......

Did your tee- ruk leave you?

despicable and unnecessary comment!

[ddavidovsky]

Before offering sympathy and condolence I'm going to wait to find out whether he brought it on himself.

 

Always interesting to reflect on what it's like to be so famous though. I used to live in Goring and can hardly imagine him strolling around the village or standing on the bridge adjacent to his house to admire the river scene, as I always did.

[Mansell]

Really good singer, and great stage performer, and special voice. And what a good looking dude....how many men look good with or without a beard. No, I am not gay. But I appreciate a good looking guy and a beautiful woman. 

[55Jay]

  About the last thing I expected to read today.  53.... Jeez.  Wasn't a big fan of Wham, but I really enjoyed his solo work in later years, compiled in a 2 CD Greatest Hits.  Wonderful. 

[steve187]

3 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

I don't see where it is sad.  The man abused and mistreated himself for years.

don't we all

[HooHaa]

2 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

 

Your quite wrong, the 80's was my era, Class of 84. But most of the pop music in that period is sideshow garbage. I like music from a wide range of genre's and from before and after the 80's. But I do lean towards Blues, Classic Rock, and lately Jazz.

 

There was so much going on musically in the early 80s that your comments  only underline how very limited and parochial your exposure to music has been.

[HooHaa]

1 hour ago, ddavidovsky said:

Before offering sympathy and condolence I'm going to wait to find out whether he brought it on himself.

 

 

 

Love the assumption that your petty judgments and conditional sympathy are of any value to anyone at all.

 

Why bother writing anything when all you can muster is passive-aggressive, backhanded twaddle?