Thest Things You Might Not Know – George Michael

George Michael, a popular English singer and songwriter, died on December 25 at the age of just 53. One of the most successful and best-selling British artists, George Michael is best known for his work in the 1980s and 1990s including his hit singles such as “Last Christmas”. To pay tribute to this pop icon, we decided to compile this post with some little-known facts about him. If you are one of millions of George Michael fans, check out these 25 Things You Might Not Know About George Michael.

25

George Michael´s original name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. He was named after his father, Kyriacos Panayiotou, a Greek Cypriot restaurateur.

24

Before Michael became a professional musician, he busked on the London Underground, performing songs such as “’39” by Queen.

23

In 1985, Wham! was the first Western pop group to tour in China, with a final concert held at the Workers’ Gymnasium in Beijing. The tour was documented in the film “Foreign Skies: Wham! In China”.

22

George Michael sung duets with several other music icons such as Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Rory Bourke, Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston.

Source: imdb.com, image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elton_John_in_Norway_1.jpg (CC)

21

Michael sold more than 100 million records worldwide, which makes him one of the best-selling British artists of all time.

20

A huge Beatles fan, George Michael bought the Steinway Model Z upright piano used by John Lennon for £1.7 million ($2 million) and sent it to the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool in 2000.

19

George Michael died in the same year (2016) as pop icons Prince and David Bowie.

18

His music video “Freedom” (1989) featured supermodels such as Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz. It was directed by David Fincher.

17

Michael, who revealed he was gay in a CCN interview in 1998, was an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser.

16

His wedding gift to Prince William and Kate Middleton was a cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1972 song “You and I”, which was released in April 2011.

15

George Michael´s last performance with Wham! was at the Wembley Stadium in London in June 1986.

14

George Michael was arrested five times during his life. He was arrested four times for possession of marijuana and his fifth arrest was for public indecency.

13

George Michael was seriously considered as a replacement for Queen front man Freddie Mercury.

12

Michael´s hit Last Christmas is one of the most popular Christmas songs ever, having been covered by a number of artists since its original release in 1984. Christmas was actually Michael´s favorite holiday. The singer died on the Christmas Day.

11

George Michael won various music awards throughout his career, including 3 Brit Awards, 4 MTV Video Music Awards, 4 Ivor Novello Awards, 3 American Music Awards, and 2 Grammy Awards (from 8 nominations).

0

He was paid £1.7 million ($2 million) to perform for an hour at Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin’s New Year’s party on 31 December 2006.

9

George Michael was involved in seven car crashes and was banned from driving for some time.

8

In 2011, George Michael almost died from pneumonia. After he woke from the coma, he experienced a rare medical condition known as the foreign accent syndrome. Michael claimed he had a temporary West Country accent.

7

George Michael was a generous philanthropist. He supported many charities during his life, including Childline, Terrence Higgins Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support and others. He was also a member of the charity group Aid Band that was founded to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Africa.

6

Michael wrote “Careless Whisperer”, one of his most famous and beautiful songs, when he was just 17 years old.

5

George Michael was partially color-blind and wore contact lenses or glasses.

4

Michael met Andrew Ridgeley, the other member of the music duo Wham!, at the Bushey Meads School in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England. When Michael was enrolled at the school, Ridgeley volunteered to take him under his wing.

3

George Michael had several nicknames among his family and friends. He was called Yog (from the Greek pronunciation of Georgios), TLTI (The Legend That Is), Knobby, the Greek and the Bubble.

2

His late 20s were a very depressing time for Michael after he lost his partner, Anselmo Feleppa, to HIV and his mother died shortly after that.

1

A strong opponent of UK and US involvement in the Iraq War, Michael made a controversial 2002 single “Shoot the Dog” whose video ridiculed Tony Blair, Cherie Blair and George W. Bush.