Monday, December 26, 2016

R.I.P. George Michael @ 53. Wham!

George Michael has died on Christmas Day 2016. He was only 53 years young. In a pop singing career spanning 40 years he has sold more than 100 million records internationally.

Good friend and partner 'Wham' duo Andrew Ridgeley was heartbroken. Careless Whisper, Faith, Wake Me Up, Club Tropicana, Young Guns (Go For It) and Last Christmas will all be etched in our memories.


His charitable ways was only revealed lately, that he gave much to individuals and institutions. Many times he would quietly call these people in need on the phone and provided them funds for their hospital stay, medication or operation.
His pop hit, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go and Prince's Purple Rain were my wake-up-call songs each morning when I was living in an apartment in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 

My Canadian neighbour played the same two songs alternately at the start of day and jolted me out of bed during cold, crazy, winter morns. Don't forget that Canadian houses were not made of solid bricks like those in Singapore. 


The sound generated from his huge stereophonic set, as we find them those years, caused me ear trauma for some time. Imagine how loud Wake Me Up sounded with volume at #9. I didn't complain to the cops. He sat next to me during Sociology 101.😕

In the mid-eighties in Winnipeg where I resided, his songs were played everywhere. George Michael was an echoing voice in the hearts of many.  Like photographs flying in the air, images abound when his songs are heard - images of my special and wonderful years in Winnipeg.

R.I.P. George Michael. Your music lives on.

A detailed commentary about his life under Comments below.

11 comments:

M said...

TQ for sharing Andy. GM is one of my fav singers. His untimely death is a tragic lost to the music world.

RICKIE CHNG (LEAD GUITAR 'THE ESQUIRES') said...

Even at this time when most people are celebrating, still we need to hear another go that way. It is sad but inevitable though I did remember his famous song CARELESS WHISPER and the other which he sang well was WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN with his high pitch that is difficult to match. May he RIP.

RICHARD TOH said...

Sad... so very young.

GEORGE CHEW (LEAD GUITAR: THE BURNS) said...

Good song. Another one CARELESS WHISPER

JOEY KOH said...

I was his fan after he hit the market with CARELESS WHISPER. I used to wear a T-Shirt printed CHINESE WHAM.

ob said...

Drugs, depression and multiple arrests if we look inside George Michael's difficult life.

MICHAEL BANGAR (RHYTHMIST SILVER STRINGS said...

Yeah, poor chap. Was great in the 80's

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

George Michael, like I explained, only became known to me after a fantastic introduction from my Caucasian neighbour. After that the song could be heard all over Winnipeg.

Thank you all for the early response.

chakap chakap said...

Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016), or George Michael, was an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. Together with Andrew Ridgeley of music duo Wham!, he skyrocketed in the 80's and 90's with his post-disco dance-pop, with best-sellers like, "Last Christmas" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".

He sold more than 100 million records internationally and the 1987 debut solo album, "Faith", sold more than 20 million. Michael collected seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. This achievement included, "Careless Whisper" and "Freedom! '90".

The just departed ranked among the best-selling UK acts of all time, with Billboard magazine. Michael was the 40th most successful artiste to ever live winning various music awards throughout his 30-year career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male twice, four MTV Video Music Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations.

Michael the most played artist on British radio from 1984 to 2004 was honoured by Radio Academy with the documentary 'A Different Story' (2005), which covered his career and personal life.

In 2006, Michael did a tour after 15 years. This worldwide '25 Live Tour', spanned three individual tours over the course of three years (2006, 2007 and 2008). In 2016, he did a second documentary on his life entitled 'Freedom' to be released in 2017.

On 25 December 2016, he died at his Oxfordshire, England home at 53.

Wiki (edited)

B (TERTIARY STUDENT) said...

Ooh I have always liked LAST CHRISTMAS but have always heard it as a remix by CASCADA or more recent pop singers. Didn't know this was a George Michael original !

Thank you for sharing Andy and about the many faous singers of classic songs like STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN and this one.

It is right to remember the people who originally sang them.

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