RIP George Michael

Gassage

When George did the Freddie concert I seem to recall his career was in tatters until that moment when he went from zero to hero in 6 minutes.

He reinvented himself live to air.

Everything about that performance is amazing- May, Taylor, George.

Emp_Fab

I was never a massive fan of Wham!, but I bought Listen without Prejudice and one track in particular took my breath away.  So simple musically but so powerful.  A beautiful singer, a beautiful man and a sublime songwriter.  I had immense respect for him after he chose to not let the L.A.P.D. and the press humiliate him when he turned that 'incident' on its head and made a hit record about it, even including the police radio in the track.  Such a tragedy he left us so soon - I would have loved to have seen what magic he could have made in his older years.  God Bless you Georgios.

octatonic

Blimey.

57Deluxe

Did he fall out of a window?

axisus

Sad news. He was a superb singer and a great songwriter. Sadly, plenty of drug problems over the years. I think he'll be remembered as an icon of British music and a true star.

Fortheloveofguitar

Rick- Christmas eve
George- Christmas day
??????- Boxing day

boogieman

One of my gay friends, who seems a fountain of knowledge on these things, says it's been known for years that GM was suffering from AIDS. Lots of drug abuse in the past too, small surprise he's finally died of heart failure.

Still shocked to hear the news though. I wouldn't say I'm a fan but I saw him at the first gig when the new Wembley stadium opened and he was absolutely epic. What a showman... and what a voice. RIP George. 

monkey42

A very talented musician with a fabulous voice. When you listened to the concerts with various artists, his voice always stood out for me. None more noticeable than the freddie tribute.

RIP George

beed84

RIP George.

UnclePsychosis

Never been a fan of his music but always liked him - a great voice and never seemed to take himself too seriously. 

There's some really lovely stories emerging about extremely generous things he did that he refused to take any credit or publicity for. 

EricTheWeary

And for anyone who hasn't seen it yet...

https://bobblepic.com/images/2016/12/26/IMG_0988.jpg

Bucket

Who wants to have the cockles of their heart warmed?

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/people-are-sharing-stories-about-how-generous-george-michael?utm_term=.wxqNAl6PD1&ref=mobile_share#.fdQW9pP5do

What a wonderful man.

57Deluxe

on a serious note, I bet Geri Haliwell's devastated...

Skipped

I am reading about his Altruism in the Guardian. Genuine altruism.....not the type where somebody mentions it to the press later.
People in trouble - complete strangers - getting life changing financial help from him.
For me, this is a sign of greatness which goes beyond fame or music.
( I am not thrilled about him looking for encounters on the local common but I now see that this is a trivial matter in the grand scheme of things).

I think that Father Figure is one of the greatest single tracks ever made.

Heartfeltdawn

I freely admit to despising his music. Wham! were horrific, his initial solo career was horrible wine bar music, and Fast Love would be in my all-time top 10 worst tracks of all time. But fuck all of that: George had serious vocal ability and a humanity that is rare in people that publicised and that wealthy. A fucking good bloke. 

StageStruck

I wasn't particularly a fan of his style of music, but no denying the guy was a very talented singer and songwriter. Seems he was a kind and generous bloke too. RIP George

Fortheloveofguitar

Fortheloveofguitar said:

Rick- Christmas eve
George- Christmas day
??????- Boxing day

That'll be Liz Smith then 

joeyowen

When I was a young teen my parents were getting divorced. Pretty nasty, life wasn't good. It was very hard on both of them, and us children. 

All I knew to do was listen to classic rock and heavy records. No idea why, probably just the company I kept. 

I didn't consider anything else music, being a stubborn teen. However my dad, who isn't really a music fan listened to two records on repeat, a lot! Creep, and one more try. 

I've credited this to my music taste now. I'll listen to virtually anything. My spotify is as vast as they come. Knowing I couldn't listen to appetite.. And George Michael, and still feel moved, proved the value of music to me

Thanks George Michael, you helped my dad through dark days, and i listen to that song a lot, in between cannibal corpse, and westlife. 

Snap

Unknown to many, he was also a very good bass player and producer. He seemed to be a very troubled man, which is tragic given his talent. Very sad.

cosmiccarrot

Just been reading about him, what a generous and caring man he was, I'm shocked how much he tried to keep it all so secret.