George Michael: Behind The Music
Watch George Michael: Behind The Music
Coming Soon on Bio
The pop god himself described this as the 'definitive interview of his life'. Find out what Georgios has to say as Elton John and Geri Halliwell shed candid light on the private star.
From Wham! to solo superstardom, we take a look at the private, and not-so private, life of Mr George Michael. Careless Whispers?
Name
George Michael (or Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou as he was born.)
Famous For
Being the musical half of Wham! Then embarked on a lucrative solo career with massive hits like “Careless Whisper” and “Jesus To A Child”. George was notoriously guarded about his personal life until it was flushed into the open in 1998.
Vitals
George was born on 25th June 1963 in Finchley, London. He is six foot tall with brown eyes. Has been with partner Kenny Goss since 1996. His favourite colours are brown and orange though he is colour blind.
Ladies
He was the first white male singer ever to duet on record with the legendary Aretha Franklin. Aretha brought a huge rack of barbecued ribs to the recording studio as a present for George – when he declined, she scoffed the lot herself.
He called on several glamorous ladies, supermodels Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista to appear in his video for “Freedom 90” as he did not want to appear in it himself.
Gents
George was arrested in 1998 for ‘lewd conduct’ in a public toilet in the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills for propositioning an undercover policeman. In the resulting publicity, he admitted his homosexuality which had been rumoured for several years. He was fined $810 and received 80 hours of community service.
He was unrepentant: “Well what’s to apologise for? You know I’m a gay man…it was a lovely park.” He satirised the arrest in his next video “Outside”
Handbags and Tiaras
Elton John and George Michael had worked together. George sang backing vocals on Elton’s hit “Nikita”. Their duet “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” topped the UK and US Singles Chart. This did not prevent a very public spat between the two in 2004. Elton had said that George had a deep-rooted unhappiness in his life and should get out more. Furious, George struck back saying that the pair had not spoken in 10 years and the elder singer should stop peddling gossip from the ‘gay grapevine’.
Mirror Mirror
The pin-up good looks and playboy image from the days of Wham! were not as carefree as they appeared. Always dieting before any publicity shoot, George was paranoid about image. Filming the video for “Careless Whisper” in the humidity of Miami, his hair began to curl. He insisted that it be cut shorter, which meant half the video had to be reshot at great expense. Russell Crowe is said to have ‘borrowed’ his hairstyle for the film “Gladiator” from one of George’s album covers.
Not everyone has been impressed. His website chatroom was closed down after constant negative comments insulting him for being old, overweight and lazy. More recently George has admitted to giving up the battle with weight: “I kept going to the fridge and saying ‘they love me for my music’.”
Anyone for Bush?
Not George. He is fierce critic of the American President. Fearing the politics of George W Bush and unhappy of Tony Blair’s support, his “Shoot The Dog” video proved highly controversial, depicting the British Prime Minister as Bush’s poodle. The New York Post responded to the video by calling the singer “a washed up pervert”.
Make It Big
George ranks as the UK’s 10th richest musician, with an estimated fortune of over 65 million pounds. This enabled him recently to buy Stella Vine’s portrait of Princess Diana recently which depicts the late princess with the words 'Murdered? Pregnant? Embalmed?' painted in the background. His fortune has also prompted his announcement that he never intends to release another album for sale in the shops. Instead he will release all futures songs online for free as he does not need the cash.
Last Christmas
After Wham!, for a laugh, George, Andrew Ridgley and Bananarama went out singing Christmas carols for charity, disguised in terrible wigs. Unrecognisable, they found door after door being slammed in their faces. Years later, the singer and some friends drunkenly gate crashed a Midnight Mass and disrupted the service. Having had an excess of Christmas spirits, they sat at the back of the church giggling because one of them had farted.
'Stone' the Crows!
In May 2006, Michael was found slumped over the wheel of his Range Rover, photographed apparently snoozing at traffic lights in London. He awoke after a member of the public knocked on his window for five minutes. He drove off weaving up the road, and then hit a traffic bollard. he was later questioned by police after shunting three cars in the street in which he lives.
A few months later, he was found unconscious in his car in northwest London. Police found Michael slumped in his seat in a semi-conscious state. He was later cautioned by the police for possession of cannabis, and was released on bail pending further inquiries on his fitness to drive. In May 2007, he pleaded guilty to driving while unfit through drugs.
CLICK HERE TO READ HIS BIOGRAPHY
Steve Coats
Coming Soon on Bio
The pop god himself described this as the 'definitive interview of his life'. Find out what Georgios has to say as Elton John and Geri Halliwell shed candid light on the private star.
From Wham! to solo superstardom, we take a look at the private, and not-so private, life of Mr George Michael. Careless Whispers?
Name
George Michael (or Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou as he was born.)
Famous For
Being the musical half of Wham! Then embarked on a lucrative solo career with massive hits like “Careless Whisper” and “Jesus To A Child”. George was notoriously guarded about his personal life until it was flushed into the open in 1998.
Vitals
George was born on 25th June 1963 in Finchley, London. He is six foot tall with brown eyes. Has been with partner Kenny Goss since 1996. His favourite colours are brown and orange though he is colour blind.
Ladies
He was the first white male singer ever to duet on record with the legendary Aretha Franklin. Aretha brought a huge rack of barbecued ribs to the recording studio as a present for George – when he declined, she scoffed the lot herself.
He called on several glamorous ladies, supermodels Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista to appear in his video for “Freedom 90” as he did not want to appear in it himself.
Gents
George was arrested in 1998 for ‘lewd conduct’ in a public toilet in the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills for propositioning an undercover policeman. In the resulting publicity, he admitted his homosexuality which had been rumoured for several years. He was fined $810 and received 80 hours of community service.
He was unrepentant: “Well what’s to apologise for? You know I’m a gay man…it was a lovely park.” He satirised the arrest in his next video “Outside”
Handbags and Tiaras
Elton John and George Michael had worked together. George sang backing vocals on Elton’s hit “Nikita”. Their duet “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” topped the UK and US Singles Chart. This did not prevent a very public spat between the two in 2004. Elton had said that George had a deep-rooted unhappiness in his life and should get out more. Furious, George struck back saying that the pair had not spoken in 10 years and the elder singer should stop peddling gossip from the ‘gay grapevine’.
Mirror Mirror
The pin-up good looks and playboy image from the days of Wham! were not as carefree as they appeared. Always dieting before any publicity shoot, George was paranoid about image. Filming the video for “Careless Whisper” in the humidity of Miami, his hair began to curl. He insisted that it be cut shorter, which meant half the video had to be reshot at great expense. Russell Crowe is said to have ‘borrowed’ his hairstyle for the film “Gladiator” from one of George’s album covers.
Not everyone has been impressed. His website chatroom was closed down after constant negative comments insulting him for being old, overweight and lazy. More recently George has admitted to giving up the battle with weight: “I kept going to the fridge and saying ‘they love me for my music’.”
Anyone for Bush?
Not George. He is fierce critic of the American President. Fearing the politics of George W Bush and unhappy of Tony Blair’s support, his “Shoot The Dog” video proved highly controversial, depicting the British Prime Minister as Bush’s poodle. The New York Post responded to the video by calling the singer “a washed up pervert”.
Make It Big
George ranks as the UK’s 10th richest musician, with an estimated fortune of over 65 million pounds. This enabled him recently to buy Stella Vine’s portrait of Princess Diana recently which depicts the late princess with the words 'Murdered? Pregnant? Embalmed?' painted in the background. His fortune has also prompted his announcement that he never intends to release another album for sale in the shops. Instead he will release all futures songs online for free as he does not need the cash.
Last Christmas
After Wham!, for a laugh, George, Andrew Ridgley and Bananarama went out singing Christmas carols for charity, disguised in terrible wigs. Unrecognisable, they found door after door being slammed in their faces. Years later, the singer and some friends drunkenly gate crashed a Midnight Mass and disrupted the service. Having had an excess of Christmas spirits, they sat at the back of the church giggling because one of them had farted.
'Stone' the Crows!
In May 2006, Michael was found slumped over the wheel of his Range Rover, photographed apparently snoozing at traffic lights in London. He awoke after a member of the public knocked on his window for five minutes. He drove off weaving up the road, and then hit a traffic bollard. he was later questioned by police after shunting three cars in the street in which he lives.
A few months later, he was found unconscious in his car in northwest London. Police found Michael slumped in his seat in a semi-conscious state. He was later cautioned by the police for possession of cannabis, and was released on bail pending further inquiries on his fitness to drive. In May 2007, he pleaded guilty to driving while unfit through drugs.
CLICK HERE TO READ HIS BIOGRAPHY
Steve Coats
