George Michael of the 1980s duo Wham! has passed away on
Christmas Day of apparent heart failure. He was only 53.
George was given the name Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou upon his birth on June 25, 1963 in London, of Greek and British descent.
George and Andrew
Ridgeley formed Wham! after meeting in high school, and some of their early
hits were “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, “Everything She Wants”, and “Careless
Whisper”.
Embarking on his solo career, George scored big with a duet with
Aretha Franklin entitled “I Knew You Were Waiting” in 1987.
George’s solo “I Want Your Sex” (1987) was featured in “Beverly Hills
Cop II”. The album “Faith” was also released in
1987, and was No. 1 on Billboard for 12 weeks. One of its most popular singles
was “Father Figure”.
George thereafter experimented with musical styles, but did not again
reach the same level of success in the U.S. as he had in the mid-1980s. During
the course of his career, he won four MTV Video Music Awards, three American
Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards.
So young, so soon.
George Michael [1963 - 2016]
© 12/25/2016
