People named George Michael

Singer, Musician, Entertainer, Songwriter, Producer, Philanthropist. George Michael started his career as part of the pop duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley. Later, he would embark on an extremely successful solo career which would last nearly thirty years. He was the youngest of three children and became obsessed with music early in his childhood when his mother gave him a few 45 rpm records and an old gramophone. His love of music saw him busking on the London Underground with friend, David Mortimer. He also worked as a DJ at the Bel Air restaurant near Bushey. Songwriting was a natural next step for him and he penned "Careless Whisper" at the age of 17 when he was on his way to his Bel Air job. It was around this time that he and Ridgeley became more serious about their music and they, along with friends, David Mortimer, Andrew Leaver and Paul Ridgeley, formed a ska band called "The Executive". The band had some local success but it wasn't long before they decided to go their separate ways. Michael and Ridgeley would continue to write music in their spare time and would eventually record a demo tape at Ridgeley's house, which included "Wham Rap!," "Club Tropicana," "Come On" and a sampling of "Careless Whisper." They took their demo tape to several music publishers and were quickly turned down. Ridgeley then decided to give the tape to his neighbor, Mark Dean, who had some success with CBS, the sponsors of his new label, Innervision. Wham! were signed with Innervision in March 1982. Their big break would come when they appeared on the popular British program, Top of the Pops, in November. Wham! became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the early to mid-1980s, selling more than 30 million records worldwide. They had such hits as, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," "Freedom," "Everything She Wants", "I'm Your Man", "The Edge of Heaven", "Last Christmas" and of course, "Careless Whisper." In 1985, Wham! became the first Western pop group to tour China. They also received a Brit Award for British Group and Careless Whisper was Billboard Year-End Number One Single. That same year, Michael and Ridgeley appeared at Live Aid, with Michael taking center stage to sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." Elton John accompanied him on the piano and Ridgeley joined the backing vocalists for the performance. He would also lend his voice to a recording for David Cassidy as well as performing on two singles for Elton John. He won the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year for the first time. Many of the songs he had been writing were not the typical Wham! sound. The announcement came that Wham! would officially breakup and on June 28, 1986, at London's Wembley Stadium, Wham! gave their final concert with 72,000 people in attendance. Special guests like Elton John and Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran) also performed. George Michael would begin his solo career by recording a duet with one of his favorite artists, Aretha Franklin. Their duet "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" marked his fourth number-one single in the United States, including his singles with Wham! He would later release his first solo album, "Faith" (1987). "Faith" topped the United Kingdom Charts and in the United States, the album had 51 non-consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, including 12 weeks at No. 1. and it was the first album by a white solo artist to hit number one on the United States Rhythm and Blues Albums chart. "Faith" produced six top-five Billboard Hot 100 hits, four of which reached number one; making him the only British male solo artist to have four number one hits from one album on the record chart. The album earned him numerous accolades. At the 1989 Grammy Awards, he won Album of the Year. Additionally, he won three awards at the 1989 American Music Awards; they include: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/ Rhythm and Blues Album. "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1" was the follow-up album to "Faith" and was released in 1990. It produced five singles, "Praying for Time," "Waiting for that Day," "Freedom! '90," "Heal the Pain" and "Cowboys and Angels." In the United Kingdom, the album spent a total of 88 weeks in the album charts. It was certified platinum four times by the BPI on January 2, 1992. Sales in the United States were not as good. He and Sony Music Entertainment (United Kingdom) Ltd. had some differences of opinion on how to promote the album in the United States which led him to file suit against Sony. Michael lost the case. The intended album, "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2" was never realized due to the lawsuit with Sony. Instead, he donated three songs to Red Hot + Dance which raised money for AIDS awareness. In 1992, he performed at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, with all proceeds going to AIDS research. He performed Queen hits "'39," "These Are The Days of Our Lives" and he gave an outstanding rendition of "Somebody to Love." It has been said his performance at this concert was among the best performances of the night. He continued to have success in Europe with his third album "Older" (1996) which included such hits as "Fastlove" and "Jesus to a Child." In 1996, he was voted Best British Male at the MTV Europe Music Awards and the Brit Awards. He was also awarded the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year for the third time. His first compilation album, "Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael" (1998) reached No. 1 on the United Kingdom Album Charts and remained there for eight weeks. It spent over 200 weeks on the United Kingdom charts altogether (1998-2017), and it was the 38th best-selling album of all time in that country. In all, George Michael has sold over 115 million records worldwide. He has performed with such artists as Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Tony Bennett, Paul Young and Paul McCartney. He performed at sold-out concerts all over the world and he received numerous accolades for his contributions to the music industry. In addition to the gift he has given the world with his music, he donated royalties from several singles to various causes and performed for countless charity concerts. Following his death, many charities revealed that he had been supporting them for many years and had given them "millions" of dollars. He did so anonymously. His untimely death shocked the world. It was determined that he died of fatty liver and dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis. He was laid to rest in a private ceremony on March 29, 2017, in Highgate Cemetery, next to his mother. In 2023, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

George E Michael of Queens Village, Queens County, NY was born on February 14, 1910, and died at age 73 years old in May 1983.

George M Michael of Seattle, King County, WA was born on May 9, 1926, and died at age 77 years old on November 4, 2003.

George A Michael of Muscatine, Muscatine County, IA was born on January 18, 1927, and died at age 80 years old on May 30, 2007.

George H Michael Jr of Bangs, Brown County, TX was born on May 19, 1948, and died at age 45 years old on April 8, 1994.

George Victor Michael of Mary Esther, Okaloosa County, FL was born on October 7, 1920, and died at age 66 years old on April 13, 1987. George Michael was buried at Barrancas National Cemetery Section 35 Site 1404 Naval Air Station, 1 Cemetery Road, in Pensacola.

George E Michael of Graham, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky was born on June 5, 1924, and died at age 49 years old in March 1974.

George J Michael of Aurora, Kane County, IL was born on December 11, 1927, and died at age 80 years old on December 19, 2007.

George W Michael of Ottawa, La Salle County, IL was born on April 5, 1918, and died at age 80 years old on December 27, 1998.

George Thomas Michael of Bloomington, San Bernardino County, California was born on August 19, 1921, and died at age 58 years old on December 30, 1979. George Michael was buried at Riverside National Cemetery Section 7 Site 1778 22495 Van Buren Boulevard, in Riverside.

George E Michael of Clarksville, Clark County, IN was born on February 21, 1917, and died at age 83 years old on April 1, 2000. George Michael was buried at New Albany National Cemetery Section D Site 25-A 1943 Ekin Avenue, in New Albany.

George S Michael of Northport, Suffolk County, NY was born on August 16, 1914, and died at age 86 years old on September 10, 2000. George Michael was buried at Calverton National Cemetery Section 43 Site 2208 210 Princeton Boulevard - Rt 25, in Calverton.

George C Michael of High Point, Guilford County, North Carolina was born on July 24, 1906, and died at age 62 years old in October 1968.

George M Michael of Stanley, Gaston County, NC was born on September 8, 1919, and died at age 91 years old on March 25, 2011.

George Edward Michael of Merrimack, Hillsborough County, NH was born on August 29, 1919, and died at age 91 years old on October 13, 2010.

George J Michael of Bethlehem, Northampton County, PA was born on December 5, 1915, and died at age 77 years old on May 10, 1993.

George H Michael of Bethlehem, Northampton County, PA was born on December 8, 1922, and died at age 77 years old on August 15, 2000.

George E Michael of New Rochelle, Westchester County, NY was born on August 23, 1919, and died at age 75 years old on November 5, 1994. George Michael was buried at Calverton National Cemetery Section 21 Site 1629 210 Princeton Boulevard - Rt 25, in Calverton.

George Frederick Michael of Lgatha Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George Frederick Michael.

George Michael of Syria Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George Michael.

George Frederick Michael of Spring H Australia was born in 1859 in Spring H, and died at age 67 years old in 1926 in Lgatha.

George W Michael was born on October 4, 1928, and died at age 62 years old on July 9, 1991. George Michael was buried at Nashville National Cemetery Section RR Site 313 1420 Gallatin Road, South, in Madison, Tn. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George W Michael.

George J Michael was born on September 22, 1932, and died at age 58 years old on September 27, 1990. George Michael was buried at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery Section CM Row 1 Site 2 11501 Garrison Forest Rd, in Owings Mills, Md. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George J Michael.

George H Michael Ii of Harris County, TX was born circa 1966. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George H. Michael Ii.

George P Michael Iii of Nueces County, TX was born circa 1956. George Michael was married to Lynda S. (White) Michael on July 15, 1989 in Nueces County, TX and they separated on October 25, 1991. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George P. Michael Iii.

George J Michael of Hopkins County, TX was born circa 1950. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George J. Michael.

George W Michael of Ochiltree County, TX was born circa 1929. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George W. Michael.

George W Michael of Hidalgo County, TX was born circa 1952. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George W. Michael.

George P Michael Iii of Harris County, TX was born circa 1956. George Michael was married to Lynda S. (White) Michael on July 31, 2008 in Harris County, TX. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember George P. Michael Iii.