George Michael – Bio, Net Worth, Death Cause, Family, Awards, Albums

George Michael was a singer, songwriter, and record producer from England who is considered one of the most significant cultural figures of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 120 million records worldwide. He was also well-recognized for being the leading creative force in music production, songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. After meeting with Andrew Ridgeley at Bushey Meads School as a teenager, they went on to form a pop duo named ‘Wham!’ in 1981. Before the formation of ‘Wham!’, George along with Andrew Ridgeley and his brother Paul, Andrew Leaver, and David Mortimer formed a short-lived ska band called ‘The Executive’. Four of his singles as part of ‘Wham!’ such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Freedom, I’m Your Man, and The Edge of Heaven was number 1 on the UK and Irish music charts. He released his first studio album “Fantastic” in July 1983 along with Andrew Ridgeley as a part of the English pop duo ‘Wham!’. The album peaked at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. As a solo artist, his first album was “Faith” which was released in October 1987. The album peaked at number 1 on the UK, Dutch, and the US Billboard charts. He made his first TV show appearance on Top of the Pops as himself in 1982. As a great philanthropist, he had contributed considerable time and money to various charities. On 25th December 2016, he was found dead of heart disease at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. 

George Michael Death Cause

In the early hours of Christmas Day 2016, George Michael died in bed at his home in Goring-on-Thames, at the age of 53. He was found by his partner, Fadi Fawaz. In March 2017, a senior coroner in Oxfordshire attributed Michael’s death to dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and a fatty liver. Owing to the delay in determining the cause of death, his funeral was held on 29th March 2017. In a private ceremony, he was buried at Highgate Cemetery in north London, on one side of his mother’s grave. His sister Melanie, who died exactly three years after him, is buried on the other side. 

What was George Michael Famous For?

• Being a singer, songwriter, and record producer. 
• Being one-half of the pop music duo ‘Wham!’ along with Andrew Ridgeley.
• For his solo albums such as Faith (1987) and Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990).

Where was George Michael From?

George Michael was born on 25th June 1963. He was from East Finchley, London, England, and spent his early childhood in Kingsbury. His birth name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. He held British nationality and his ethnicity was Mixed. He had Greek Cypriot ancestry on his father’s side and was of English descent on his mother’s side. He lastly celebrated his 53rd birthday as of 2016. His zodiac sign was Cancer and his religion was Judaism. His father, Kyriacos Panayiotou, was a Greek Cypriot who immigrated to England in the 1950s. He was the owner of a restaurant. His mother, Lesley Angold, an English woman, was a professional dancer. He also had two elder sisters, Yioda and Melanie. About his education, he attended Roe Green Junior School and Kingsbury High School. Next, he attended Bushey Meads School in Bushey. 

George Michael Career Timeline

• Initially, Michael worked as a DJ, playing at clubs and local schools around Bushey, Stanmore, and Watford. 
• Later, he formed the duo “Wham!” with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981 and released their first album “Fantastic” which reached No. 1 in the UK in 1983 and produced a series of top 10 singles including “Young Guns”, “Wham Rap!” and “Club Tropicana”. 
• Their second album, “Make It Big” which reached No. 1 on the charts in the US. Singles. 
• He performed on the original 1984 Band-Aid recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”. The song became the UK Christmas number one and Michael also donated the profits from “Last Christmas” and “Everything She Wants” to charity.
• Wham!’s tour of China in April 1985 made history, as they were the first British band to visit Communist China and perform Western popular music. Before Wham!’s tour to China, many kinds of music were banned in the country. Thus, their visit attracted worldwide media coverage for Wham!
• In the year 1986, after the recording of ‘Music from the Edge of Heaven’, he parted ways with the group to start his solo career.
• Starting his solo career, he released “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” in 1987. The single reached number one on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.
• In 1987, he released his debut solo album, “Faith”. The album topped the UK Albums Chart, and on the US Billboard 200, it was at number 1 for 12 weeks. 
• The first single released from the album was “I Want Your Sex”, in mid-1987. “I Want Your Sex” reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 in the UK. 
• His second solo album “Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1” was released in 1990. It was a huge success in the UK, debuting at number 1 and remaining there for a week. It was in the top 20 for 34 consecutive weeks.
• He released his next album “Older” in 1996. 
• His fourth album “Songs from the Last Century” was released in the year 1999. The album achieved the lowest peak of his solo efforts, peaking at No. 157 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart and at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart.  
• His fifth studio album, “Patience”, was released in 2004. After this album, it was rumored that he would retire from the music business.
• The 2005 documentary “A Different Story” covered his career and personal life. 
• The album “Twenty Five” was released in 2006, and celebrated the 25th anniversary of his music career which was his second compilation album.
• At the time of his death, he was working on “Freedom”, another documentary about his life, which was scheduled to be released in March 2017. 
• Apart from singing, he was also an actor who made his American acting debut by playing a guardian angel to Jonny Lee Miller’s character on “Eli Stone”.
• He also appeared on the 2008 finale show of American Idol on 21 May, singing “Praying for Time”. 
• On 25 December 2008, Michael released a new Christmas-themed track, “December Song”, on his website for free.

Awards and Achievements

Michael won numerous music awards throughout his 30-year career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male Artist twice, four MTV Video Music Awards, six Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards (including two in the traditionally-black Soul/R&B category), and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations. 

Won the Album of the Year

• 31st Annual Grammy Awards (1988)
• Faith

Won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

• 30th Annual Grammy Awards (1987)
• I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)

Nominated for Best Short Form Music Video

• 7th Annual Grammy Awards (2004)
• Flawless

Nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

• 43rd Annual Grammy Awards (2000)
• Songs From The Last Century (Album)

Nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

• 35th Annual Grammy Awards (1992)
• Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (Single)

Nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male

• 34th Annual Grammy Awards (1991)
• Freedom 90 (Single)

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male

• 31st Annual Grammy Awards (1988)
• Father Figure (Single)

Nominated for Best Music Video, Long Form

• 28th Annual Grammy Awards (1985)
• Wham! The Video (Video)

Nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

• 27th Annual Grammy Awards (1984)
• Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (Single)

Who was George Michael Girlfriend?

George Michael was not a married man but he had dated a lot of women during his lifetime. He stated that his early fantasies were about women, which “led me to believe I was on the path to heterosexuality”, but at puberty, he started to fantasize about men, which he later said, “had something to do with my environment”. At the age of 19, Michael told Andrew Ridgeley that he was bisexual. Also, he told one of his two sisters, but he was advised not to tell his parents about his sexuality. In a 1999 interview with The Advocate, Michael told the Editor in Chief, Judy Wieder, that it was “falling in love with a man that ended his conflict over bisexuality”. “I never had a moral problem with being gay”, Michael told her. “I thought I had fallen in love with a woman a couple of times. Then I fell in love with a man, and realized that none of those things had been love.” In 2004, Michael said, “I used to sleep with women quite a lot in the Wham! days but never felt it could develop into a relationship because I knew that, emotionally, I was a gay man. I didn’t want to commit to them but I was attracted to them. Then I became ashamed that I might be using them. I decided I had to stop, which I did when I began to worry about AIDS, which was becoming prevalent in Britain. Although I had always had safe sex, I didn’t want to sleep with a woman without telling her I was bisexual. I felt that would be irresponsible. Basically, I didn’t want to have that uncomfortable conversation that might ruin the moment, so I stopped sleeping with them.” In the same interview, he added: “If I wasn’t with Kenny [his boyfriend at the time], I would have sex with women, no question”. He said he believed that the formation of his sexuality was “a nurture thing, via the absence of my father who was always busy working. It meant I was exceptionally close to my mother”, though he stated that “there are definitely those who have a predisposition to being gay in which the environment is irrelevant.” In 1998, George Michael came into the news when he was arrested for “lewd” conduct in a public restroom at a park in Los Angeles. After the incident, he stated on television that he was homosexual. In July 2006, he was accused of engaging in public sex at London’s Hampstead Heath. In 2007, Michael said he had hidden his sexuality because of worries over what effect it might have on his mother. Two years later, he added: “My depression at the end of Wham! was because I was beginning to realize I was gay, not bisexual.” During the late 1980s, Michael had a relationship with make-up artist Kathy Jeung, who was regarded for a time as his artistic “muse” and who appeared in the “I Want Your Sex” video. He later said that she had been his “only bona fide” girlfriend and that she knew of his bisexuality. In 2016, Jeung reacted to Michael’s death by calling him a “true friend” with whom she had spent “some of the best time of [her] life”. In 1992, Michael established a relationship with Anselmo Feleppa, a Brazilian dress designer who he had met at the Rock in Rio concert in 1991. He was also in a long-term relationship with Kenny Goss, an ex-flight attendant, and sportswear executive. Later, they broke up in 2009. In 2012, he began a relationship with celebrity hairstylist Fadi Fawaz, which continued till his death in 2016. It was Fawaz who found Michael’s body on Christmas morning in 2016. 

Source: @mirror.co.uk

How much was George Michael Net Worth?

George Michael was a singer, songwriter, and record producer who has made a huge fortune releasing many albums, singles, and songs. The net worth of George Michael is estimated to have $200 Million as of 2022. He made this wealth from his music industry. He was making his salary in millions of dollars at the time of his death. Regarding his brand endorsement, he appeared in a TV commercial for Diet Coke in 1989. Between 2006 and 2008, according to reports, he earned £48.5 million ($97 million) from the 25 Live tours alone. In July 2014, he was reported to have been a celebrity investor in a tax avoidance scheme called Liberty. According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2015 of the wealthiest British musicians, Michael was worth £105 million. At the time of his death, Michael had sold over 115 million records worldwide. As a solo artist, he sold over 80 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists.

How tall was George Michael?

George Michael was a handsome singer with a tall height of 5 ft 11 in or 180.5 cm and his body weight consisted of 82 kg or 181 lbs. His hair color was Salt and pepper whereas his eye color was hazel. His body type was Average. He had short hair. His body measurement was 42-35-12 in (chest-waist-bicep).