George Michael: moments of life. George Michael: handsome, talented, successful and unhappy Interview with George Michael in Russian

On December 25 in England, at the age of 54, the popular British singer, former member duet Wham! George Michael. He "passed away peacefully at home on Christmas Day," the BBC reported. The police did not find any suspicious circumstances in the singer's death. George Michael is believed to have died of heart failure.

“The family requests privacy during this emotional and difficult time. On at this stage no further comments will follow. We ask that you respect our silence and not disturb us,” said family spokesman Michael Lippman.

His colleagues Elton John, Mark Ronson, Liam Gallagher, Ryan Adams, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as millions of fans around the world, have already expressed their condolences over the musician’s death.

“Abroad” recalled some interesting facts from the artist’s biography.

Origin and nickname

The singer's real name is Yorgos Kyriakos Panayiotou, and the first twenty thousand copies of his album “Wham Rap!” came out with his real name on the cover - George Panayiotou. However, then, according to the artist himself, he quickly realized that it was time to choose a sonorous pseudonym, and named himself after a certain Michael Mortimer, the father of his childhood friend, with whom he had a very warm relationship.

Homophobic father

In one of his interviews, the singer admitted that he hid his sexuality for a long time because difficult relationship with his parents: “My father, a Greek Cypriot by nationality, a man of the old school, would never have come to terms with the fact that his son was gay,” Michael asserted.

As for the mother, according to the singer, all her life she was afraid that her only son had inherited the “homosexuality gene” from his uncle named Colin, who committed suicide. “Feeling guilty, she allowed her father to be a terrible homophobe,” the singer admitted.

Beginning of a career and Last Christmas

In 1981, the singer, together with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley, decided to conquer world stage and create first The group Executives, which failed to achieve success, and then a duo called Wham!. The group quickly became popular after the song Young Guns (Go For It) appeared on Top of the Pops. Other successful compositions include songs such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, A Different Corner and Last Christmas. Moreover, the latter became an absolute Christmas hit and was covered by many artists. Remembering this song on the day of the singer’s departure, many journalists noted that in a sense its title turned out to be prophetic - George Michael passed away on Christmas Day 2016.

First solo hit

The singer's first solo hit was the song Careless Whisper, released in 1984, which tells Touching story love and betrayal. The composition was entirely written by George Michael, but was also performed by Wham! and was on their album Make It Big). In 1985, Careless Whisper was recognized better than a song and topped the charts in 25 countries with total circulation about 6 million copies.
As Michael himself said in an interview, he wrote this song at the age of 17, when he was riding the bus to work. At the time, the singer was working as a DJ in a Bel Air restaurant near the town of Bushey in Hertfordshire. According to him, the song was born to him at the moment when he was paying for the fare.
“I remember that suddenly a melody came into my head, and then I sat on the farthest seat of the bus and began to come up with words for it.” At the same work, the singer first performed a demo version of the future hit.
“On the evening of my last day at work, I played it and people came out to dance. They had never heard it before, but they went out anyway. I thought then that this good sign" At the same time, according to Michael, the restaurant owner never liked his music and forbade him to play his own compositions.

First album and first award

On October 30, 1987, George Michael performed the song Faith, which was included in his first solo album of the same name. Already in the first week, more than a million discs were sold, which became an absolute record among the albums ever sold by a British pop artist. A year later, the composition became the best-selling single in the United States, and the disc was recognized as one of the most successful in the history of pop music and received a Grammy Award for best album of the year.

In 1992, Roman Polanski chose Faith as the soundtrack to his film Bitter Moon.

Open provocation

The singer always loved to shock the audience: one of his most provocative compositions was the song I Want Your Sex from his first album, released in 1987. Because the title and lyrics were too explicit, it was banned from being broadcast on BBC radio during the day, and the MTV channel completely edited the video clip for the song, cutting out almost half of the material.

“I turned into the Antichrist for a couple of weeks,” George Michael said at the time.

The singer later explained that in this way he spoke out against people being afraid to have sex for fear of contracting AIDS.

First love

In January 1991, George Michael met Brazilian designer Anselmo Feleppe, who, according to the singer, became his first serious love. This happened after the musician performed in Rio de Janeiro at the Rock in Rio festival.

Three years after meeting Michael, Feleppe died of a brain hemorrhage caused by AIDS. The death of his lover greatly shocked the musician. For a year and a half he did not write new songs, and only in the fall of 1994 he wrote the song “Jesus to a Child,” which he dedicated to Feleppe.

Sex scandal

In April 1998, the singer was arrested in a public toilet in Beverly Hills for "indecent acts." This incident prompted Michael to openly admit his homosexuality. “I want to say that right now I am in a relationship with a man. “I haven’t dated women for more than 10 years,” the artist said in an interview with CNN.

This statement had a negative impact on the artist’s career: many fans were shocked that the fairy tale about the handsome groom had collapsed. Michael's popularity fell along with the sales of his records, which caused the singer's creative crisis.

Political satire

In the summer of 2002, George Michael released a song in an unexpected genre. political satire— “Shoot The Dog,” which mocks George W. Bush and Tony Blair. In particular, Blair is depicted as a dog, obediently fulfilling the wishes of its owner, the President of the United States.

The most expensive clip

Song Freeek! was written in 2002 and was included in the album Patience, which was released two years later. The composition quickly achieved popularity and topped the charts in the UK, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Denmark. The video for this song cost more than 1.5 million euros and is still considered one of the most expensive videos in the history of the music business.

"George Michael: Another Story"

In 2005 at international film festival The premiere of the documentary film “George Michael: Another Story” took place in Berlin, in which the singer spoke frankly about his personal life and work.

The film also includes interviews with Andrew Ridgeley, backing singers of Wham! Pepsi and Shirley, as well as with Sting, Mariah Carey, Elton John, Noel Gallagher, Geri Halliwell and Simon Cowell.

After the film's premiere, the musician told reporters that it was important for him to explain himself to the audience who loved him before he left the stage, and added that he was going to leave the recording industry forever. “I’m leaving show business. I won’t stop writing music - it’s in me, I know how to do it and I will do it. I just won't sell it. New songs can be downloaded from my official website."

Man of dreams

In 1996, George Michael began dating Kenny Goss, a businessman and former athlete from Dallas. At the end of 2005, the singer announced that he was going to legalize his relationship in the UK, but due to negative public reaction he decided to postpone registration for more late time. On August 22, 2011, during his performance as part of the Symphonica Tour, the singer admitted that they broke up two years ago. As the Daily Mail wrote with reference to internal sources, the singer considered Goss “the love of his life” and took the breakup very hard. Their relationship lasted 13 years, and the main reason for the breakup was Michael’s explosive nature and his addiction to drugs. As the Sun tabloid wrote, citing the words of the singer’s friends, after the breakup, Michael “gave up and gradually became a shadow of himself.”

"On the brink of death"

In 2011, the singer canceled his tour for the first time due to acute pneumonia. The performer underwent surgery and treatment in Vienna. Afterwards, in one of his interviews, the singer admitted that he was “on the verge of death.” Having defeated the disease in the summer of 2012, George Michael recorded the song White Light, in which he talks about his experiences during his illness and thanks everyone who prayed for his recovery. The artist performed this song on August 12, 2012 at the closing of the XXX Summer Olympic Games in London.

Drug problems

On July 4, 2010, George Michael, while under the influence of drugs, crashed his car into a camera shop in north London's Hampstead.

At his trial in late August, George Michael pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and was sentenced to two months' imprisonment and a fine of £1,250. In October 2010, the singer was released after serving half of his sentence. But even after this, the singer was unable to overcome his addiction.

Almost a year before his death, George Michael underwent drug addiction treatment at the Swiss Küsnacht clinic.

Secret charity

According to the ITV portal, George Michael secretly spent a significant portion of his funds on charity. In particular, the singer made anonymous donations to children's charities such as the Terrence Higgins Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support. And presenter Richard Osman said that one woman on Deal Or No Deal said she needed £15,000 for artificial insemination, after which George Michael secretly called her and transferred the entire amount into her account, asking in return only not to use his name.

George Michael about himself and his work

“I believe with all my heart that music is one of best gifts God to man,” the singer said in an interview at the beginning of his career.

“I deserve my fans. They are the very type of people that I love,” said George Michael, already a famous performer.

“If I died, I would be happy. Do you know why? I have given the world so much quality music that I can safely leave this world. My ego is in perfect order,” the artist admitted in 2009 in an interview with The Guardian.

Behind last years famous singer More than once I was faced with the fact that his personal life, its discussion in the press and rumors were getting out of control. Most likely, this is what prompted George to give one of his most candid interviews to Gay Times magazine.

In it, he spoke extremely frankly about his personal life, about the fact that before public recognition in his orientation, he had only 3 girls, why it was so difficult for him to admit his addictions to his parents, that the massive spread of AIDS forced him to end relationships with girls and why he was never interested in his partner in Wham! Andrew Ridgeley.

Translation into Russian especially for you!

George was already 29 years old when he confessed everything to his parents. His mother's fears that her only son might inherit the "gay gene" cast a shadow over her life: the singer's uncle (her brother Collin) was gay and committed suicide.

“My mother was always afraid that I was gay,” says George. “She was incredibly afraid that I would be the same as her brother, which accordingly meant that I would not fight for life. She almost physically felt that she had passed this gene on to me. Therefore, according to such pressing issues She largely supported and even shaped her father’s position – homophobia.”

George Michael with his mother and father

“There lived a gay waiter above the restaurant that our family ran, and I was strictly forbidden to go to the top floor when he was in the restaurant. She was very afraid that I might accidentally pick up his lifestyle and become gay.”

“Knowing my father, I can say that he never even imagined that his son could be gay, simply because this could not happen, because we are a Greek Cypriot family. But the mother was very afraid of her father’s anger and condemnation. Now I already understand that she was simply afraid that this gene in me, if there is one, it will lead me to the same thing that it led Collin to.”

George dedicated the song “My Mother Had A Brother” from the Patience album to his deceased uncle.

“My mother didn’t tell me about my uncle until I was 16. I don't know if it was a conscious decision on her part or if she just couldn't muster up the courage. When I found out, it radically changed my opinion of her because she had seen her own father die as well. They both committed suicide by gas poisoning, and the mother was “lucky” to find the corpses of both of them.”

“She spent years repenting that she couldn’t turn back time. And over the last 20 years of our lives, I think we haven’t said a single harsh word to each other.”

In an interview, George said that he was able to confess everything to his parents only after the death of Anselmo Felippe, the Brazilian designer, his first love. They met at the Rock In Rio festival in 1991. 6 months later Anselmo learned that he was sick. And in 1993, he died from a cerebral hemorrhage, which was caused by the disease.

Anselmo Felipe

George remembers those times:
“I sat at the table not knowing whether the person I madly loved was sick, or whether I myself was sick. It was probably the loneliest time of my life.”

He was so devastated by the loss of Anselmo that he was no longer afraid of how his parents would react to his confession of homosexuality and eventually decided to write them a letter.

“I wrote them a 4-page letter and it was one of the easiest things I've ever written. This was the only unresolved issue - to confess everything to my parents.” - says George.

“Mother said that it was the most beautiful letter she had ever read, that it completely explained my feelings and that she did not have to worry about me. It was the easiest thing to do, although it should have been one of the most difficult. I need to ask my father to show me this letter again!”

Brooke Shields

IN early years in Wham! George had girlfriends. He dated actress Brooke Shields, model Pat Fernandes and makeup artist Kathy Jeung. Besides them, he still dated men.

At the height of his success, he became so afraid of AIDS that he personal life at that time he himself described it as “rubbish” (nonsense, nonsense).

“I only had three girls, but I was still looking for sex on the side. True, as a result, this only happened when I was busy with completely different issues. While drunk, I toyed with the idea of ​​my bisexuality. But then HIV appeared and I could no longer sleep with a woman without warning her that I had also slept with men. To be honest, my interest in women wasn't strong enough to have those conversations, so I just stopped sleeping around altogether.
As a result, I had virtually no sex between 1985 and 1994, except for Anselmo, my first partner, to whom I was absolutely faithful.”

Interestingly, at school everyone thought that Andrew Ridgeley was gay, not George: “Andrew loved extravagant clothes. He came to school in cherry silk pants. Everyone around was whispering “is he gay?”, and I answered “no, what are you talking about!”

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley

“He was handsome, but not in a way that attracted me. He was too nice, too charming, too elegant. I can understand why people think we slept together - but he loved women.”

When the two friends became famous as Wham!, George felt that admitting his true sexuality could be detrimental to their careers.

“I spent a lot of nerves. I wanted to tell everyone everything, but I had no idea how successful we would become. And in general, it was beyond understanding. I was about 20, and we were already the most successful band in Europe and for two years the most successful pop group in America. And if your goal is to become the best-selling artist in America, then you won’t try to make it even more difficult.”

Until a certain time, he did just that. But only up to a certain point. In April 1998, George was arrested and later charged with attempting to induce a plainclothes police officer to have sex in a public toilet. It was the most shocking coming-out imaginable. Moreover, it was aggravated by the fact that at that time George had already found his new love - Kenny Goss. The beginning of their relationship coincided with the death of George's mother from cancer.

George Michael and Kenny Goss

“I met Kenny three years after Anselmo left. I called my mother to tell her (about Kenny) and she told me she had cancer. She insisted that it was at a very early stage, but that was not true. I found myself on my knees again. Terrible."

George's life has always been an emotional rollercoaster. And the recent story with the trial is no exception. First he is put on trial and the continuation of his tour is in big doubt. The court then issues a fine, community service and disqualification, and the next day George opens the renovated Wembley Stadium. Now he plans to work as he sees fit and officially register his relationship with Kenny, despite the fact that he constantly denies rumors about the upcoming ceremony.

“This will be just our ceremony, we are not Sonny and Cher. And I don’t want any more troubles, believe me, I will try.”

The singer recalled how he felt after learning that Anselm Fleppa had AIDS.

Photo: Legion-Media.ru George Michael

In memory of George Michael, I decided to post my article about him from my own book (which is "GAYS: They Changed the World"). After all, there is not much biographical information about him on the Internet - let my article be available to everyone who wants to read about him. And - goodbye, George. I will always love your songs.

George Michael: a man without weaknesses
In one of George Michael's early songs there is the following line If you're gonna do it do it right (If you're going to do something, do it properly). This principle can easily be called the musician's life credo. He rarely pleases fans with new albums , but they are always the most High Quality and certainly take first place in the national charts. His videos are invariably spectacular, perfectly staged and thought out to the smallest detail. And if he gets involved in a scandal, it must certainly be the loudest and most ambitious scandal, with the police, handcuffs, a court verdict - and a hit single at the end. Definitely, George Michael cannot be called a man of half measures: everything he does, he does it properly.

“My father came here for easy money. I guess my mother had a very bad start to the game. They started dating and she took his name. Right here,” the musician sings in the autobiographical song Round Here, dedicated to his childhood and the place in which he grew up - East Finchley in North London. Indeed, in the beginning life together George's parents, Kyriakos Panayiotou and his wife, Leslie Angold Harrison, had it tough. Cypriot-born Kyriakos arrived in England in the 1950s with empty pockets, hoping to get rich quick. Having got a job in a restaurant, after some time he opened his own eatery, which served the most common fast food in England - fish and chips. The family living in the apartment building above the laundry grew rapidly. First, two girls were born, Yoda and Melanie, and the last, on June 25, 1963, was a boy, Georgios Kyriakos. However, even his own mother could hardly pronounce the name Georgios correctly, not to mention his teachers and classmates, so he very quickly turned into George.

The parents worked very hard and saved every penny to give their children a good future, and when George was about a year old, the family moved into their own home in the same area. At the age of nine, the violin appeared in George's life. It is curious that until this moment the boy showed absolutely no interest in music, but was very interested in insects and could boast of clearly expressed mathematical abilities. Everything changed after he fell down the stairs during recess one day at school and hit his head on the radiator. His mathematical abilities disappeared without a trace, but his musical abilities began to progress rapidly, and very soon music became George’s main hobby. The songs he listened to also contributed to this. George recalls that the first two records that were given to him as a child for some holiday were compositions by Tom Jones and The Supremes - the boy listened to them to death. “And in the end, I ended up roughly between Tom Jones and The Supremes in style,” he concluded already at the peak of his career.

Another fateful event happened to him at the age of twelve, when the family moved once again, to the London suburb of Radlett, and to new school George was seated at the same desk as Andrew Ridgeley. The boys quickly became friends, and active, lively Andrew began to have a great influence on the quiet and inconspicuous bespectacled George. “Before I met Andrew, I never thought about my appearance, my manners and my monstrous isolation,” recalls George Michael. “I was immediately struck by how cool he always looked, and this was the impetus for my transformation.” George himself doubts that he would have achieved worldwide success if not for Andrew. Having no special musical talents, he was very ambitious, punchy and always told his friend that they would certainly become famous.

And so it happened. At first, George and Andrew and several other guys created the group The Executive, but it very quickly broke up, failing to interest anyone in their work. record company. Then the friends decided that they did not need other musicians for their musical career - two of them would be enough. This is how the duet Wham! - in 1981, when the guys were eighteen years old. In 1982 they came out debut single Wham! Rap (Enjoy What You Do), dedicated to the problem of youth unemployment, and in 1983 the first album Fantastic! George later recalled how, after appearing on television, in the popular music program Top of the Pops, where Wham! got there by accident - instead of someone who canceled his performance, he walked up and down London's Oxford Street in the hope that one of the passers-by would recognize him.

After Top of the Pops, she and Andrew really began to be recognized, moreover, they turned into real youth idols. Very young, cheerful and cute, they literally magnetized fans with their energy and released catchy, dynamic hits one after another. If their first album was an unconditional success in England, then the second (Make it Big) has already thundered throughout the world, ending up in first place in American chart. The duo went on a world tour, reaching China in 1985 - they were the first Western pop performers to visit this country. What they remember most about China was the unusual silence during concerts, as well as the host’s attempt to pay them with bicycles.

Roles in Wham! distributed perfectly. George completely took over the musical side - he wrote music and lyrics, played, sang. As he later said: “For a twenty-year-old guy, I did a lot: I was a producer, an arranger; I knew how to make these records so that they would then be played on the radio. But because I wore ridiculous shorts and earrings in my ears, no one wanted to notice.” Andrew was mainly required to dance and sing along to the beat, but he was the main image in the duo, on which the lion's share of their popularity depended. It was he who, in 1984, insisted that the duo change the image of angry young people in leather jackets to fashionable and stylish playmakers, which other youth pop groups immediately began to frantically copy. George believes that the success of Wham! was largely achieved due to the fact that the friendship that connected him with Andrew was real - and the audience felt it. They spoke the same language, they shared the same jokes, they understood each other perfectly - and this commonality gave George inspiration to write new hits with the same charge of energy.

Of course, later, when George stopped hiding his sexuality, the question arose whether there was something more than friendship connecting him with Andrew. To this he always answered negatively. “Nothing could be less true. And in general, Andrew is absolutely not my type.” Moreover, at that time, George still could not decide whether he was gay or bisexual, and the tabloids were full of reports that he was having affairs with Brooke Shields, model Katie Jung and other women. Andrew began dating Bananarama member Karen Woodward, with whom, by the way, he still lives.

Friends always told each other that they should leave at the peak of their careers - before they turn into a parody of themselves. They both understood that their duet was strictly limited to a youth audience - and did not have the opportunity to reach a more serious and adult level. In addition, it became increasingly clear that of the two of them, only George was a real musician. While still on the crest of popularity as part of a duo, he had already recorded two solo singles, one of which, Careless Whisper, which is still heard on many radio stations, was invented by him at the age of seventeen. Also, separately from Andrew, George sang a duet with Elton John’s song “Don”t Let the Sun Go Down on Me at a charity concert for the benefit of the famine-stricken in Ethiopia and from him in 1985 he received an Ivor Novello statuette as an award, receiving the title “ Best Author of the year". The breakup of the duo was a foregone conclusion, the only question remaining was when. As a result, they, as planned, left at the peak of popularity, recording the hit single The Edge of Heaven as a farewell and giving a concert at Wembley Stadium in the summer of 1986 for an audience of 72,000.

For Andrew Ridgeley, this was a big blow - it is clear that he alone, without a gifted friend, did not have a successful musical career, which was proven by remaining unnoticed solo album, which he released in 1990. However, he survived it with dignity, did not break off relations with George - they still communicate warmly, and his photograph is on George’s mantelpiece at home.

For George it has begun new round careers. To clearly draw a divide between Wham! and him solo work, he recorded the song I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) in early 1987 as a duet with Aretha Franklin, becoming the first white performer lucky enough to sing with this African-American soul diva. In the same 1987, his most commercially successful album, Faith, was released, which eventually reached diamond status - to date, more than twenty million copies have been sold worldwide. The album was literally stuffed with super hits, one after another soaring to the top of the charts; In addition, the image that George showed in the video for the song of the same name has become one of the most recognizable and memorable images in pop music of the eighties: sunglasses, stubble, a cross in his ear, a leather jacket, cowboy boots, a guitar and especially eye-catching tight Levi's jeans. “I knew that I was making more adult music, and I was mistaken in not thinking that I would become a sex idol for a new generation of young girls around the world. Although what I wanted was to swing my ass on the screen... And I have an ass really pretty,” George recalled in the documentary A Different Story.

Not without the first in George Michael's career major scandal. The lyrics of the single “I Want Your Sex” turned out to be too shocking, especially for conservative America (how is it possible - to directly sing about the fact that you want sex from someone; that “sex is natural and good”!). The song was refused to be played on many radio stations; MTV showed the video only late in the evening and at night, and one of the presenters of this channel generally refused to say the name of the song out loud, calling it “George Michael’s new single.” George even had to film an introduction to the video, in which he explained that we are not talking about promiscuous sex at all - and may well refer to a monogamous relationship. However, all these obstacles did not prevent the single from taking second place in the American chart and third in English.

The album Faith brought George a huge number of awards, including a Grammy, and made him even richer and more famous - the most popular pop artist in the world at that time. However, his skyrocketing popularity did not bring him the main thing - happiness. On the contrary, he felt that the hype and superstar status was driving him crazy, alienating him from his friends, making him lonely and unhappy. “I was smart enough to realize that I had chosen the wrong road. If I wanted to find happiness, I definitely shouldn’t have tried to follow in the footsteps of Madonna or Michael Jackson, which I definitely did at that moment,” he recalls in the same A Different Story. “Oh God,” I thought then, “I’m a megastar, and probably also a homosexual—and what should I do about it?” This won't end well."

Eventually George figured out what to do about it. He decided, in his own words, “to borrow in the car backseat": stop promoting your music with promotional tours and videos, put an end to the image of a sexy unshaven guy in tight jeans. The only video that was shot in support of the single from the album released in 1990 with a telling name Listen Without Prejudice is a video for the song Freedom"90, in which George himself does not appear, but five supermodels are pleasing to the eye: Linda Evangelista, Cynthia Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Tatyana Patitz.

Sony, with which George Michael signed a contract to record albums, was extremely dissatisfied with his decision to withdraw from personal participation in the promotion of the new album. A major conflict had arisen between the musician and the company: he believed that Sony was promoting him poorly and did not support his new creative aspirations; Sony countered that the poor sales of Listen Without Prejudice (compared to Faith) were a direct result of his unreasonable behavior. However, in 1991, such a thing happened in George’s life happy event, that for a while he no longer cared about the conflict with Sony - the musician truly fell in love for the first time.

This happened at a concert in Rio de Janeiro. In the crowd of fans, right in front of the stage, he spotted a boy who seemed so cute to him that he moved to the other end of the stage so as not to be distracted during the performance. Literally immediately after meeting him, he felt something that he had never felt before: “Here is a person whom I could love, and not use my body for a while.” The name of George's first love was Anselmo Feleppa. He went with the musician to Los Angeles, where George lived at that time, and for the first six months the couple was cloudlessly happy. It was then that George realized something important for himself: “It’s very difficult to be proud of your sexuality when it doesn’t bring you any joy. Once it is associated with joy and love, it becomes easy to be proud of who you are.”

Unfortunately, George and Anselmo's happiness did not last long. In the fall of 1991, due to increasing health problems, Anselmo was advised to undergo blood tests - and he flew to Brazil to do this. For several months George was left in a depressing state of uncertainty. In the spring of 1992, he performed at grand concert in memory of Freddie Mercury, who died the day before, he sang the song Somebody to Love with the Queen musicians. “I sang in memory of Freddie - and at the same time prayed for Anselmo. No one knew that in my soul at that moment I wanted to die. Perhaps that’s why this performance turned out to be the best of my life.”

But a miracle did not happen - the results of Anselmo's tests for AIDS were positive. He returned to George - and he stayed with him until the end, trying to make the time he had allotted happy. “Leaving him—I didn’t even have that choice. Even if I wanted to, I’m not the person who could then live with it.” It was during this period that, in order to take out his grief and anger on someone, the musician began litigation with Sony, trying to free himself from the contract that bound him to the company. The trial dragged on for two years and ended in victory for Sony. However, after winning in court, the company itself decided to release the musician.

Anselmo Feleppa died in March 1993 - and George completely disappeared from life for almost two years. music scene, plunged into grief. He appeared in public again at the end of 1994, at the MTV Music Awards concert, where he performed a new song, Jesus to a Child, written in memory of his deceased loved one.

Words that you can no longer say
I'll sing them for you.
And the love that we could have had
Will stay with me
In every memory
What has become a part of me.
You will always be my love.
I was loved -
And I know what love is.
And the one I kissed,
Will always be by my side.

Came out two years later new album musician – Older. “The optimism that pervades him is because I tried to draw as many positive lessons as possible from the grief I experienced. And in the process of recording the second half of the album I was again happy man" Happiness this time appeared to George in the form of Texan Kenny Goss, whom he met at a spa. “I wasn’t even sure he was gay when I invited him to dinner,” George recalls. “But on the second day I was already sure, and on the third I realized that my life had again changed decisively.” Kenny appeared in George's life at the right time - just before the next blow, which he again had to endure. In 1997, George's beloved mother died of skin cancer. “I remember being on another planet for several weeks. I was completely unprepared for this, I was simply heartbroken. Mom never bossed me around and always believed in everything I did. She was very understanding. I still miss her terribly,” George recalled almost ten years after the loss. And one more thing: “People are divided into two categories: those who have already suffered a loss, and those who have not yet. On the day of loss you become a true adult.”

For a year, the musician led the life of a recluse: he did not appear in public, did not give interviews, did not record anything; and when his name was in the newspapers again in 1998, it was not at all connected with the release of a new single or album: George Michael was caught in a Beverly Hills toilet “committing indecent acts”, was fined and sentenced to eighty hours of community service. This is how he himself recalls the incident: “They followed me into the toilet, and then this policeman - well, then, of course, I didn’t know that he was a policeman - began to play his game, which, I believe, is called: “I I’ll show you mine, you show me mine, and then I’ll grab you!” “Coming out of the closet after being caught in the toilet is not the most The best way exit from the closet. However, George handled it well,” says the musician’s longtime friend Elton John. And indeed, when the initial burning humiliation was left behind, it turned out that this story only brought benefit to George Michael. She did not harm the alliance with Kenny - they agreed from the very beginning that they would have an open relationship; now he no longer needed to hide and hide from anyone; and in addition, based on the toilet scandal, he released the super successful single Outside, accompanying it with a humorous video. The policeman who arrested George tried to sue the musician, claiming that he ridiculed and denigrated him in an interview, but he lost the case.

The next scandal in which the musician was involved broke out in 2002 - with the release of a new single, Shoot the Dog, written as a protest against the war in Iraq, and an accompanying cartoon video, maliciously ridiculing American President Bush Jr. and British Prime Minister Blair. “Let him do what he does better - perversions in men's restrooms,” the newspapers wrote. The clip was banned from showing in the USA, as well as on many English TV channels. George was devastated by the press persecution against him, but this did not stop him from recording a new album in 2004, which returned him to the top of the charts in England and many other countries, Patience.

“If I were hit by a bus right now, I would die a happy man with the amount of quality music I left to the world,” George said in a recent interview. However, this does not mean that he is going to stop. According to him, he spends several hours in the studio almost every day - writing music, which he doesn’t want to talk about yet. He also regularly gives concerts, which take place in huge stadiums, and is very involved in charity work - and he began to participate in this since the days of Wham!; devotes some time to the Goss-Michael Art Foundation, which he and his partner opened in 2007 in Dallas - the foundation does not only organize exhibitions contemporary art, but also encourages young talented Texas and British artists with scholarships. George Michael practically does not participate in social events and rarely gives interviews. When he does agree to meet with journalists, he avoids talking about future musical projects, but talks openly about drugs and sex. He regularly smokes marijuana, claiming that it “helps him stay sane and makes him happy,” and periodically goes to the local men’s toilets for sexual adventures - fortunately England is not Hollywood, and they prefer not to arrest him for this. “I don’t even consider these to be my weaknesses anymore,” he says. “It's just part of who I am.”