Today marks what would have been George Michael's 54th birthday. We remember the pop icon by sharing 10 things you probably didn't know about him!
1. George Michael met Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley in Bushey Meads School.
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Michael grew up the son of a restaurateur and dancer. After moving to Radlett, Michael attended Bushey Meads and met Ridgeley, who shared his dreams of being a musician.
2. George Michael busked on the London Underground.
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At the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, Michael said that his favorite song to busk on the subway was “’39” by Queen.
3. He sang background vocals for David Cassidy and Elton John.
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Michael was a big fan of Cassidy, saying he was a major influence on his music career. He sang on Cassidy’s 1985 song “The Last Kiss” and had a voice on two of Elton John’s hits that year: “Nikita” and “Wrap Her Up.”
4. “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” started as a note from Andrew to his parents.
Andrew wrote a note to his parents that said “wake me up up before you go go.” The second “up” was accidentally written, so he went along with a second “go.” It was one of the hottest songs in 1984 and became one of Wham!’s most popular tracks.
5. George wanted Wham!’s separation to be “the most amicable split in pop history.”
On February 21, 1986, George announced that the duo was splitting for solo careers. Wham! had a strong hold on teens, but George wanted to branch out into more mature content. The 22-year-old then released “I Want Your Sex,” his first single from the album “Faith.” It was banned by several radio stations in England and the U.S. for its racy lyrics but still reached the American Top 40 charts.
6. Promoting “Faith” was physically exhausting for George Michael.
“Faith” was a commercial success for Michael. It spent a total of 51 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 charts and has sold more than 25 million units worldwide. However, solo success didn’t come easy for Michael. After going on a world tour and winning a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1989, Michael realized that the price of fame wasn’t worth the loneliness. Prior to the release of his film “A Different Story,” George sat down with The Independent and said, "It takes so much strength to say to your ego, 'You know what? You're going to keep me lonely, so I have to ignore you.' I realised those things my ego needed - fame and success - were going to make me terribly unhappy. So I had to walk away from America, and say goodbye to the biggest part of my career, because I knew otherwise my demons would get the better of me."
7. George first came out to his childhood friend Andros Georgiou.
Georgious’s father emigrated with Michael’s dad to America. George came out to Georgiou, even before his parents, at a Chinese restaurant in 1988. A few years later, Georgiou was with Michael when the singer met his first publicly known love, Brazilian designer Anselmo Feleppa.
8. Anselmo Feleppa was his first love.
George says Feleppa “broke down my Victorian restraint, and really showed me how to live, how to relax, how to enjoy life.” But their relationship took a turn when Feleppa found out he was infected with HIV six months after starting their courtship. Feleppa later died of a brain hemorrhage, which encouraged Michael to come out to his parents.
9. Andrew Ridgeley attended George’s funeral.
While George and Andrew didn’t speak much after the breakup of Wham!, Andrew wrote several posts on Twitter following the death of George. In this post, he calls George “Yog,” which means “Yours only, George.”
10. Geri Halliwell wrote her new song “Angels in Chains” about George Michael.
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The Spice Girls member admitted that she wanted George to be his boyfriend, but she “wasn’t his cup of tea.” On the morning of her song’s release, Halliwell talked to Billboard about her relationship with Michael, saying that she lived with him during her first pregnancy and even asked the music video director of "Faith" to work on the “Angels in Chains” video.