George Michael (RIP)
Monday, December 26, 2016 at 12:43PM 
As a general rule of thumb, we love list-making and recapping of the year's significant moments and events but the exception is the work of the grim reaper. Death has claimed so many icons recently, particularly from the music world, that 2016 is starting to feel like a parody of its apocalyptic self as we reach its conclusion.
On Christmas day, of all days considering that one of his most enduring hits is "Last Christmas," George Michael was taken from us. Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (better known as George Michael) was born in East Finchley London in 1963. By the age of 19 he'd charted his first hit with his friend Andrew Ridgeley (the other half of Wham!) called "Young Guns (Go for It!)". Two years later he was world famous by way of the global smash "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." Which is when little Nathaniel first fell in love. But that initial fame wasn't the half of it. In fact the early hits I loved so much only hinted at the artist he'd become. He proved himself one of the great pop singers and composers over and over again. "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. I," released in 1990 is surely his masterpiece (and one of the greatest pop albums ever recorded) but he continued to be brilliant even when record contract troubles and personal problems overshadowed his talent with the public. His career had been quiet for some time but it's worth noting that he made one last significant contribution to pop culture that people don't regularly attribute to him -- he was the first star to sing with James Corden whilst driving around in a car back in 2011 which eventually became the ubiquitous "Carpool Karaoke" series of the here and now.
Given his death this weekend, the lyrics and defiance of one of his very last records "White Light" (recorded in 2012 and inspired by his near death in 2011) are suddenly so much sadder.
There is no white light
and I'm not through
I'm alive I'm alive
and I've got so much more that I want to do.Was it music or science that saved me?
After the jump 16 favorite songs from his career...
16 FAVORITE GEORGE MICHAEL SONGS
Though I could have easily done a top 30. What are your favorites?
16 CLUB TROPICANA
15 FLAWLESS (GO TO THE CITY)
14 THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
13 I WANT YOUR SEX
12 FAITH
11 I KNEW YOU WERE WAITING FOR ME (with Aretha Franklin)
10 TURN A DIFFERENT CORNER
09 EVERYTHING SHE WANTS
08 DON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME (Feat. Elton John)
07 OUTSIDE
06 PRECIOUS BOX
05 BABY I'M YOUR MAN
04 FASTLOVE
03 TOO FUNKY
02 SEXUAL FREEEK!
01 FREEDOM (90)
Reader Comments (22)
What a loss, he was such an Icon! for me! 2016 has been a real c*nt! Can someone check on Madonna, Cher and Dolly and report back?
I woke up this morning and he was still dead.
One song not on your list but that I think is extremely appropriate is "John and Elvis Are Dead".
I can't even begin to describe how many of my memories are bound to his songs, from listening to "Praying for Time" on the roof of my rented house in South Hill to listening to the album, then later the cassette, then later the CD of "Make It Big" over and over and over again.
In fact, just yesterday morning I was planning to put the CD in my car and listen to it on the way to my Mom's, but time got away from me and I was on the road before I remembered.
Michael Jackson and Prince bothered me a lot, but Whitney and George even more.
Janet, you're the last of the singers I truly idolized. Please stay safe and happy for the next fifty years.
So many perfect songs - I don't why Everything She Wants and Too Funky don't come up more often when people are talking about George.
And how many baby gays learned everything they needed to know about themselves from the Freedom video?
So weird that he was name checked in at least three 2016 films (that I remember), including La La Land.
WHAT? No Father Figure? Faith and Father Figure are my favorites. Already listened this morning.
I fucking hate you 2016. You made me cry for days over Bowie. We lose Prince, Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Johann Cruyff, Florence Henderson, Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Leonard Cohen, Gary Shandling, Phife Dawg, Abbas Kiarostami, Michael Cimino, Curtis Hanson, Maurice White, Chris Squire, and so many others. Now fucking George Michael? This year is evil as I'm now recovering from a fucking stomach flu as I've been sitting on a fucking toilet for the past few days losing weight in the worst fucking way.
Here's my 10 favorite George Michael/Wham! songs:
1 One More Try
2. Jesus to a Child
3. Everything She Wants
4. Faith
5. Careless Whisper (my dad's favorite song.... ever)
6. Praying for Time
7. I'm Your Man
8. Freedom
9. Fastlove
10. I Want Your Sex
Everyone is always talking about great asses when it comes to women but none of them hold a candle to George Michael in those tight-ass jeans. You have to admit, that is a magnificent-looking ass whether you're gay or straight. We will miss you George. 2016, fuck you.
He is my all time favorite male singer so I am very devastated by this news. He has such beautiful voice and his songs are pure pop perfection.
I can listen to all his albums over and over and will never get bored.
He has so many great songs but these are my favorites:
A Different Corner, Heartbeat, Where Did Your Heart Go, Last Christmas, I Want Your Sex, Praying for Time, Freedom 90 and Fastlove.
RIP George.
He was one of my favourite singer-songwriters too. A real national treasure here in the UK. So many great songs, and such a loveable personality: he was cool (and hot), funny and charming, but also you wanted to protect him. His songs take you to the heights of love and to the depths of loss. I'll never forget the times I saw him live in concert. It's so sad that he has gone.
A great talent - film wise - the "Freedom" video is a masterpiece
Just devastating news, and on Christmas of all days! I had "Last Christmas" on a loop all day yesterday! 2016 can go and fuck itself, truly. RIP George Michael. You helped define my 80s childhood along with Michael, Prince, Madonna, Janet, Elton, and so many others. And those tight jeans in that "Faith" video? WHEN WILL UR FAVS! Never, apparently.
An MTV-era artist who used the medium of video to the fullest, transformed it and made people re-think the ways in which a star singer's image is created and exploited. Worked with David Fincher, Tony Scott, Jake Scott and Matthew Rolston, among others.
Top 5 GM videos:
"Flawless (Go to the City)," Jake Scott
"Freedom '90," Fincher
"Too Funky," GM (?)
"Amazing," Ralston
"Freeek!", Joseph Kahn
So under appreciated in recent years. Both a brilliant song writer and vocalist, a true artist.
Freedom is one of the most defining moments in popular culture. A brilliant statement of artistic freedom and sexual freedom. George, like Bowie and Prince, helped us question what it truly means to be a man in this world. He will be missed.
Last Christmas indeed! This is so sad. He was such a big icon n talented artiste. May he RIP.
I'll have to admit, even though I didn't realize he sang it until last night, but my favorite George Michael song will always have to be Pooh Bear, the opening theme for The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
RIP
My favourite male vocalist - even more than Prince, Michael Jackson and Bowie - and one of the greatest songwriters modern music has ever seen. His loss made even sadder by knowing that he likely had another comeback coming in 2017.
Every song you listed is so great. I think "Outside" is one of the most important pop songs of the last two decades for how he threw aside the shackles of scandal and reconfigured it into an almost chart-topping hit song ABOUT the scandal, performed by a now openly gay man who wasn't apologising or backing down from being a sexual man. While others were making jokes, so many were looking at this a landmark moment.
Kissing a Fool
One more try
Father Figure
Something to save
Cowboys and Angels
Heal the pain
Faith
Freedom 90
I had never seen the "Club Tropicana" video which now looks like a clear case of a gay man hiding in plain sight. The boys are photographed like 80's porn star- and apart from that creepy older man there are no other males in the video. The boys cruise the girls but they never connect-just back to the pool playing horns ( talk about phallic symbols?!) Michaels obviously had the charisma and looks to be a film star too bad he never had the chance to be in a movie musical-( and who is going to play him in the bio film Zac Efrom? )
Of all the big music industry names that passed away in 2016 George Michael is the one I care about the most. The one I listened to the most.
Such a loss!
father figure!
it only occurs to me now but it's surprising that such a good-looking teen idol wasn't tempted into the movies - it's easy to imagine wham! in a tacky 80s remake of a cliff richard movie
Such a loss! My favourite 80s vocalist. RIP...
My personal top 5:
- Jesus to a Child
- Everything She Wants
- Careless Whisper
- Freedom
- Fastlove
RIP George Michael!
George's career started early an "WHAM" he became an immediate success.
It all started with "A CARELESS WHISPER" but he soon became "TOO FUNKY" and wanted "FASTLOVE." It's "AMAZING", however, that He went looking for "AN EASIER AFFAIR." He went searching for "COWBOYS AND ANGELS" and "STAR PEOPLE" because "PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE" and He lacked a "FATHER FIGURE." Under the influence of heavy drugs He constantly said "I WANT YOUR SEX" but ended up "KISSING A FOOL." His "DECEMBER SONG" became "PRAYING FOR TIME" because he lacked and wanted "FAITH" and an all encompassing LOVE like "JESUS TO A CHILD." Still searching now with a "MONKEY" as he got "OLDER" he coundn't shake that monkey (a severe heroin habit) and he wanted to "GO OUTSIDE" into GOD'S "WHITE LIGHT" to "HEAL THE PAIN." Always tormented & being a slave to the monkey and his decadent way of life, his "FLAWLESS" singing and "AMAZING" success kept him "SPINNING THE WHEEL" as he was "WAINTIG FOR THAT DAY." He constantly wanted "ONE MORE TRY" to get "FREEDOM" from the "MONKEY." He did not want to die. He sung ( with Elton John, also a former heroine addict ) "DON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME." George the Sun went down and YOU are now FREE to soar with the REAL ANGELS & STAR PEOPLE in Heaven and the LOVE of JESUS the CHRIST, FOR real. Peace IS finally with you.
My 4-year-old great-niece was showing off to us on Christmas Day, singing her favorite holiday song, Michael's "Last Christmas." And later that day, my sister texted me that he's dead. I'll always remember 2016, for all the wrong reasons!