George Michael, the #55 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

"George Michael is great!"

"Michael is a genius with amazing range and emotional depth."

"One of the all-time greatest artists."

"George is incredibly talented."

"Powerful voice with passion."

"All-time legend."

"One hell of a talent!"

"Magical voice."

"I can never get enough of his music."

"There's a depth of soul in his music that is beyond compare."

"Simply timeless."

"This man is an outstanding artist."




This artist served his early years in the pop duo Wham!, the most popular teen-oriented act of the '80's.  While his time in that group made him a pop idol, it presented him with a significant challenge--how does one with that background make the transition from that image to one of a respected musician?  How he pulled that off, and the unquestionable success with which he did, places him at #55.

Georgios Panayiotou was born June 25, 1963 in East Finchley, London.  After the family moved to Radlett, Georgios went to Bushey Meads School, where he met Andrew Ridgely.  Panayiotou played clubs while working as a DJ and formed the group The Executive with Ridgely, Ridgeley's brother Paul, Andrew Leaver and David Mortimer. 

Changing his stage name to George Michael, he formed the duo Wham! with Ridgeley in 1981.  The group enjoyed considerable success, especially with the Make It Big album in 1985.  None of those hits factor into this ranking, although "Careless Whisper" essentially was Michael's first solo release.

Michael sang on the Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which went to #1 in the U.K.  

George also donated profits from his single "Last Christmas" to charity. 

He sang backing vocals on Elton John's big hit "Nikita".   Officially, Michael began his solo career with "A Different Corner" in 1986, a #1 song in the U.K., #2 in Ireland and the Netherlands, #3 in Switzerland, #4 in Australia and #7 in the United States.

 

The next year, Michael teamed with Aretha Franklin for a #1 song on both sides of the Atlantic, "I Knew You Were Waiting".  The pair won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, Duo or Group with Vocal.

Now fully entrenched as a star in his own right, Michael set out to record his first solo album.  He wrote and produced every song except one, which he co-wrote, and played most of the instruments on the album as well.  With leather, shades, and his customary stubble in tow, Michael released the landmark album Faith in 1987.

Even though Michael insisted that the lead single "I Want Your Sex" was about monogamy and not casual sex, it was censored from many radio stations.  Despite that, it still reached #1 in Ireland and the Netherlands, #2 in the United States and Australia, #3 in the U.K. and West Germany, #4 in Switzerland and #8 in Sweden.  The single sold over two million copies.

 

But Faith had plenty of other songs to play.  The title song followed, and it climbed to #1 for four weeks in the U.S., #1 in the U.K. and the Netherlands and Top 10 in every major country in the world except Ireland.  "Faith" also sold over one million copies.

 

Faith remained on the best-seller list for 51 weeks, including 12 weeks at #1 and remains as one of The Top 100 Albums of the Rock Era*.  Arguably the strongest song on the album, however, was "Father Figure", another #1 smash that climbed to #2 in Ireland and the Netherlands and was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards.

Michael gave 137 shows on a world tour. George won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards and American Music Awards for Favorite Album, Favorite Male Pop/Rock Vocalist and Favorite Male Soul/R&B Vocalist.  He was also nominated for AMA's for Favorite Male Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Album and won the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards.  George also released "One More Try", #1 in the U.S. and Ireland, #4 in the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, #5 in France and #8 in the U.K.  The single sold over one million copies.


 

Faith has been certified as selling over 10 million copies in the United States and has sold over 25 million units worldwide, according to Yahoo.  "Monkey" became the fourth consecutive #1 song from the album and the fifth straight in the Top Two.  

"Kissing A Fool" peaked at #5 in the United States and #9 in Ireland.  Faith became just the ninth album in history to contain five Top 10 hits and the fifth ever to yield five Top 5 hits.  Today, there are 25 albums to generate five Top 10 singles.

Join us for Part Two!