George Michael, The #55 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

 Michael found stardom uncomfortable, and, unlike most artists, did not release a yearly album to keep current.  Although he waited three years before his next release, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 was another masterpiece.  Michael wrote substantially deeper lyrics than at any time in his career.  Weary from his world tour, Michael did not at first record any music videos.  Nevertheless, the single "Praying For Time", about the injustices of the world, climbed to #1 in the U.S., #3 in Ireland and #6 in the U.K and Switzerland.

 

The album hit #1 in the U.K. and #2 in the United States, Australia, France and the Netherlands.  Michael decided to record a video for "Freedom '90", though he didn't appear in it.  The song reached #8 in the U.S., sold over one million units and was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards and Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

 

The lack of promotion didn't work on the next single, "Waiting For That Day", which stalled short of #20 in both the United States and the U.K.  

 "Mother's Pride" received considerable airplay during the Persian Gulf War of 1991.  Unreleased as a single, it still reached #46 solely on the basis of that airplay, and remains as one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

 Michael was so red-hot on these back-to-back classic albums that there was very little filler.  Another Top Track* is "Something To Save".

 

Listen Without Prejudice contains numerous other gems, leading to eight million in sales.  "Cowboys And Angels" was a minor European hit.

 Michael toured the United States, England, Japan and Brazil.  On March 25, 1991, he joined Elton John at Live Aid for a performance of Elton's hit "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me".  The song was recorded and released as a single, reaching #1 in the U.S., the U.K., France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.   The single sold over one million copies.

 Michael also recorded a cover of the Temptations hit "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone", which won the International Viewer's Choice Award and was nominated for Best Male Video and Breakthrough Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Later that year, Michael released his autobiography entitled Bare.

 Meanwhile, Michael became embroiled in a dispute with Sony Records.  Michael complained that Sony had not properly supported his second album, while Sony claimed that Michael's refusal to promote it with music videos was the reason why it had not matched Faith in sales.  The court battle that followed cost Michael an estimated $7 million and resulted in a judgement in favor of Sony.  

In any case, Michael scrapped his follow-up album and instead donated three songs to the album Red Hot + Dance, which raised money for AIDS awareness.  "Too Funky" was released as a single and reached #4 in the U.K. and #10 in the United States.

 

In 1994, music mogul David Geffen rescued Michael by financing a buy-out of his contract with Columbia and enabling George to sign a recording contract with DreamWorks Records.  He released the single "Jesus To A Child", which he wrote about the death of his partner, Anselmo Feleppa, although this fact didn't come out until Michael confirmed that he was homosexual in 1998.  It zoomed to #1 in the U.K., Australia and Ireland, #2 in the Netherlands and Sweden, #4 in Switzerland and #7 in the U.S. and France.  The single sold over one million units. 

 

The follow-up was "Fastlove", which rose to #1 for three weeks in the U.K., #1 in Australia and #8 in the United States.  Michael was nominated for Best Dance Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Be sure to check out Part Three!