George Michael: The life story you may not know

EVERT ELZINGA/AFP via Getty Images It is often easy to get lost in the idea of stardom. What appears to be all glitz and glamour can often act as a clever facade that helps to hide the truth. In the case of George Michael, his meteoric rise to stardom–with both Wham! and his solo career–seemed to act as a temporary salve trying desperately to heal something few understood. On the surface, he appeared to have it all. He was handsome, talented, and charming. He was a beloved figure in mainstream music by the time he had graduated high school. His career was getting bigger and bigger with each passing year. Michael’s smoldering stare and perfect grin were splayed across every tween, teen, and music magazine in existence, and there appeared to be no stopping his success. Yet far below the surface, there was a man who was going through tragedies and losses, forced to live in a state of fear that his identity as a gay man would be discovered. The more layers of Michael’s life you peel back, the more one realizes the adage “money can’t buy happiness” is not just an annoying cliché–it is a harsh reality. It appeared Michael tried his hardest to face his troubles alone, regardless of the cost to his own mental health. When we think about the things we didn’t know about a star, and we look back and reflect upon the things they tried to keep private, it would do us all a great deal of good to remember that “stars” are, in fact, still human. That love and loss, tragedy and triumph, mistakes and lessons are not relegated solely to those who exist outside of stardom. This serves as an important reminder that no amount of money or fame can keep any of us from having to deal with the human experience. Stacker compiled the life story of George Michael based on a variety of sources, including Michael’s own words, interviews, documentaries, and music databases. The following is meant to honor who he was but also to remind us all that one never fully knows what others are going through–no matter how perfect their life may seem. 1963: Early life as Georgios Michael Putland // Getty Images Though the world knew him as George Michael, his family knew him as Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, born June 25, 1963. While his mother, Lesley, was an English dancer, George’s father Kyriacos was Greek-born and came to London in the ’50s. 1969: An early love of music Michael Putland // Getty Images George’s musical interests began at an early age when he found a gramophone tucked in his parents’ garage. The discovery inspired him to write his first song at age 6. By the time he was 8, he realized he wanted to make music a career–though he kept that secret from his parents. A strained relationship with his father Michael Putland // Getty Images Despite knowing he wanted to pursue music at an early age, Michael didn’t make his desires known to his father right away. In an interview with Event Magazine before his death, Michael said, “Funnily enough, my father always used to say that he didn’t think I could sing.” His father was known to be distant and cold and had difficulties accepting his son’s sexual identity as he got older. A deep but complicated relationship with his mother Geoff Garratt/Mirrorpix // Getty Images While Michael’s father wasn’t known for being supportive or affectionate towards his son, his mother did as much as she could to encourage him in his pursuits. Though she too had an issue at first with her son’s sexual orientation as years went on, it was attributed to her fears that Michael would end up like his uncle, Lesley’s brother Colin, who died by suicide when the singer was only a baby. It was believed that Colin was secretly gay, and Michael’s mother feared a similar path for her son, according to biographer James Gavin, who conducted hundreds of interviews with Michael’s friends and family after his death. 1975: Life changes while attending Bushey Meads Mike Maloney/Mirrorpix // Getty Images Though Michael was born in Middlesex, his parents moved the family to Radlett when he was in his early teens. The singer attended Bushey Meads school just outside of Radlett’s bounds. It was there that Michael met Andrew Ridgeley, then a 12-year-old that volunteered to show the new student around his school. The two would go on to form Wham!, the pop duo that would launch Michael’s career into the stratosphere. 1982: ‘Young Guns’ are blazing with the release of the first Wham! single Arthur Sidey/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix // Getty Images The first Wham! hit single “Young Guns (Go For It)” was released in 1982. The duo appeared on “Top of the Pops” at the last minute after another artist canceled. (The “Top of the Pops” producer actually spotted Wham! on the children’s TV show “Saturday Superstore.”) The appearance helped boost the signal of the song onto the U.K. charts, where it climbed up to #3 and turned the two into heartthrobs. Early ’80s: Every Wham! song released was more successful than the last Michael Putland // Getty Images Between 1982 and 1984, Wham! released multiple singles, all of which landed on the charts. With each song released, their rise to the top climbed higher and higher, eventually landing their first U.K. and U.S. #1 hit with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” a fizzy pop classic that made the pair household names. 1984 and beyond: Consistently using his platform for good Victor Crawshaw/Mirrorpix // Getty Images Not long after Wham! became pop icons, the duo made a bold political choice to perform at a 1984 benefit concert for the miners’ strike that took place in the U.K., with heavy opposition to the strike coming from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party. While it was the first benefit concert Wham! performed at, it wouldn’t be the last for Michael. Over the course of his career, he used his stardom over and over again to bring awareness to causes close to his heart–especially when it came to HIV and AIDS research and care. He was also prone to spontaneous acts of kindness, such as tipping thousands of pounds to a waitress-student in debt or volunteering at a homeless shelter. 1984: A solo career while still in Wham! Michael Putland // Getty Images While “Careless Whisper” was released on the Wham! album “Make It Big,” the song was considered Michael’s first solo song, featuring an entirely different style and approach than the typical pop sensibilities Wham! subscribed to. The song hit #1 in 25 countries around the world by 1985. Michael wrote the song at only 17 years old, riding a bus on his way to work as a DJ. 1985: Wham! performs in China Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images On top of their boyish good looks, charm, and undeniable talent, Wham! was also well known for being the first Western group invited to perform in communist China. The two performed at the Workers’ Gymnasium in front of 15,000 people, a major feat at the time for Western artists. According to rumors, the duo received the invitation after a clever campaign from their manager, Simon Napier-Bell, that portrayed Wham! as a wholesome pop group, and Queen, who they were competing against, as salacious as flamboyant. The performance inspired the documentary film “Wham! in China: Foreign Skies.” 1985: Michael and Smokey Robinson Ebet Roberts/Redferns // Getty Images In May 1985, George Michael performed as a solo artist alongside dozens of other artists and entertainers for the ceremonial reopening and 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem. At just 21 years old, Michael would sing “Careless Whisper” alongside Smokey Robinson. Michael was one of three non-Black artists asked to perform. (Boy George and Rod Stewart were the other two.) Michael said throughout his career that Black audiences were one of the first to accept him and his music. He told The Record in 1998, “One of the most remarkable things about my career in America was that from day one, Black audiences accepted me without question as a singer, performer, and songwriter. They didn’t really allow the stigma … to get in the way of what they were actually listening to.” 1986: An epic goodbye for Wham!