Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (June 25, 1963 – December 25, 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most important cultural icons of the MTV generation, as well as one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with over 120 million records sold worldwide. Michael was regarded as a visionary in music production, songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation.
He had seven number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart and eight on the US Billboard Hot 100. Michael won two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three American Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. He was named 45th on Billboard’s list of the “Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time” in 2015. He was named the most played artist on British radio from 1984 to 2004 by the Radio Academy.
Michael, who was born in East Finchley, Middlesex, rose to prominence as a member of the music duo Wham! before embarking on a solo career. After forming the duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981, the band’s first two albums, Fantastic (1983) and Make It Big (1984), both reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Last Christmas” were among their hit singles. Wham! established themselves as a global act by touring China in April 1985; the tour was the first visit to China by a Western popular music act, and it received worldwide media coverage.
Did George Michael marry?
One album was dedicated to his “true love,” Anselmo Feleppa. George Michael’s 1996 album Older was inspired by his partner Anselmo Feleppa.
Although Michael never married Feleppa, the two began dating after meeting at a rock concert in 1991.
