Song:Faith
Album:Faith: Special Edition
First with the duo Wham! and then as a solo artist, George Michael was one of the biggest pop stars of the 80s. The 1987 album and single Faith were huge sellers worldwide. His decline was caused by bad personal behaviour and record company disputes. He was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou June 25, 1963 in the London suburb of East Finchley. His family moved to Redlett, Hertfordshire and he met future partner Andrew Ridgeley at school. Michael started out as a DJ and he had a ska band with Ridgeley and his brother. The two formed Wham! in 1981. They had a lot of success after signing with Columbia. But it became obvious that Columbia was more interested in Michael as a solo act especially after the 1984 hit Careless Whispers. So it was not surprising when Wham! split up in 1986. After Michael's duet with Aretha Franklin I Knew You Were Waiting topped the charts, Michael released the 1987 album Faith. Michael wrote and produced the album. The problem was the debut single I Want Your Sex was banned at a lot of places. It did well but the single Faith was more successful just because it wasn't banned. The album sold five million copies in the US and 25M worldwide. Faith is available on CD in a 2CD Special Edition with a CD of bonus tracks. You would think Michael would be happy with his success. But he told Columbia that for his 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice, there would be no videos and he refused to promote it. Apparently he wanted to be respected as a serious artiste. Though the album still sold eight million copies worldwide, it was the harbinger of things to come. He sued Columbia for not promoting the album. Eventually he got out of his contract and he signed with Virgin for the 1996 album Older. It did well in England but not in the US. There was also his 1998 arrest for lewd behaviour in Los Angeles. So that killed his career in North America. He continues to be successful in England. His most recent CD was a live CD released in 2014. But Michael's prima donna attitude with Sony and his legal problems with drugs and bad behaviour have probably cost him more than he would care to admit. There was recent rumours that he would tour but those were denied. Maybe he is retired. He doesn't need the money. Here's the video for Faith by George Michael.
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