George Michael Turns 45

George Michael was born as Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in 1963. I have a hard time imagining he would have had the success that he had if he had kept his birth name.

He first hit it big with Wham! in the early 1980s. They had UK hits with songs like “Young Guns (Go For It!)” & “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)” they then had worldwide hits with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “Careless Whisper,” & “Freedom.”

They also recorded the Christmas pop song “Last Christmas” which was a #2 hit in the UK.

In 1987, George Michael released his first solo album which was called Faith. Faith was a huge hit in both the UK & the US. In the US it has sold over 10,000,000 copies.

It featured the hit songs “Faith,” “I Want Your Sex,” “Father Figure,” “One More Try,” “Monkey,” & “Kissing A Fool.”

Michael has never equaled the success of Faith but he has released four more studio albums since that have had some degree of commercial success. They have done particularly well in the UK.

1990: Listen without Prejudice, Vol. 1
1996: Older
1999: Songs from the Last Century
2004: Patience

“Careless Whisper”

George Michael, 1963

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