The singer recalled how he felt after he found out that Anselm Fleppa had AIDS.
Photo: Legion-Media.ru George Michael
George Michael's Christmas song will forever be a classic. However, the most fabulous time of the year was filled with pain for the artist. George Michael passed away on Christmas Day 2016. Before his death, the singer recalled how on New Year's holidays he lost two people whom he loved more than anything else. Michael spoke about his emotions in the 90-minute documentary "George Michael: Freedom".
“From the day I found out about my partner, I was in constant fear. It was either the fear of death, or the fear of the next loss. I have never been so depressed. It was the darkest time, ”the artist shared.
Michael George and his first love, Anselm Fleppa, met at a Rio festival in 1991. Six months later, Anselm was diagnosed with AIDS. The designer died in 1993.
“I remember looking up at the sky and saying, ‘Don’t you dare do this to me! I was absolutely devastated when I found out that Anselm had a fatal illness ... just devastated, ”recalled George Michael.
53-year-old George Michael's heart stopped while he was peacefully at home in bed. The police who arrived called the cause of death "unclear but not suspicious." So 2016, as if planning to knock off the chessboard of world music as many big figures as possible, took one more victim - I would like to believe, the last one.
wham! "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go"
Georgios Kiryakos Panayiotou was born on June 25, 1963 in north London in the family of a Greek restaurateur and an English dancer who came to England from Cyprus. When his family moved to Hertfordshire, Georgios met Andrew Ridgeley at the new school. Together with him, they first formed a pop band with a strong ska influence. After a short time, the composition was reduced to a duet, called Wham! - so George Michael and big show business first met each other.
George Michael "Careless Whisper" - This song appeared on the album Wham! , however in the US it was signed as "Wham! featuring George Michael", and in other countries as his solo recording.
Wham Road! to success was not so long - after the appearance of the song "Young Guns (Go For It)" in the program "Top of the Pops" she hit the English charts. "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" became a worldwide hit. George Michael was the obvious leader of the duo, so starting a solo career looked like the next, absolutely obvious step.
George Michael "Faith"
wham! disbanded in 1986 when George Michael released his most successful album, Faith. 25 million copies of this record were subsequently sold worldwide. The combined circulation of George Michael and Wham! exceeds 100 million copies.
George Michael Freedom! "90"
Recordings with Elton John and Aretha Franklin, Grammy awards, huge sales - that's what his life consisted of in the late 80s and early 90s. He performed at Wembley with Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert while the Iron Curtain collapsed to his songs. Residents of the USSR watched the clip “Freedom! 90" with supermodels Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford - and the advantages of the capitalist system and democracy over socialism became clear to them as daylight.
George Michael "Too Funky"
Despite the fact that his songs, as a rule, were about sexuality and passion, and his videos looked very vicious, George Michael had to hide his homosexuality for a long time. In 1998, there was a molestation scandal in a public restroom in Beverly Hills. The Latin American, to whom the singer showed his whistle, turned out to be an undercover police agent.
George Michael not only came out, but also filmed quite a landmark video "Outside" based on this scandal. The policeman tried to sue the singer for 10 million, but the court did not believe that the moral damage inflicted on him was so significant.
George Michael "Outside"
20 years ago, the album "Older" was released, perhaps the last solid and significant recording of George Michael. The record was rated much higher in Europe - but in America, George's star began its decline.
George Michael "Different Corner" is a solo song released in 1986 when Wham! was just about to give a massive farewell concert at Wembley Stadium.
After Older, George Michael repeatedly complained about the creative block and generally reduced his productivity quite a lot. Singles like "Shoot the Dog" against Tony Blair, George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq didn't resonate like they used to. His last studio album was released in 2004.
George Michael "Fastlove"
But the scandals didn't end there. In addition to the incident in the American toilet, there were others. He was arrested several times for drug offenses. He was stripped of his driver's license after his Range Rover rammed a London shop window - Michael was driving while intoxicated. Journalist Simon Hattenston, who interviewed Michael twice,
On December 25, in England, at the age of 54, a popular British singer, a former member of the duo Wham! George Michael. According to the BBC, he "passed away peacefully at home on Christmas Day". The police found no suspicious circumstances in the death of the singer. Presumably George Michael died of heart failure.
“The family asks that privacy be respected during this emotional and difficult time. At this stage, no further comments will follow. We ask that you respect our silence and do not disturb us," Michael Lippman, spokesman for Michael's family, said in a statement.
His colleagues Elton John, Mark Ronson, Liam Gallagher, Ryan Adams, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and leader of the British opposition Jeremy Corbyn have already expressed their condolences on the death of the musician, as well as millions of fans around the world.
Abroad recalled some interesting facts from the artist's biography.
Origin and pseudonym
The real name of the singer is Yorgos Kyriakos Panayiotou, and the first twenty thousand copies of his album Wham Rap! came out with his real name on the cover - George Panayiotu. However, later, according to the artist himself, he quickly realized that it was time to choose a sonorous pseudonym, and named himself after a certain Michael Mortimer, the father of his childhood friend, with whom he had a very warm relationship.
homophobic father
In one of his interviews, the singer admitted that he hid his orientation for a long time because of a difficult relationship with his parents: “My father, a Greek Cypriot by nationality, a man of the old school, would never have come to terms with the fact that his son is gay,” Michael stated.
As for the mother, according to the singer, all her life she was afraid that her only son had inherited the “homosexual gene” from his uncle named Colin, who committed suicide. “Feeling guilty, she allowed her father to be a terrible homophobe,” the singer admitted.
Early career and Last Christmas
In 1981, the singer, together with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley, decides to conquer the world stage and first create the group The Executives, which could not achieve success, and then a duet called Wham!. The group quickly became popular after the appearance of the song Young Guns (Go For It) in the program Top of the Pops. Other successful compositions include songs such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, A Different Corner and Last Christmas. Moreover, the latter became an absolute Christmas hit and was covered by many artists. Remembering this song on the day of the singer's departure, many journalists noted that in some sense its title turned out to be prophetic - George Michael passed away on Christmas Day 2016.
First solo hit
The singer's first solo hit was the song Careless Whisper, released in 1984, which tells a touching story of love and betrayal. The composition was written entirely by George Michael but has also been performed by Wham! and was on their album Make It Big). In 1985, Careless Whisper was recognized as the best song and topped the charts in 25 countries with a total circulation of about 6 million copies.
As Michael himself said in an interview, he wrote this song at the age of 17, when he was traveling to work by bus. At that time, the singer worked as a DJ at the Bel Air restaurant near the town of Bushy in Hertfordshire. According to him, the song was born to him at the moment when he paid the fare.
“I remember that suddenly a melody came into my head, and then I sat on the farthest seat of the bus and began to come up with words for it.” At the same job, the singer first performed a demo version of the future hit.
“In the evening of my last working day, I played it and people came out to dance. They had never heard it before, but they went out anyway. I thought at the time that this was a good sign.” At the same time, according to Michael, the owner of the restaurant never liked his music and he forbade him to put his own compositions.
First album and first award
October 30, 1987 George Michael performed the song Faith, which was included in his first solo album of the same name. Already in the first week, more than a million discs were sold, which was an absolute record among the albums ever sold by a British pop artist. A year later, the composition became the best-selling single in the United States, and the disc was recognized as one of the most successful in the history of pop music and received a Grammy Award for the best album of the year.
In 1992, Roman Polanski chose Faith as the soundtrack for his film Bitter Moon.
open provocation
The singer has always loved to shock the audience: one of his most provocative compositions was the song I Want Your Sex from his first album, released in 1987. Due to the too frank name and text, it was banned from broadcasting on the air on the BBC radio during the day, and MTV completely edited the video for the song, cutting out almost half of the material.
“For a couple of weeks, I turned into the Antichrist,” said George Michael at the time.
Later, the singer explained that in this way he opposed the fact that people were afraid to have sex because of the fear of contracting AIDS.
First love
In January 1991, George Michael met the Brazilian designer Anselmo Feleppe, who, according to the singer, became his first serious love. This happened after the musician's performance in Rio de Janeiro at the Rock in Rio festival.
Three years after meeting Michael, Feleppe died of a brain hemorrhage caused by AIDS. The death of a lover greatly shocked the musician. For a year and a half, he did not write new songs, and only in the fall of 1994 did he write the song "Jesus to a Child", which he dedicated to Feleppa.
sex scandal
In April 1998, the singer was arrested in a public restroom in Beverly Hills for "obscene acts." This incident prompted Michael to openly admit his homosexuality. “I mean, I’m in a relationship with a man right now. I haven't dated a woman in over 10 years," the artist told CNN in an interview.
This statement had a negative impact on the artist's career: many fans were shocked that the fairy tale about the handsome groom collapsed. Michael's popularity fell along with the sales of his records, which caused the singer's creative crisis.
political satire
In the summer of 2002, George Michael released a song in an unexpected genre of political satire - "Shoot The Dog", in which he mocks George W. Bush and Tony Blair. In particular, Blair is depicted as a dog obediently fulfilling the wishes of the owner, the President of the United States.
most expensive clip
Freeek song! was written in 2002 and was included in the album Patience, which was released two years later. The composition quickly achieved popularity and topped the charts in the UK, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Denmark. The video for this song cost more than 1.5 million euros and is still considered one of the most expensive videos in the history of the music business.
"George Michael: Another Story"
In 2005, at the International Film Festival in Berlin, the premiere of the documentary "George Michael: Another Story" took place, in which the singer spoke frankly about his personal life and work.
The film also includes interviews with Andrew Ridgeley, backing vocalist for Wham! Pepsi and Shirley, as well as Sting, Mariah Carey, Elton John, Noel Gallagher, Geri Halliwell and Simon Cowell.
After the premiere of the film, the musician told reporters that it was important for him to explain himself to the audience who loved him before he left the stage, and added that he was going to leave the recording industry forever. “I’m leaving show business. I will not stop writing music - it is in me, I know how to make it and I will do it. I just won't sell it. New songs can be downloaded from my official website."
Man of dreams
In 1996, George Michael began dating Kenny Goss, a businessman and former athlete from Dallas. At the end of 2005, the singer announced that he was going to legalize his relationship in the UK, but due to the negative public reaction, he decided to postpone registration until a later time. On August 22, 2011, during his performance on the Symphonica Tour, the singer admitted that they had broken up two years ago. As the Daily Mail wrote, citing internal sources, the singer considered Goss "the love of his life" and was very upset by the breakup. Their relationship lasted 13 years, and the main reason for the gap was the explosive nature of Michael and his addiction to drugs. As the Sun tabloid wrote, referring to the words of the singer's friends, after the breakup, Michael "dropped his hands and gradually became a shadow of himself."
"On the verge of death"
In 2011, the singer canceled his tour for the first time due to acute pneumonia. The performer underwent surgery and treatment in Vienna. After, in one of his interviews, the singer admitted that he was "on the verge of death." Having overcome the disease in the summer of 2012, George Michael recorded the composition White Light, in which he talks about his experiences during his illness and thanks everyone who prayed for his recovery. With this song, the artist performed on August 12, 2012 at the closing of the XXX Summer Olympic Games in London.
Drug problems
On July 4, 2010, George Michael, while under the influence of drugs, crashed his car into a photo shop in north London's Hempstead.
At the trial, which took place at the end of August, George Michael pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, for which he was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 2 months, as well as a fine of 1250 pounds. In October 2010, the singer was released after serving half of his term. But even after that, the singer could not overcome the addiction.
Almost a year before his death, George Michael underwent treatment for drug addiction at the Küsnacht Clinic in Switzerland.
Secret Charity
According to the ITV portal, George Michael secretly spent a significant part of his funds on charity. In particular, the singer made anonymous donations to children's charities such as Terrence Higgins Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support. And host Richard Osman said that one woman in the program Deal Or No Deal said that she needed 15 thousand pounds for artificial insemination, after which George Michael secretly called her and transferred the full amount to her account, asking in return only not to name him.
George Michael about himself and his work
“I believe with all my heart that music is one of the best gifts of God to man,” the singer said in an interview at the dawn of his career.
“I deserve my fans. They are the same type of people that I love, ”said George Michael, already a famous performer.
“If I died, I would be happy. Do you know why? I gave the world so much quality music that I can safely leave this world. My ego is in perfect order, ”the artist admitted in a 2009 interview with The Guardian.
In recent years, the famous singer has repeatedly faced the fact that his personal life, its discussion in the press and rumors were out of control. Most likely, this was what prompted George to give one of his most candid interviews to Gay Times magazine.
In it, he spoke very frankly about his personal life, that before public recognition of his orientation, he had only 3 girls, why it was so hard for him to confess his addictions to his parents, that the massive spread of AIDS forced him to end his relationship girls and why he was never interested in his Wham! Andrew Ridgeley.
Translation into Russian especially for you!
George was already 29 years old when he confessed everything to his parents. His mother's fears that her only son might inherit the "gay gene" overshadowed her life: the singer's uncle (her brother Collin) was gay and committed suicide.
“My mother was always afraid that I was gay,” says George. “She was madly afraid that I would be the same as her brother, which accordingly meant that I would not fight for my life. She almost physically felt that she had passed this gene on to me. Therefore, on such acute issues, she largely supported and even formed her father’s position – homophobia.”
George Michael with his mother and father
“There was a gay waiter above the restaurant our family ran, I was strictly forbidden to go up to the top floor when he was in the restaurant. She was very afraid that I would accidentally pick up his lifestyle, so that I would not become gay.”
“Knowing my father, I can say that he never even imagined that his son could be gay, simply because it could not be, because we are a Greek Cypriot family. But the mother was very afraid of the anger and condemnation of the father. Now I already understand that she was simply afraid that this gene in me, if there is one, it will lead me to the same thing that led Collina.”
The song "My Mother Had A Brother" from the album Patience George dedicated to his deceased uncle.
“My mother didn’t tell me about my uncle until I was 16. I don't know if it was her conscious decision or if she just couldn't muster up the courage. When I found out everything, it radically changed my opinion of her, because she saw her own father die as well. They both ended their lives by gassing, and the mother was “fortunate” to find the corpses of both of them.”
“She spent years remorseful that time cannot be turned back. And for the last 20 years of my life, I think we have not said a single harsh word to each other.”
In an interview, George said that he was able to confess everything to his parents only after the death of Anselmo Felippe, a Brazilian designer, his first love. They met at the Rock in Rio festival in 1991. 6 months later, Anselmo found out that he was ill. And in 1993, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage, which provoked the disease.
Anselmo Felippe
George remembers those times:
“I sat at the table not knowing if the person I love madly was sick, if I myself was sick. It was probably the loneliest time of my life.”
He was so overwhelmed by the loss of Anselmo that he was no longer afraid of how his parents would react to the confession of homosexuality and finally decided to write them a letter.
“I wrote them a 4 page letter and it was one of the easiest things I have ever written. It was the only unresolved issue - to confess everything to the parents.” says George.
“Mother said that it was the most beautiful letter she had ever read, that it completely explained my feelings and that she did not have to worry about me. It was the simplest act, although it should have been one of the most difficult. I should ask my father to show me that letter again!”
Brooke Shields
During his early years at Wham! George had girls. He dated actress Brooke Shields, model Pat Fernandes, and make-up artist Kathy Jeung. In addition to them, he still met with men.
At the peak of his success, he became so afraid of AIDS that he himself described his personal life at that time as "rubbish" (nonsense, nonsense).
“I only had three girls, but I still looked for sex on the side. True, as a result, this only happened when I was busy with completely different issues. When I got drunk, I toyed with the idea of being bisexual. But then HIV appeared and I could no longer sleep with a woman without warning her that I had also slept with men. To be honest, my interest in women wasn't strong enough to have such conversations, so I just stopped sleeping altogether.
As a result, I had practically no sex between 1985 and 1994, except for Anselmo, my first partner, to whom I was absolutely faithful.”
Interestingly, at school everyone thought Andrew Ridgeley was gay, not George: “Andrew liked extravagant clothes. He came to school in cherry silk pants. Everyone around whispered “is he gay?”, And I answered “no, what are you!”
George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley
“He was handsome, but not in a way that attracted me. He was too sweet, too charming, too elegant. I can understand why a lot of people think we slept together – but he liked women.”
When the two friends became famous as Wham!, George felt that admitting his true sexuality could be detrimental to their careers.
“I spent a lot of nerves. I wanted to tell everyone everything, but I had no idea how successful we would become. And in general, it was beyond understanding. I was about 20 and we were already the most successful band in Europe and for two years the most successful pop band in America. And if your goal is to become the best-selling artist in America, then you will not try to complicate it even more.”
Until a certain time, he did just that. But only up to a certain point. In April 1998, George was arrested, and later charged, with attempting to persuade a plainclothes police officer to have sex in a public restroom. It was the most shocking coming-out imaginable. In addition, it was aggravated by the fact that at that time George had already found his new love - Kenny Goss. The beginning of their relationship coincided with the death of George's mother from cancer.
George Michael and Kenny Goss
“I met Kenny three years after Anselmo left. I called my mother to tell (about Kenny) and she told me she had cancer. She claimed that he was at a very early stage, but that was not true. I was on my knees again. Terrible."
George's life has always been an emotional roller coaster. And the recent court case is no exception. At first he is judged and the continuation of his tour is a big question. The court then decides on a fine, community service and disqualification, and the next day George opens the refurbished Wembley Stadium. Now he plans to work as he sees fit and officially register his relationship with Kenny, despite the fact that he constantly denies rumors about the upcoming ceremony.
“This will be just our ceremony, we are not Sonny and Cher. And I don’t want any more trouble, believe me, I will try.”
A few months ago George Michael gave an interview to the German magazine Spiegel. Then many sites printed a single phrase from an interview about J. Michael's desire to "snuggle" with Justin Timberlake. What did J. Michael really say?
Mr. Michael, why did you release your new album after eight years?
Very simple. I just couldn't write anything. After my mother died in 1997, I became very depressed. And two and a half years before that, I mourned for one person very close to me ...
... according to your life partner Anselmo Feleppa, who died in 1993 from the effects of AIDS?
I thought that after his death I had a protective shell. But losing my mother brought everything back again.
How did you overcome depression and the inability to write?
I don't know, if you believe in the magic of your native place, you will understand. It was just something magical. I wrote the first three albums in my little house in North London. I started my new album in a different place, but when I returned to my old house, everything flooded again. And do you know why? Because I felt my mother's past there.
Your father moved from the Greek part of Cyprus to England. Your real name is Georgios Kyriakos Panayiota. Have you ever thought about future plans if you weren't a pop star.
No never.
But your father would probably be happy to see you in the restaurant business, or?
No, he wanted so much more for me. He was a typical first-generation immigrant and wished for his son that his work should not be as difficult. I was supposed to be a lawyer or a doctor or something like that. He planned everything when I was 12 years old. Then I flatly refused to go to a private school. I felt that there I would not get the foundation I needed for a career as a pop star. Well informed for a twelve year old, isn't it?
When you released your first hit Wham!, you were 19 and all the squeaky girls were crazy about you. Did you already know that you were gay?
I knew I was at least bisexual. Shortly after the success of Wham! I have already had both heterosexual and homosexual experiences. I then almost opened up, but did not openly say. I wasn't convinced I was gay until the first time I fell in love with a man. At that moment, everything became clear to me. It's not about whether you go to bed with a man or a woman, but about who you fall in love with.
Have you told this to your parents?
No. I didn’t say anything to them for a long time, because in the eighties there seemed to be no future for gays. Then AIDS was rampant, before which every mother and every father had a fear. When I finally told them everything, I had the feeling that they already knew. But nothing has changed in our relationship.
One of the most touching songs on your new album is called "My Mother Had a Brother". In it, you tell the almost unbelievable story that your uncle was killed the day you were born, precisely because he was gay. Is it autobiographical?
Yes, the story is true, unfortunately.
When did your mother tell you about it?
When I was 17 years old.
Good material for therapists.
Exactly. I have had a therapist since 1991 - from the moment I found out about my friend Anselmo's illness. Through therapy, I better understood my uncle's story. And I understand how his death affected my mother. I also looked like him, so I constantly reminded her of her brother.
"The five years I've been working on my new album has been a torment for me"
Would you have avoided the fuss with your arrest in one of the public toilets in Beverly Hills in 1998 if you had come forward about your sexuality earlier?
We discussed this a lot in therapy. If you look at that situation today, then perhaps my subconscious was demanding a scandal. I was sorry that my sexuality formed a barrier between me and the media. But I wasn't ready to just say to reporters, "I'm gay."
And that's why you presented such a sensational story to journalists that you lowered your trousers in front of a plainclothes policeman?
I know it sounds bizarre, but my subconscious clearly wanted this. And I also knew that I would survive it without much loss to my career.
Have you visited public toilets since then?
Oh no. And when I ask about the toilet in a restaurant, I'm always afraid that someone will immediately have a heart attack.
Would you like to live more devoted to recreation?
No. I am considered lazy because I rarely release my albums. But the truth is, I'm a workaholic. Over the years, I worked every day. The five years I've been working on my new album "Patience" has been a torment for me.
You and Madonna are one of the few pop stars of the 80's that still carry weight today. But if Madonna regularly updates her image and sound, then you remain faithful to your style even in the new album. You do not like to take risks?
Once upon a time, I determined for myself that I was not fit for innovation. I am more willing to change elements from R & B, Jazz "a and Folk" a to songs that I can touch the audience with. Instead of constant experimentation, I am refining my own style. For my new album, I wrote almost everything myself, did the arrangements and produced it myself. In addition, I played most of the instruments. And the result is a typical George Michael album, but that was my goal.
In Germany, you were at the top of the charts - and never for this did you squeeze in public with young stars, as Madonna did with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
I would like that too, I even called Justin Timberlake, but he, unfortunately, did not call back. But, seriously, if I myself wanted to work with a talented guy like Timberlake, then I could not stand what people would say - an old man who clung to a young talent. After all, I myself was once in the role of a young talent. No, this is not even a question. Perhaps I am less worried than Madonna that my stardom may fade.
So 40-year-old George Michael doesn't care about aging?
If I had such a problem, I would dye my hair and shave off my beard. But I love a bit of gray and feel damn good in my body too. In addition, we must not forget: two things that we create great problems with - weight and age, most people in the world do not care at all.
You animated your civil rights political stance in 2002 with the hit "Shoot the Dog". In the song you attack Tony Blair and George Bush. How did the public in the US react?
Many Americans see me as a gay sympathizer of terror. Now I mostly live in London. Overseas, I was a couple of times and then not for long. Three weeks ago I was detained at the airport for two hours, allegedly I had some problems with my passport.
"Patience" What is your last piece?
The latter is in the usual form. In the future, my music will only be heard on my website. And you know what? For the first time in my entire career, I feel completely free!
Translation from him. Mark Severyanin, GayClub.ru
