George Michael’s 1988 hit,”Father Figure,” is getting the attention it deserves in the new Nicole Kidman erotic thriller, Babygirl.
According to Spotify, streams of “Father Figure” have increased nearly 300% in the U.S. and searches for “Father Figure” have increased more than 1500% since December 25, 2024.
George Michael continues to make money, despite dying 8 years ago on Christmas day.
George Michael’s company, Nobby’s Hobbies Holding, reported a profit for the year, after taxation, of £1,125,467, compared to £16,198,128 in 2023.
The report is only for the year ending March 31, 2024. It would not include earnings from the 40th anniversary release of “Careless Whisper” and “Last Christmas.”
Dividends of £1,378,699 in 2024 (compared to £3,292,210 in 2023) were approved and paid by the directors.
Interestingly, under the future developments heading, the report states: “The activity of the group will broaden in the next one to three years to include live public performances.”
Earnings came from:
£2,992,964 from publishing income (compared to £20,623,079 in 2023).
£3,534,705 from record royalties (compared to £2,560,287 in 2023).
£6,260 from merchandise income (compared to 0 in 2023).
£0 for Class 4 (compared to £275,000 in 2023).
£9,351 for Recharged income (compared to 0 in 2023).
Nobby’s Hobbies Holdings Limited is a private company, limited by shares, registered in England and Wales.
Subsidary undertakings of the company were:
Big Geoff Overseas Limited
Robobuild Limited
Wham Music Limited
George Michael Songs Limited
Infamy Inc.
Robobuild Limited, Big Geoff Overseas Limited, and Wham Music Limited paid donations to The Mill Charitable Trust in the amounts of £580,643, £1,410,000, and £340,000 respectively, which totals £2,330,643. The amounts donated in 2023 were £992,894, £375,000, and £500,000 respectively, which totals £1,867,894.
According to the report: The controlling party is the executors of the estate of G K Panayiotou by the virtue of its shareholding.
Nobby’s Hobbies Holding director’s report and consolidated financial statements is available here.
The Spinning the Wheel podcast, a podcast going through the catalog of George Michael track by track, recently posted Christmas memories from George Michael fans all over the world.
The host, Matt, was so very kind in saying how Yours Only George was his source of George Michael information in the 90s.
Matt said, in part, “I wanted to start, first and foremost, with my source of information, my source of George Michael news. In America … information was kind of hard to come by in the old days, and one of the beacons of light that really provided a lot for those of us here in America was the Yours Only George page.”
I’ll let you listen to the Spinning the Wheel podcast if you’d like to hear more about Matt’s thoughts on the site and my Christmas message for the podcast. It is around the 31-minute mark of the podcast.
The Spinning the Wheel podcast has more than 50 episodes about George Michael’s music. The podcast started back in March of 2023. Shirley Lewis, one of George Michael’s backup vocalists, provides insight into George’s music.
Wow! It’s been a fabulous year to be a George Michael fan. So many fun things have come to George Michael’s Lovelies this year! Here’s a quick recap:
In February, we were pleasantly surprised with a George Michael coin from the Royal Mint. George Michael collectable coins are part of the Music Legends series. The coins feature the Faith era look with his trademark sunglasses and an engraving of the refrain of Faith.
In June, Yours Only George celebrated its 27th anniversary. Thanks to all the fans who continue to visit the site and continue spreading the word about the site as it helps cover the webhosting costs to keep the website open year after year.
December brought us Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped, a lovely special that brought the friends who starred in the “Last Christmas” back together.
“Last Christmas” topped the charts at number 1 for two weeks in December and topped the Christmas charts for the second year in a row. We also were gifted with a new animated “Last Christmas” video.
We also learned of The George Michael Fund, which will give grants to assist the organizations and issues which were close to George’s heart.