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.
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
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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.
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
When I first started coming up with my Top 5 favorite things that have happened over the last 27 years at the Yours Only George site, I kept coming up with some truly sad things that have happened. I decided to have a happy list of George Michael things that have happened and a list of sad things that have happened.
I am posting my Top 5 Saddest George Michael things about the site from the last 27 years:
5
When Princess Diana died, we decided to start a Princess Diana tribute page, which ended up being far larger than ever anticipated with contributions from the Yours Only George site, Yogmael, and Gnotes. As I wrote at the time: “And so, in my grief, my best friend and I decided to create a small tribute page for you, which turned out to be much larger than I ever expected it to be. In a world that is often cynical and cruel, it is so beautiful and fitting that people united to make this page for a woman who had so much love in her heart. You taught us how to love, and I can only hope that we will share your gift with one another. Thank you for giving us the greatest gift of all.” (This is one of the many pages that needs to be updated with new graphics.)
4
I remember searching for George Michael news one night in 1997. If I looked late at night, I would get all the tabloid news that was published in the U.K. while most people were asleep. I remember not wanting this information to be true: George’s beloved mother, Lesley Angold Harrison Panayiotou, died on February 26, 1997, of cancer. I created a small page with quotes of all the lovely things George Michael said about his mother over the years. There is also a second tribute page to Lesley Panayiotou written from a fan’s perspective.
3
George Michael was known for various accidents involving cars. The accident on the M1 was another scary moment in the life of George Michael. It was such a crazy moment where we once again didn’t know if George was going to make it.
2
When George Michael had pneumonia, I remember not much was being said. The only information that was coming was through the tabloids, and it sounded bad.
When George first spoke to the press after nearly dying in the hospital, it was heartbreaking. Whenever I see this clip, I start crying.
1
I still have not totally dealt with the death of George Michael. I like to think there is an alternate universe where he is still alive, happy, and making music. I will never forget the moment that Shannon, cofounder of this site, called me on Christmas day and told me that George Michael had died. I had previously been worried about him because his voice did not sound strong during the Red Line interview. George Michael had cheated death so many times before that it was shocking that he would die on Christmas day.
Thanks to all the Lovelies for all the support through the years, in the good times and the bad!
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
On June 1, 2024, Yours Only George is celebrating its 27th anniversary. Shannon and I started this site in 1997 back when AOL gave free space for web sites. We later moved it to a webhost and bought the domain www.yogworld.com.
We had our first fan club in 1986 and came up with the name “Yours Only George” in the early 1990s. The name not only represented fans dedicated to George Michael, but also spelled out “YOG,” George Michael’s nickname. The name “Yog” was originally given to George Michael by Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley.
I am forever thankful to Shannon for her friendship and support. There is no better friend in this world than Shannon. This site would not be here without her.
Over the past five months, I have been going page by page to update the site. Considering that it is two sites in one and it has about 500 pages, there is a lot to work on!
I am posting my Top 5 Favorite things about the site from the last 27 years:
5
The George Michael Links section is really the beginning of the entire Yours Only George web site. Back in the mid 1990s, I had gone to a seminar, and the gist was that links were a key to success. It was only later that we became known for the George Michael news. At one point, I think there were at least 400 links. I recently deleted any that were no longer available.
4
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I remember being shocked when I saw the Yours Only George website listed as a source for a few George Michael biographies. The first one is George Michael: The Biography (Amazon Ad) by Rob Jovanovic. The second one is George Michael: A Life (Amazon Ad) by James Gavin. I was also recently approached to write a George Michael book. Maybe some day I will!
3
When George Michael died, one tabloid picked up on the fact that Andrew Ridgeley called George Michael “Yog” in his Twitter post about George Michael dying. The writer wrongly said Andrew’s nickname of Yog stood for “Yours Only George.” The nickname “Yog” derives from the Greek pronunciation of George’s given name: Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. The “G” on “Georgios” is pronounced with a “y” sound like “yogurt.” Unfortunately, this inaccurate information has propagated to other sites.
2
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It was an absolute thrill when we interviewed Shirlie Kemp. I wish I had dated the article. I think it was in February 1998. We interviewed Shirlie when she was running the George Michael fan club during the Aegean record label era. Some day I hope to interview Shirlie again.
1
My absolute favorite memory was finding out that George Michael not only knew about the Yours Only George web site, but George Michael also had the Yours Only George web site bookmarked on his computer! This was in 2004. Jill Taylor, a DJ, did an Internet search before her interview with George Michael, and she found the Yours Only George web site. She mentioned the site during the interview. George was very nice, said he knew about the site, and even had it bookmarked on his computer.
I never had the chance to meet George Michael, but knowing George visited the site is the next best thing.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
About Melanie
Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
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Melanie is the co-founder of Yours Only George and has been the webmaster of the site since 1997. Melanie has been a George Michael and Wham! fan since "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in 1984.
