George Michael premieres his new song, a charity gift for Catherine Middleton and Prince William’s wedding, on Piers Morgan Tonight at 9 p.m. ET.
George said on Twitter: “Im (sic) REALLY happy with it… and I know Diana would have approved. She had a copy of Older 4 months before any of you lot!”
The Idea for the Song
Well, it’s actually very, very — well, the idea came to me last week, actually, about a week ago, that I should — that I should, perhaps, kind of express my happiness at this marriage in a way publicly. You know, it was a very beautiful summer — it wasn’t summer’s day. But it was an April day that happened to be like summer here in London.
And I was twittering and kind of got carried away and decided I was going to make them a new track. Give everybody on Twitter and William and Kate a new track by Friday. So, I’ve had a very busy week.
And the strange thing about this song, actually, considering I think it’s probably the best two days work I’ve ever done in my life, two or three days work, is that when I was a child, I dreamt of singing this song in my imagination. You know, my idea of fame at the time was the school assembly hall. I was about 12. And I had this record, this Stevie Wonder song. And I used to dream of singing it in school assembly hall. But I guess this is slightly bigger deal than that.
George Michael on CNN on April 15, 2011
The Song as a Gift to Catherine and William
So — and also the main thing about doing the song as a gift for them is not just a gift for them, it’s a gift that they will be able to hopefully turn into many, many donations for the royal charity, the royalweddingcharityfund.org that is, you know — which is where they asked people to give money rather than send presents of any description. I don’t know if that includes the people at the actual wedding, I don’t know if they’ve given out their toasters and their, you know, their – the wedding list, as it were, but seems very generously that they have, yes.
So, anyway, I would really like for any of my fans, or anybody who really enjoys this track, if they’re going to download it for free, which is absolutely what I’m willing to do, I would like them to go to Kate and William’s charity site and make a donation. You know, if they’re genuinely happy for these two people, which I think a lot of people are, you know?
George Michael on CNN on April 15, 2011
Message on William and Catherine’s Wedding Day
Oh, I think they should — I don’t think they need any advice from me. I think the message I would give — I’m just incredibly happy for both of them. And more than anything, you know, there was a kind of — I have quite an emotional attachment to what’s going on here because I felt so bad for those boys when she (Princess Diana) passed away, and having experienced losing my mother about three or four months before that, that day was very, very strange for me.
And also, you know, when I think of what — the devastation of losing my mother, the idea of going through that when you’re not into your teens or barely into your teens is just — I just — I can’t just — words can’t describe how much admiration I have for the way that they’ve both coped with it and especially when, you know, the media has made it so much more difficult for them. I’m just incredibly happy for — incredibly happy for William, incredibly happy for his partner, and I absolutely am sure that Diana would have loved the whole thing, you know?
And I really hope that she would have loved this track. I have a feeling, she would have done — she was a big fan and she had a copy of “Older,” which is obviously an album about bereavement, about four or five months before it went out into the public eye, and she loved it. And I did once see a documentary where William was playing that album which makes me think that he found it comforting. And it was an album about bereavement. So, I was very touched by that.
The whole thing has kind of different levels of meaning for me. And I’m just incredibly happy that they’re letting me actually, you know, have some part of the benefit site, the charity site, you know? Or at least they’re letting me share some of the attention for this amazing day in a way to raise money, you know, which is great.
George Michael on CNN on April 15, 2011
Don’t miss our previous article on “You and I,” which includes the song and lyrics.
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