George Michael’s sister, Yioda Panayiotou, has submitted plans to update her brother’s Hampstead home, according to the Mirror.
The Mirror reports:
George bought the property in 1987, around the time his solo career took off after Wham! disbanded. The property is located in a conservation area, and will be restored to what Yioda’s architects, BB Partnership, describe as a “habitable” condition.
George Michael’s abandoned home set for £10m Grand Designs-style mansion makeover
The plans include:
removing a water tank
installing a new roof with solar panels
replacing the exterior cladding with white laminate.
When George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley as Wham! went to China in 1985, director Lindsay Anderson was charged with the documentary for this historic event.
For the first time, Anderson’s documentary of Wham! in China, If You Were There, will be screened for the public on May 25 and May 31, 2024. Unfortunately, tickets have already sold out.
The 79-minute documentary is described as the following:
In 1985, at the height of their success, WHAM! were invited to be the first western pop group to tour Communist China since the Cultural Revolution. Accepting the offer, the duo made an unlikely approach to Anderson, asking him to direct a documentary record of the tour. However, the collaboration ended awkwardly when his cut of the film was rejected by the band. The film was subsequently re-edited to incorporate more concert footage and released as WHAM! In China: Foreign Skies. Anderson’s cut, titled If You Were There… has never before been screened publicly, making this a not-to-be-missed, potentially once-only opportunity to see it.
Thanks to Andrew Ridgeley, and to Chris Organ and David Austin of George Michael Entertainment for their co-operation in connection with this screening.
According to The Guardian:
The exact sequence of events leading to Anderson’s dismissal are not easy to discern from his papers. Napier-Bell wrote that the first cut of the film was “achingly boring” and that Michael thought a second version appeared to be “scornful” of Wham!.
“It should have been possible for Lindsay – or any director with an ounce of compromise in him – to have adjusted it to what Wham! needed as a promo tool,” says Napier-Bell today. “But he obviously felt it beneath him to compromise with two upstart kids. He was always a difficult old bugger, full of guilt at his own public school education, but suffering from the superiority it had given him.”
George Michael Experience: Fundraiser for Suicide Prevention is a 3-day event taking place at Newtopia Cyder Tasting Room in San Diego, California, on April 26, 27, and 28, 2024.
Day 1 of the event is today, April 26, 2024, from 3-9 p.m. This part of the event is free. According to the site:
3-6 PM: Free/casual private tours of a million-dollar George Michael memorabilia collection by Chris Brown. Uncover the stories behind the star and enjoy food all afternoon and night! 5:30 PM: Hear from Newtopia’s founder, Rick Moreno, collector, Chris Brown, and director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Jordan Miles, about the impact of your participation this weekend. 6 PM: Kick off the evening with George Michael & Wham! Music Bingo and continue the festivities with a dance party.
Day 2 of the event is tomorrow, April 27, 2024, from 12-10 p.m. This part of the event is free. According to the site:
12-4 PM: Explore George Michael’s iconic career with free hourly tours of our exclusive memorabilia collection guided by Chris Brown. 4 PM: Test your pop knowledge with our George Michael Trivia—win big with the correct answers! Grab your GM Trivia Sheet, enjoy classic tunes, and try your luck. 5 PM: Flashback to the ’80s with our COSTUME CONTEST! Dress to impress and win prizes for the Best Couple and two standout individuals. Prizes announced at 8:30 PM. Don’t forget to tag @newtopiacyder on Instagram to win the social media star prize!
Day 3 includes a George Michael themed brunch. According to the site:
Brunch Package: $25 Choose 1 Plate & 1 Drink Chilaquiles (Birria, Chicken, Mole, or Carnitas), Tacos (Birria, Chicken, Mole, or Carnitas), and Ceviche (Red Snapper, Wild Shrimp, or Vegan Ceviche) Drink includes your choice of one of our 3 specialty George Michael cyders, any craft cyder on tap, house-made sangria, craft cocktails on tap, or a Sky High n’ Dry mimosa! Proceeds go towards the San Diego Prosperity Foundation benefiting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The San Diego Union-Tribune also has an article about the event with more details about the items on display, such as:
the leather jacket that George Michael wore during the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics in London.
the American Music Award from 1989 for best male pop artist.
a program from the recital that he did at the school where he met Andrew Ridgeley.
an original letter from George Michael in his own handwriting on the breakup of Wham!
George Michael’s Ivor Novello Award from 1984 for “Careless Whisper.”
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If we want George Michael to have more songs in the Top 10 of Smooth’s All Time Top 500, then we should focus on voting for the songs that did well in 2023.
It’s probably best to focus on the ten songs that did the best if we want George to have 3 or more songs in the Top 10. “Jesus to a Child” was close to being in the Top 10 last year. Possibly we should team up with the Elton John and Aretha Franklin fans to get more votes for the duets.
You can pick up to 10 George Michael songs in order of preference, choosing your number 1 song first. You can vote here.
Smooth’s All Time Top 500 will be counted down from Friday, May 3rd, at 10 a.m. to Monday, May 6th, at 7p.m.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
Voting for George Michael songs in Smooth’s All Time Top 500 is open for 2024.
George Michael has topped the Top 500 for six consecutive years with “Careless Whisper.” Last year, he even came in third place with “A Different Corner.” George Michael also had “Jesus to a Child” at number 11 and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” at number 17. He had 20 songs in the chart overall.
You can pick up to 10 George Michael songs in order of preference, choosing your number 1 song first. You can vote here.
Smooth’s All Time Top 500 will be counted down from Friday, May 3rd, at 10 a.m. to Monday, May 6th, at 7p.m.
Smooth's All Time Top 500 is back for 2024! Will George Michael top the chart once more, or could your votes put Ed Sheeran, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston or Queen at the top? 🏆
George Michael has been nominated for the Global Awards 2024 in the Global Legend category.
Winners will be announced on-air on Global’s radio stations and on Global Player on Friday, March 22, 2024.
The Global Awards include all of Global’s radio stations: Capital, Heart, Smooth Radio, Classic FM, Radio X, Capital XTRA, Capital Dance, and Gold, as well as Global Player.
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Feedburner closed, and we have moved all active subscribers over to Follow.it. If you no longer want to receive George Michael news in your mailbox, please unsubscribe.
If you ever wanted to know how the Royal Mint is making the George Michael coins, you can take a look here. In the video, the Royal Mint creates the George Michael color printed UK £5 coin.
The George Michael collectable coins are available from the Royal Mint, as part of the Music Legends series. The coins feature the Faith era look with George Michael’s trademark sunglasses and an engraving of the refrain of Faith.
George Michael collectable coins will be available from the Royal Mint, as 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.
The collectable coins will be available to purchase from The Royal Mint’s website at 9 am on 26 February.
The coins have been officially approved by George Michael’s estate.
“On behalf of George Michael, we are deeply honoured that the Royal Mint is paying tribute to him by creating a series of beautifully crafted coins. He would have been enormously proud and genuinely touched that a national institution should have decided to pay tribute to his memory in this way.“
George Michael Entertainment
The coin was designed by sculptor and artist Sandra Deiana.
The Life and Music of George Michael is making its way across the United States in February and March. The show is a concert featuring one singer for the Wham! years and another singer for George Michael’s solo career.
The Wham! documentary lost to “20 Days in Mariupol” at the BAFTA awards.
Simon Halfon had the following to say about the loss:
The @BAFTA awards were a lot of fun last night ! WHAM! we are reliably informed came somewhere between 2nd and 5th in the #documentary category. I’m not sure, but I think that means we qualify for a Europe next year…special thanks to @NetflixUK for throwing the best party! pic.twitter.com/vE9Cm11pwJ
The New York Times has a new article on Chris Smith, the director of the recent Wham! documentary.
The following part of the article had me chuckling:
I assume you didn’t listen to Wham! in the ’80s? Where I was living in Michigan, kids were turning their noses up at Wham! I was a snide teenager, listening to the Cure, Depeche Mode, that sort of new wave thing.
The Story of ‘Wham!’ Comes From an Unlikely Source
Hey, there were plenty of us who didn’t turn up our noses at Wham in the 1980s! Two of us started a fan club in the mid-1980s and eventually started this website in the 1990s!
George Michael is still a successful businessman, even after his death.
According to The Sun, George Michael’s company, Nobby’s Hobbies Holdings, made £20.6million in publishing income, £2.5million in record royalties and an additional £600,000, from records ending in March 2023.
Netflix has added a new video on YouTube with an inside look of the Wham! documentary.
Producers John Battsek and Simon Halfon provide some background information on the making of the documentary WHAM! with Andrew Ridgeley.
You couldn’t have a better best friend than Andrew Ridgeley. He not only encouraged George Michael to start a band, but he also stepped back to let George shine.
The Wham! documentary has been nominated as best documentary at the BAFTA awards which will be on Sunday, February 18, 2024.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
Fantastic (sponsored link) and Make It Big (sponsored link) will be released on vinyl on March 22, 2024. It’s the first time in more than 30 years that they have been released on vinyl.
According to Amazon, the track listing for Wham!’s Fantastic (sponsored link) is:
Bad Boys
A Ray of Sunshine
Love Machine
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)
Club Tropicana
Nothing Looks the Same In the Light
Come On!
Young Guns (Go for It!)
Wham!’s first album, Fantastic debuted at #1 in the UK in 1983 and sold millions of copies worldwide. Fantastic is available on standard weight black vinyl.
Amazon Ad
According to Amazon, the track listing for Wham!’s Make it Big (sponsored link) is:
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
Everything She Wants
Heartbeat
Like a Baby
Freedom
If You Were There
Credit Card Baby
Careless Whisper
Wham!’s second album, Make It Big was released in 1984. It is available with the US cover on standard weight black vinyl.
Andrew Ridgeley said: “It’s a wonderful testament to the enduring nature of Wham!’s music that our legions of loyal fans and the younger cohorts of music fans desire to own the music in their original formats.”
George Michael Entertainment added: “We are delighted that these two classic albums are once again available on vinyl for a whole new generation to enjoy.”
Will you be buying Fantastic or Make It Big on vinyl? Let us know in the comments!
Yours Only George is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Shaking from head to toe in what must have been an adrenalin rush, I dashed to my computer. I don’t know why. The news came from Shannon who started this fan club back in 1986, so obviously it was true!
I have attempted, on various occasions, to write an article on what George Michael meant to me. What I’ve realized is that it would take my writing a book to be able to say everything I want to say.
The year that has followed George Michael’s death has been revealing to me on a very personal level.
Initially, I was struck by how few people understood what George Michael meant to me. Very few friends and family reached out to me.
George Michael was a part of my life for 33 years before his untimely death. My love of his music and writing is intrinsically linked to my friendship with Shannon.
Obviously, I take from this loss an understanding that life is short and you have to live your life in the moment. As a mother, I still struggle with this as there’s always a load of laundry or more homework to do.
Also, after George Michael’s death, it came to light how much money he gave to so many worthy causes. This did not surprise me in the least. I never met George Michael in real life, but I think this thoughtful, giving nature of his was why he had so many fans. It wasn’t just the beautiful music. It wasn’t just the heartfelt lyrics. It was that at his core George Michael was a warm, caring person, and that came across in his interviews.
So, yes, mourn the loss of George Michael today. Listen to his music, if you can. Remember concerts you attended. Read through the lyrics of your favorite songs. But, at the end of the day, see what you can give to someone less fortunate. Consider donating to George Michael’s favorite charities or donate to local charities.
George Michael lives on through his music, but he lives on through you as well.
George Michael has once again topped the UK albums chart with the reissue of Listen Without Prejudice.
In 1990, when Listen Without Prejudice was first released, it topped the UK album charts as well. According to the BBC, “CD sales have collapsed in the meantime. In 1990 the album sold 423,577 copies to top the chart. This week, it shifted just 56,000 copies.”
David Austin, Michael’s manager, long-term collaborator and close friend since childhood, said the team behind the efforts were “incredibly proud” to have immediately topped the charts.
“It’s no great secret that George was a perfectionist and it shows, he was over everything from its inception to its finish and it’s a blessing and rare gift to be guided by such genius,” he added in a statement.
Sony reissued Michael’s second solo album, now adding his 1996 MTV Unplugged show and the Nile Rodgers collaboration “Fantasy,” in the wake of Channel 4’s Oct. 16 broadcast of the new Freedom documentary. Last week, that show helped his Ladies & Gentlemen — The Best of George Michael compilation (Epic/Sony) to re-enter at No. 9. Another collection, Twenty Five, now climbs 61-21 and Older re-enters at No. 35.
Did you buy Listen Without Prejudice this week? Which version? Tell us in the comments below!
George Michael has once again topped the UK albums chart with the reissue of Listen Without Prejudice.