A previously unreleased live recording of “Careless Whisper” from George Michael’s performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City in July 2008 is available.
The official site listed “Careless Whisper” products that were available for preorder.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” we’ve gathered 10 interesting facts about the timeless classic. New “Careless Whisper” merchandise (Amazon Ad) is available on October 18, 2024.
Co-Written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley: The song was co-written by George Michael and his Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley when they were just 17 years old.
Inspiration on a Bus: George Michael came up with the iconic saxophone riff while riding a bus to his job as an usher at a cinema.
Iconic Saxophone Solo: The famous saxophone solo was played by Steve Gregory. It took 10 different saxophonists to get the sound George Michael wanted.
Multiple Recordings: The song was recorded in several locations, including Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama and Sarm Studios in West London.
Chart-Topping Hit: “Careless Whisper” topped the charts in 25 countries, including the US and the UK.
Personal Experience: The song was inspired by George Michael’s personal experiences from his teenage years.
First Solo Single: Although it was released on Wham!’s album, Make It Big (Amazon Ad), it was also released as George Michael’s first solo single (except in the United States).
Global Success: The song sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and became one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Music Video: The music video was filmed in Miami, Florida, and features George Michael brooding over a failed relationship.
Legacy: “Careless Whisper” remains one of the most beloved ballads of the 1980s and continues to be a staple on classic pop and love song playlists.
“Careless Whisper” products are available on October 18, 2024.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of “Careless Whisper” and the arrival of new “Careless Whisper” merchandise (Amazon Ad) on October 18, 2004, we are looking at George Michael’s most popular videos on YouTube.
Have you ever wondered what George Michael’s most popular videos are? Here are the top 10 George Michael (and Wham!) videos on YouTube with the highest views:
1. Careless Whisper
This iconic track was written when George Michael was only 17 years old. In George Michael’s biography, Bare (Amazon Ad), George said of the song, “I was on my way to DJ at the Bel Air when I wrote ‘Careless Whisper’. I have always written on buses, trains and in cars. It always happens on journeys… With ‘Careless Whisper’ I remember exactly where it first came to me, where I came up with the sax line… I remember I was handing the money over to the guy on the bus and I got this line, the sax line… I wrote it totally in my head. I worked on it for about three months in my head.”
“Careless Whisper” (Amazon Ad) has more than 1.2 billion views and has been captivating audiences for 40 years.
2. Last Christmas
“Last Christmas” (Amazon Ad) was written in George Michael’s childhood bedroom. At the age of 21, George Michael produced, performed, and played every single instrument on “Last Christmas.” The classic video was filmed at a Swiss resort called Saas-Fee, and the ex-girlfriend was played by model, Kathy Hill.
The holiday classic by Wham!, which continues to top the holiday charts, has more than 901 million views.
3. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” was inspired by a note Andrew Ridgeley left his parents. George later saw the note and used the title as inspiration. George Michael talked about “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (Amazon Ad) in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1984. He said, “I just wanted to make a really energetic pop record that had all the best elements of Fifties and Sixties records, combined with our attitude and our approach, which is obviously more uptempo and a lot younger than some of those records. It’s one of those tracks that gets rid of a lot of your own personal influences; it reminds me of so many different records that I couldn’t actually nail them down.”
This Wham! hit boasts 496 million views.
4. One More Try
Of the song “One More Try,” George Michael said, “I think this is the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s certainly my best vocal. I actually wrote the whole thing from start to finish in eight hours. We recorded it the same day.”
A StereoGum review describes “One More Try” as “a slow and stately ballad that sprawls elegantly over nearly six minutes. But it’s also a simple song, built on a churchy organ and a heartbeat-thump drum pattern. The lyrics don’t try to be clever, and Michael doesn’t try to sing them in a clever way. Instead, he belts them out, and there’s urgency in his heartbreak and in his hunger.”
This soulful #1 ballad has more than 194 million views.
5. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” (Amazon Ad) a duet with Elton John, was recorded at the final show of George Michael’s Cover to Cover tour at Wembley Arena in London on March 23, 1991. The video was filmed during a concert at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, Illinois, during George’s Cover to Cover tour on October 19, 1991.
This duet with one of George Michael’s heroes has garnered 183 million views.
6. Freedom ’90
“Freedom ’90” (not to be confused with the Wham! song “Freedom”) was George Michael’s highly autobiographical song about his transition from the top-selling pop of Faith to a more serious Listen Without Prejudice.
At this point in his career, George Michael refused to appear in any videos. The solution? George asked the five models on the January 1990 cover of the British edition of Vogue to star in his video: Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford.
“Freedom ’90” is an iconic video with 145 million views.
7. Father Figure
Of the ballad “Father Figure,” George Michael said: “The initial concept was totally different from the way the song turned out. In fact, the initial concept for ‘Father Figure’ was to make it a kind of mid-tempo dance track. And what happened was I wanted to hear something in my mix so I happened to cut out the snare on the board and suddenly it changed the whole entire mood of the track. Suddenly it seemed really dreamy. And this was halfway through writing it because I was writing the song as I was going along in the studio. And I just thought, well, hey, this is actually much better! So I worked the rest of the feel of the track around this spacey type sound. And it ended up, in my mind, being the most original-sounding thing on the album.”
The video depicts the story of a cab driver played by George Michael and a high-fashion model played by Tania Coleridge.
The sensual “Father Figure” track has 135 million views.
8. Fastlove
Producer Johnny Douglas said of George Michael’s performance in “Fastlove”: “As an artist and studio collaborator, George was unique. He was very uncomfortable with the idea of anybody hearing him mess up, or recording anything that wasn’t 100% perfect. He wasn’t afraid to put as much time as he felt necessary into his craft. He was also the only artist we ever worked with who absolutely refused to have his vocals pitch-corrected. Yet the result of this obsessive attention to detail is the incredible body of work he leaves behind, of which Fastlove is, personally for me, the jewel in the crown of a brilliant artist, sadly missed.”
“Fastlove” (Amazon Ad) is a dance-pop hit with 77 million views.
9. Amazing
The video for “Amazing” was directed by Matthew Rolston and was filmed in London in 2003.
Of the video, George Michael said, “If I’m honest, I’m not very happy with the video. It was done very quickly because my normal director let me down at the last moment actually. And we didn’t have time, the director and I, to really work together before the video, which is what I normally do. I’m normally very involved, and this was very much rushed because I was finishing the album, or had just finished the album, and the single was already on the radio. So, having screwed up the video, we really had to work fast. And you know, I guess it’s okay.”
This song dedicated to then-partner Kenny Goss has more than 56 million views.
10. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
“Nobody can emulate Aretha Franklin,” George Michael said of his recording with Aretha Franklin for the song, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”. “It’s stupid to try. I just tried to stay in character, keep it simple – it was very understated in comparison to what she did.”
Of George Michael, Aretha Franklin said: “The first time I heard George was with Wham! and I liked it then. He had a very unique sound, very different from anything that was out there. When Clive [Davis], suggested we get together for ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’, I was all ready. It reminded me of Jerry Wexler. We’d go in the studio and cut songs. If we were happy with what we recorded, Jerry would say, ‘Let’s wait until tomorrow. If we feel the same way [then] that we do now, maybe we have a hit.’ ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’ had that. Musically, it does not grow old.”
Chris Smith, John Battsek, Simon Halfon, Gregor Lyon, Alex Black
A Netflix Documentary, Ventureland, Passion Pictures, Library Films, Nemperor Production – Netflix
In 1982, teenagers George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley set out to conquer the world as WHAM! By June of 1986 they played their very last gig at Wembley Stadium having done exactly that. Now for the very first time, told in their own words, the amazing story of how in four years they dominated the charts around the world with timeless and classic pop songs.
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Wham! is on the shortlist for the BBCs Ultimate British Group.
On Saturday, October 19, we will celebrate National Album Day. Radio 2 will be crowning the Ultimate British Group.
Wham! is one of 54 artists, spanning from the 1960s to the 2010s. A panel voted from a list of nearly 100 artists to produce a final list of 54.
BBC Sounds will have a special program on Friday, October 11, 2024, with the results. The show will also be broadcast on Radio 2 on Saturday, October 19, from 1-3 p.m.
You can vote for Wham! as Your Ultimate British Group here. You can vote for up to five of your top acts. Voting closes at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 27, 2024.
According to the rules, a British group is defined as an act containing two or members that is made-up wholly of, or where the majority are, people who were born, live or hold British citizenship.
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