Biography, Age, Life and Career-George Mic
Who Was George Michael?
As a teenager, George Michael formed the band Wham! with high school friend Andrew Ridgeley. In 1984, the duo had their first worldwide hit with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” Two years later, Michael went solo, releasing a hit debut album Faith, which has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. In 1998, Michael announced that he was gay after being arrested for lewd conduct in a public restroom. Michael continued to perform and his career had a reboot in the mid-2000s with the release of his greatest hits album Twenty Five. He continued to tour and donated much of his time and wealth to charity. Michael died of heart and liver disease on December 25, 2016, in his home in England at the age of 53.
Early Life and Wham!
Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963, in East Finchley, London, England. One of the leading artists in popular music in the 1980s and 1990s, he grew up in and around London, where he developed his passion for music at an early age. While in high school, Michael befriended Andrew Ridgeley, with whom he shared a love of pop music and they began playing music together. By some reports, Michael and Ridgeley were an unlikely duo. Michael was pudgy and shy, while Ridgeley was attractive and outgoing.
Dropping out of high school, Michael and Ridgeley started a short-lived ska band called the Executive. That band only played a few gigs before it fell apart, but Michael and Ridgeley soon found success. In 1982, they landed a recording contract with Innervision records and became known as Wham! Their first album, Fantastic!, was released in the United Kingdom in 1982, and climbed as high as the No. 4 spot on the charts there (it was released in the United States the following year). With their youthful good looks, Wham! soon developed a devoted following among teenage girls.