George Michael: The biography by Rob Jovanovic

Author:Rob Jovanovic [Jovanovic, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780349411248
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2015-12-02T23:00:00+00:00

The plaudits kept coming at the start of the last year of the Eighties. George Michael had begun that decade singing about being on the dole and had gone on to become the biggest star on the planet. The latest batch of awards were some of his most important and most controversial to date. Faith won Album of the Year at the Grammys and International Hit of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards, where Michael also won Songwriter of the Year again. In September Madonna presented him with the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards. But at the 16th Annual American Music Awards in Los Angeles he, or rather the selection committee, stirred up quite a controversy. Michael won the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, which was usually the preserve of white artists, but he also walked away with the awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album, awards usually presented to black artists. The black community were outraged. Film-maker Spike Lee and rappers Public Enemy started the outcry, claiming that black artists, always bypassed for the mainstream awards, were now even being shoe-horned out of their ‘own’ genre. For George Michael’s part, he was just happy to win. He hadn’t asked for the awards, hadn’t had any say in receiving them, they were just dropped onto his lap.

While the arguments raged around him he kept a low public profile, taking the time to look back on a fantastic decade. As a solo artist he’d thrown everything into challenging the big two, Madonna and Michael Jackson, the biggest solo stars in the world. During the 1980s Jackson had gained a record nine US number one singles and Madonna seven; Michael was sandwiched between them with an impressive eight. Admitting later that he hadn’t been able to control his ego and had really wanted to try and topple those at the top, he realised in hindsight that he probably would have gained no more happiness from such an achievement. As maturity set in he decided that happiness would come from his private life, not his professional one. It was a real turning point.

During 1989 he put down more roots, buying a second home in Santa Barbara for $3 million. The house was an architect-designed property, with 16 glass walls affording panoramic views well beyond the five acres that also came in the deal. Built in 1985, the house was constructed as a series of hexagonal shapes inspired by the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. Michael had various changes made, including a new viewing deck from which he could watch the sunset.

‘I must admit I go out less and less,’ he told Q magazine. ‘Now and then I have to go to pretty well the same places where I know I’ll get a bit of breathing space. But I think if you can come through Wham! and the exceptional exposure we had around 1984 and 1985 and you still have a social life, still go out and get pissed out of your head, then you’re doing OK.

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