George Michael was one of the biggest pop icons of the 1980s. Unfortunately, after an incident where he was caught making a pass at a male police officer in 1998, his career, at least in the United States, went downhill. In 1998, it was still considered a major sin to be a gay man in the United States. However, Michael still had hit singles throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
As the New York Times reported, George Michael died of heart failure on Christmas. There is still not a lot known about his death. However, lets forget the mn and count down Michael’s best songs, with or without Wham!
5. “Careless Whisper” (1985)
“Careless Whisper” is now considered a George Michael solo single, although at the time of its release — at the end of 1984 — it was credited to Wham! Featuring George Michael. The song hit No. 1 in February of 1985.
Although Wham was considered a teeny-bopper group, this sweet and emotional ballad helped George Michael gain a huge adult contemporary following, which would especially come into play with Michael’s solo hit “ A Different Corner ” in 1986. Till this day, “Careless Whisper” is a huge recurrent airplay hit around Christmas season.
4. “A Different Corner” (1986)
If you feel like crying, “A Different Corner,” George Michael’s official first solo hit, is a song that will do it. The song hit No. 7 in the United States and No. 1 in the UK during the spring of 1986.
“A Different Corner” contains compelling vocals with Latin guitar instrumentation. It’s a song about regrets: “Take me back in time maybe I could forget/Turn a different corner and we never would have met.”
According to Songfacts , George Michael has said the song is certainly about a man whose heart has been absolutely broken.
3. “Everything She Wants” (1985)
“Everything She Wants” was the third No. 1 single from the Wham! album Make It Big . During its reign in the spring of 1985, this was a song that even Wham! haters loved — it was funky, the lyrics were identifiable, and it was a song you just couldn’t get out of your head.
According to Songfacts , George Michael wrote the drum pattern for his hit song, and he then found a synthesizer. The following morning, he wrote the vocal part in his hotel room. “Everything She Wants” made Wham! the first group since the Bee Gees to have three No. 1 hits from an album.
2. “Jesus to a Child” (1995)
By 1995, George Michael had been pretty much written off as an 80’s act. However, he proved people wrong with this No. 7 hit from the Christmas season in 1995 and the winter of 1996, when he also released his album Older .
The BBC has named “ Jesus to a Child ” as one of six songs that defined George Michael’s life.
“While it was not public knowledge at the time, three years earlier George’s partner Anselmo Feleppa had died of an Aids-related brain hemorrhage. He was the subject of the song. ‘I think Anselmo was the first time that I really loved someone selflessly,’ George later said.”
The song was performed in the UK one year before its official release, and it hit No. 1 in the UK in January of 1996.
1. “One More Try” (1988)
The third No. 1 song from the album Faith became an anthem of the late spring and early summer of 1988. It became one of George Michael’s most heartbreaking songs. “One More Try” is about someone who is afraid of love because he had been hurt so many times before. It’s certainly one of the best songs ever written.
Unfortunately, Mariah Carey tried to remake the song in 2014, and her version lost all the charm of the original hit.
[Featured Image by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]