On Saturday, June 28, 1986, George Michael picked up his tasselled leather jacket, walked out of London's Wembley Stadium and cheerfully tore up five years of glittering pop history. He'd just disposed of Wham!, the band he'd formed with school friend Andrew Ridgeley when they were teenagers, and now, at 23, he knew he was all grown up. He just needed to convince everyone else. Faith is what happens when you've outstripped your dreams, your peers, your friends and your fans, and no one's caught up yet. It's about pouring all of that confusion, insecurity and sizzling ambition into music that comes out confused, insecure and ambitious – and then selling 25 million copies of it. George Michael was always preparing for this and, in the process, he set a template for all disaffected singers making that move. This book examines that model and the themes that went into Faith – from engaging in politics to crossing over to a Black audience and writing classic pop songs to endure – and speaks to the surviving key players to tell the story of how it was made.

One of the 20 Best Books of 2016, Redbook Magazine Readers’ Favorite Award: Honorable Mention Millions of people watched sportscaster George Michael each week on the Sports Machine, including his daughter Cindi. Cindi Michael appears to live a charmed life: she’s happily married, has a successful career, and is a loving mom to two wonderful children. Yet she longs for a father who hasn’t spoken to her in twenty years, and even secretly watches him on TV when the longing becomes unbearable. When Cindi was eleven, her father fought for sole custody of her and her siblings, raising three children on his own despite being a bachelor and rock ’n’ roll DJ in New York in the 1970s. But with his rising fame as the host of the popular show Sports Machine, his 80-hour-a-week work schedule, and his second marriage, the close relationship Cindi shared with her father began to crack; she did everything to earn his love and attention, but for perfectionist George, it was never enough—and when she was eighteen and a freshman in college, in a burst of anger he told her never to come home again. As the years went on, Cindi struggled to steel her heart while still remaining hopeful that they would one day reconcile, just as her father did with his own dad, and transcend painful family patterns that span generations. Candid, moving, and ultimately hopeful, The Sportscaster’s Daughter is a family story of forgiveness, faith, and strength.

In George Michael: A Life,“Gavin’s engrossing biography of the singer takes the measure of a gifted, tragic, and infuriating man” (New York Times Book Review). George Michael was an extravagantly gifted, openhearted soul singer whose work was both pained and smolderingly erotic. He was a songwriter of true craft and substance, and his music swept the world, starting in the mid-1980s. His fabricated image—that of a hypermacho sex god—loomed large in the pop culture of his day. It also hid—for a time—the secret he fought against revealing: Michael was gay. Soon his obsession with fame would start to backfire. As one of the industry’s most privileged yet tortured men began to self-destruct, the press showed little sympathy. George Michael: A Life explores the compelling story of a superstar whose struggles, as well as his songs, continue to touch fans all over the world. Acclaimed music biographer James Gavin traces Michael’s metamorphosis from the shy and awkward Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou into the swaggering, dominant half of the leading British pop duo of the 1980s Wham! He then details Michael’s sensational solo career and its subsequent unraveling. With deep analysis of the creative process behind Michael’s albums, tours, and music videos, as well as interviews with hundreds of his friends and colleagues, George Michael: A Life is a probing, definitive portrait of a pop legend.

It's that time of year again . . . Turn up 'Last Christmas', get the mince pies out and head back to the 80s in the remarkably honest and fascinating autobiography from one half of the world's greatest pop duo THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'I couldn't put it down. Such a fantastic book' Chris Evans, Virgin Radio ________ School mates. Band mates. Soul mates . . . When Andrew Ridgley took George Michael, the new boy at school, under his wing, he discovered a soul mate. In Wham! George and Me, Andrew tells the story of how they rode a rollercoaster of success around the world while making iconic records and surviving superstardom with their friendship intact. It is a memoir of love, music, the flamboyant 1980s and living in a pop hurricane. No one else can ever tell their story - because no one else was there . . . For the first time, Andrew Ridgeley tells the inside story of Wham!, his life-long friendship with George Michael and the formation of a band that changed the shape of the music scene in the early eighties. ________ 'A joyous celebration of the Wham! years. For anyone who was a teenager in the early 1980s, it will take you on a nostalgia trip. It's an honest but affectionate account of a remarkable duo who remained true to their origins and their friendship throughout it all' Daily Express 'As infectious as their music' Daily Mirror 'A remarkably generous memoir. In more than one sense, the biography of a friend' Spectator 'A great story' Saturday Live, Radio 4 'A lovely book. A love letter to George' Graham Norton, BBC One 'Charming, heartfelt . . . there's a real poignancy to Ridgeley's description of Wham!'s glory days' Sunday Times

Publisher Description

The unexpected death of George Michael on Christmas Day, 2016 brought to a close the life of one of the UK’s most loved pop icons. Careless Whispers is the gripping story of this musical legend – A record-shattering singer, songwriter and producer whose 30-year career saw him become one of the best-selling artists of all time. Revised and updated to encompass his final few years and the outpouring of love in his wake, this celebratory Omnibus Enhanced edition also includes a Digital Timeline of George Michael’s career, packed with live performances, music videos, interviews and more. This revealing biography digs deep into George Michael’s career, from the formation of Wham! to his success as a solo artist and, eventually, the final projects before his tragic passing. Within this larger-than-life tale, Robert Steele also explores his closely-guarded private life, including the death of his partner in 1993, the drug and sex scandals that sent him to prison in 2010 and the circumstances surrounding his death, as well as details of his astonishing philanthropy which were never revealed during his lifetime. Careless Whispers is an essential and inspiring read of a true musical icon like no other.

George Michael is one of the world's top pop music vocalists. This book tells how the boy from a working class background made it to the top of the music charts in countries all over the world. It tells the story of George's involvement with the group Wham and of the $3 million deal with the Coca Cola company. George's songs, his music, his craft as well as his family, friends and life on and off the road are all included. His observations amd comments on other musical stars are also quoted.