The personal trials of the former Wham! star have not damaged the fan base of one of pop's great icons, writes Brian Boyd
In February of this year, George Michael was arrested for possession of Class C drugs. In May of this year, he was found asleep over the wheel of his car while stalled at traffic lights at a busy London intersection. After being awoken by a member of the public, he was reported to have driven off erratically, knocking over a bollard. Later the same month he was questioned by police after shunting three cars in the street where he lives in north London. In July he was photographed by a tabloid newspaper just after an alleged "sexual tryst" with another man on Hampstead Heath. In October he was found unconscious in his car near his home and was cautioned by police for possession of cannabis.
In September, George Michael made a triumphant return to live performing when he played his first shows in over 15 years. The reviews were ecstatic and box-office records were smashed. This week his album - a greatest hits collection - is at the top of the British charts.
It's been a funny old year for the man born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou.
Michael could be the dictionary definition of "troubled pop star". Whether having spats with his fellow singing stars, openly smoking cannabis on a recent South Bank Show profile, or being caught up in yet another sex scandal, his picaresque life has kept him in the headlines even when his career was stalling.
There's a certain delight in depicting Michael as an almost Sunset Boulevard-type cliche: the isolated diva, holed up in his palatial home, smoking up to (a self-confessed) 20 joints a day.
The singer, now 43, helps the image along by indulging in constant bouts of paranoia about the media and the music industry. His latest target is Rupert Murdoch whom he describes as "evil" and he blames the News International boss for a slowdown in his musical success.
In 2002 Michael released a song called Shoot the Dog which was a caustic critique of Bush/Blair and the war in Iraq. "Before 2002, I had an unflinching hold on the charts. Everything I did was a radio hit. Since Shoot the Dog I have not had a surefire hit," he has said. The singer believes that he has been portrayed negatively in Murdoch-run media because he is a "liberal".
In another interview he blamed all his recent problems on Elton John. The latter had accused Michael of "wasting his talent". "My trajectory in this soap opera started when Elton made those comments," he said.
IT'S DIFFICULT TO reconcile the George Michael of today with the fresh-faced half-Greek, half-English pop star who bounced onto the TV screens as one half of the duo Wham! in 1982. The band specialised in bubblegum pop with extra saccharine added. With his bleached hair, orange skin and tight yellow shorts, Michael looked like an overexcitable Club 18-30 cheerleader. As unemployment reached record figures in the UK and industrial unrest was at one of its highest ever levels, Michael and fellow Wham! member Andrew Ridgeley sang about "Club Tropicana where drinks are free/ Fun and sunshine, there's enough for everyone".
Behind the perma-smile though, Michael knew he was creating disposable pop music and yearned to be a "serious" artist. When Wham! split up in 1986, he moved in a more mature musical direction - ditching the pop for a more soul/r'n'b approach. Many doubted that he could make the transition, simply because of Wham!'s musical lightness but there was never any doubt that Michael had a very impressive singing voice and was able to write catchy classics almost at will.
In 1987 he released his first solo album, Faith, and it was a revelation. Going on to sell 14 million albums and, notably, to be the first album by a white artist to hit number one on the specialist r'n'b charts in the US, it was a sturdy piece of work that severed all his connections with the Wham! era and showed him to be more than capable of competing in the AOR (adult orientated rock) category.
There was a concomitant image change: Michael was "grunged up" and he was now all designer stubble and clad in denim and leather. The transformation was complete but despite the album's huge sales, there was trouble brewing with his record company.
With the follow-up album, 1990's Listen Without Prejudice, the singer refused to appear in any of the music videos that accompanied the singles and refused to do much promotional work for the album. It sold only half the amount that Faith had, and as his relationship with Sony went into decline, he took a court case against the company seeking a "divorce" and accusing the company of holding him in "professional slavery". Michael failed in his legal battle and his contract with Sony was bought out by the rival company, Virgin.
SHORTLY AFTER THE case, Michael met his first boyfriend, the Brazilian Anselmo Feleppa, but the relationship ended in tragedy two years later when Feleppa died of a brain haemorrhage. Always private about his sexual orientation, Michael didn't go public about his sexuality until his arrest for "engaging in a lewd act" in a public toilet in Beverly Hills in 1998. The singer had been arrested by an undercover police officer amid accusations of "entrapment".
Michael pleaded "no contest" to the charge and was fined $810 (€619). He later lampooned the incident in the video for his single, Outside. At the time of the incident, Michael was involved in a long-term relationship with Kenny Goss, an American sports clothing executive. Still together, the couple have an "open" relationship.
He has carried on releasing successful albums over the last few years but makes a habit of sending out confusing messages about his career. Before the announcement of this current tour earlier this year, he had always said that he would never perform live again. Following his last album of original material, Patience in 2004, he announced his retirement from the music industry.
His plan was to release any new material free online. Fans would be asked to make a donation to charity for the downloads.
"I'm sure this is unprecedented, it's definitely unprecedented for someone who still records," he said at the time. He added that he hoped his retirement would ensure a bit more privacy for him.
All of which makes his decision to embark on a large-scale European tour all the more puzzling. But then this is the man who is currently back on the Sony label despite all his problems with the company in the past. He has also ended his feud with Elton John.
However, he has still to make up with the American people who reacted badly to his 2002 single, Shoot the Dog. The video for the song was a cartoon depiction of Tony Blair and George Bush. He was accused of causing offence to the American people and when he appeared on CNN to defend the video saying it was intended to be satirical, he was booed by some sections of the audience.
His current tour is called "The 25 Live Tour" as it is a celebration of his 25 years in the music business. As some evidence of his enduring appeal, the UK and Irish dates of the tour sold out within half an hour of going on sale earlier this year.
The Marshall Arts music promotion company was prompted to note that "the George Michael tickets have been the fastest-selling tickets in the 30 years that we have been promoting shows".
Michael's trials over the last few years seemed to have, if anything, bolstered and solidified his fan base. As he said just after his first show back after a 15-year break: "I truly believed that tonight would never happen, that I would never sing these songs to you again. But then, I'm a fool - which you've probably worked out by now."
TheMichaelFile
Who is he?A troubled singing star back treading the boards again
When is he coming here?He plays the Point Theatre, Dublin, on December 7th, 8th and 9th, but all tickets sold out months ago
Liked by:Tabloid news editors
Disliked by:Road safety campaigners and anti-drugs groups
Help is at hand:Following his recent run-ins with the law, the shy and retiring ex-Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell, has promised to look after him