I should start out by stating that I was never a Wham or George Michael fan. I learned this while watching a documentary about him, and have grown to appreciate his talents over his tabloid lifestyle and choices. This is from an article…
On April, 20, 1992, George Michael was part of a star-studded lineup that included Elton John, David Bowie and Metallica at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The previous November, the flamboyant Mercury had announced, after months of speculation, that he had AIDS. Bedridden and blind, the Queen singer died the following day at the age of 45. The concert was organized to pay tribute to the legendary Mercury and to raise money for AIDS awareness.
Michael’s 15-minute set ended with a powerful rendition of the Queen classic “Somebody to Love.” He later called it “probably the proudest moment of my career.”
But it was a performance that was cloaked in irony.
Michael, then 29, was closeted and his boyfriend, Brazilian dress designer and stylist Anselmo Feleppa, was dying of AIDS.
“Try to imagine that you fought with your own sexuality to the point that you’ve lost half your twenties,” the former Wham! singer, who publicly came out in 1998, later told The Independent.
And then, upon finally finding romantic love, “along came a fatal disease to destroy everything,” author James Gavin writes in his upcoming biography of the singer, “George Michael: A Life” (Abrams Press), out Tuesday. “Fate had never seemed crueler.”
With that as the background…
