George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and composer. He is regarded as one of the most prominent cultural icons of the MTV generation, as well as one of the best-selling musicians of all time, having sold over 120 million records worldwide.

Michael was regarded as a creative force in music production, songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. He had seven number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart and eight on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Michael received numerous music honors, including two Grammys, three Brit Awards, three American Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. He was rated 45th on Billboard’s list of the “Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time” in 2015. The Radio Academy ranked him the most-played musician on British radio from 1984 to 2004.

Michael rose to prominence as a member of the pop duo Wham! and later went solo. Wham! Forming the duo With Andrew Ridgeley in 1981, the band’s first two albums, Fantastic (1983) and Make It Big (1984), both achieved number one on the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200.

“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Last Christmas” were among their popular singles. Wham! established themselves as a global act. toured China in April 1985; the tour was the first visit to China by a Western popular music act, and it received widespread media attention.

George Michael parents: Meet Jack Panos, Lesley Angold Panayiotou

Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou was born in East Finchley on June 25, 1963. His father, Kyriacos “Jack” Panayiotou, was a Greek-Cypriot restaurateur who moved to England in the 1950s from Patriki, Cyprus.

His mother, Lesley Angold (born Harrison, died 1997), was a dancer from England.

Michael revealed to the Los Angeles Times in June 2008 that his maternal grandmother was Jewish, but she married a non-Jewish man and raised her children with little awareness of their Jewish heritage owing to her terror during WWII.

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