You were not a funny guy.”Īs he became more and more famous, George became increasingly terrified his career would be ended if he came out as gay. However, if you were a handsome, sexual figure like George was, that made you threatening because suddenly you were a sexual creature. “Everybody knew about Boy George and at that point, everybody knew about Elton, but Elton and Boy George had this clown-like image and that was OK.
“Back in George’s day, very few artists were out. “Today it’s an asset if you are LGBTQ+,” James explains. George Michael (1963-2016) pictured during the Japanese/Australasian leg of his Faith world tour. In that context, George Michael kept his sexuality a closely guarded secret. Gay men were mocked and denigrated in the media, with hateful headlines wishing death on queer people. Homophobic attitudes were rife, and the emergence of HIV and AIDS led to a flurry of hatred. They instantly achieved stratospheric success – their debut album Fantastic topped the UK charts. In 1981, George formed Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley. “But on the other hand, he had this spectre of fear hanging over him – what if people found out? Because then the entire dream would dissipate.”
“He felt on the one hand this tremendous drive to be famous, to make it to the top and to be loved by everyone,” James says. Lesley, his mother, spent the rest of her life trying to make up to George for what had gone wrong in his childhood.” He achieved stardom in a world that was deeply hostile to gay menįrom the age of seven, he knew he wanted to be famous – he had a yearning to leave his imprint on the world, but as he reached his teenage years, he became terrified his sexuality would stop him from reaching for the stars. “Towards the end of his life, George said his father had softened and become a nicer guy, but the damage was done. George was always close to his mother, but his relationship with his father was strained. British singer-songwriter George Michael, of Wham! in a Sydney hotel room during the pop duo’s 1985 world tour.
0 kommentar(er)
