George Michael told Wham’s death! – the band he formed with his childhood friend Andrew Ridgeley – was tied to his being secretly gay.
“Actually, Wham’s landmark! had nothing to do with it,” the singer shared in an unreleased interview for her upcoming Netflix documentary “Wham!”.
“Wham’s landmark! It was me when I suddenly thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m a big star and I’m gay,’ and depression was about that,” he continued, “about how I pinched myself.”
The documentary tells the story of Michael and Ridgeley, who met at school and bonded over their shared love of music. The duo decided to form a music duo and had already achieved success by the time they turned 20.
The duo became the first Western pop group to play in China, reaching multiple #1s and achieving global success. They gave their last concert at Wembley Stadium in June 1986.
The “Careless Whisper” singer realized at age 19 that she was gay, or at least bisexual.
“I stayed at this man’s house,” he said in an interview starring in the documentary. “He tried to have sex with me but I was so scared but realized that I wanted to spend the night in bed. I realized that I wanted to be close to this man who had never been before.
Michael went to explain the situation to his best friend, Ridgeley, who not only “wants him to be happy” but advises Michael not to open up to his family, especially his father, who is a stern Greek Cypriot immigrant.
“This is a very important moment,” Michael said. “At that time I really wanted to go out and then I completely lost my courage.”
As Wham!’s success continued, the singer felt more and more trapped.
“I was thinking, ‘What am I going to do?’ there was a voice saying, ”he recalled. “I was smart enough to know that if I was looking for happiness, it was the wrong way. I shouldn’t have tried to catch up with Michael Jackson or Madonna, that’s exactly what I was intending to do. I wanted to be able to grow as a person, but I felt trapped.”
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Freedom!” the singer admitted that she was “too young and immature to know that I’ve sacrificed as much as I did.”
Michael went on to have a hugely successful solo career and finally rejoined his family after his true love, Brazilian dress designer and stylist Anselmo Feleppa, died of AIDS in 1993. always supportive mom. Unfortunately, his father did not take this news well.
In later years, the Grammy-winning actress repeatedly fell in love with porn stars and developed a serious drug problem.
He died of liver disease and heart failure at the age of 53 on Christmas Day 2016.
“What!” It starts airing on July 5th.