PERTH, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 20: Singer George Michael performs on stage in concert on the first night of his “George Michael Live” Australian tour at Burswood Dome on February 20, 2010 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
As a lot of my close friends know, I am an avid 80s fan. I’m a Gen-Xer who gets stoked when I hear about comeback concerts from 80s and 90s artists. In fact, my blog is mainly about the 80s. I am writing this as I am devastated about the news that George Michael passed away on Christmas day, one of my favorite artists of all time. I was in Venice, CA celebrating Christmas day with my husband’s relatives and when I checked my Instagram account, I saw a lot of George Michael photos that he passed away. I was in total shock and suddenly sadness drew upon me.
I am not writing about his life, or about how many records he sold but this write-up is about how he impacted my life. In the ’80s, I listened to a lot of Wham songs and eventually when Michael went solo he had a huge impact on me. I remember in the 80s when Brooke Shields was asked who she wants to meet and date, she revealed it was George Michael. I remember buying the vinyl record of Wham. Growing up in the Philippines, I did a lot of dancing in front of our stereo with the song “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go“. It’s a bubble gum genre and this was one of the major staple hits of the MTV generation – the neon color outfits from the video, the dressy shoes with socks of the back up dancers, and of course the dancing. I don’t have close ties with George Michael and I don’t know him personally but I feel as if he was a friend and therapist all this time. And you obviously know the reasons why. From teen-age angst to my professional life, joyous celebration, boredom from work, or being upset, listening to George Michael on at full blast in my cube with a headset always changed my mood into a positive way.
Here is to three decades of listening to his music, listening faithfully to Casey Casem’s America’s Top 40 and routing for his debut songs to hit #1 in America. And indeed they did. George had a string of eight number one hit songs and innovative videos such as “Faith”, “Father Figure”, “Careless Whisper”, “Freedom” and more. He made top models to supermodels like Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington in freedom video.
It may be silly to some people, but when your favorite artist passes away, who made a big impact in your life, it feels like a part of you has sunk. As a writer/blogger, I am blessed to express my emotions and write a tribute to George Michael. George Michael has contributed his talent to society and made a lot of people happy with his music. I will be sure to pass on his legacy to the next generation who are my kids.
RIP George Michael.
Photo from extratv.com
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