Okay, this is straining credibility and makes no sense. He was only 53. Was he sick? WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?
He had heart problems for years. He nearly died five years ago, had viral infections and smoked more weed in six hours than the entire Wailers band before they fly international. He also was a chronic impaired driver, he wasn't very nice to himself after he lost his boyfriend/husband. He was a great performer and activist for gay rights. He got railroaded with that indecent exposure bullshit, and got revenge by making a song about it, "Outside". I didn't give a shit about Wham!, but admired how he expressed himself with his songs. He also came out of the closet via the use of a song, in my opinion his best song: Father Fugure, Faith, Fredom, One More Try..... He made some true classic songs.
Just looked back at the beginning of this thread, and yep he (along with Charlie Sheen) were my picks for 2016. Why oh why couldn't it have been Charlie? My favorite GM song. My personal opinion for some time is that he had AIDS. So, therefore expected. This is not something I "know" but that bout with pneumonia is suspect.
There's a gossip site called Crazy Days and Nights that does blind items and reveals and he's twice mentioned GM having AIDS. With a notable exception, I've loved most of his songs, though admittedly my favorites are Wham era. My nostalgia favorite is of course Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, but my overall favorite is Everything She Wants. And I'll never forget Careless Whisper as messing with my head as a young girl. Cheating is always universally considered gross and offputting, and here was a song and video dedicated to the perspective of a cheater.
As if i couldn't love him anymore. http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/cele...r6k-tips-to-nurses-gigs/ar-BBxAcLw?li=BBnb7Kz George Michael was no stranger to the headlines. His private life was often offered up for public consumption. But his philanthropy was not as widely reported. Since his death, stories have emerged that reveal his generous, often spontaneous, acts of kindness. The star often kept aside tickets for NHS staff at his concerts, and once gave an entire special concert free of charge for nurses as a thank you for the care they had given his mother a decade earlier. When she died of cancer in 1997, Michael described his mother as a “woman of great compassion”, adding: “She felt much as I do, that we were living in a world that was gradually being drained of that.” © PA Wire/PA Images George Michael performs with Wham! at Live Aid in 1985Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “We are extremely grateful to George and send our condolences to his family, friends and fans.” Singer and activist Billy Bragg said: “His support for the LGBTQ community, the NHS and the miners marked George Michael out as an activist as well as a great artist.” View image on Twitter Follow Billy Bragg ✔@billybragg His support for the LGBTQ community, the NHS and the miners marked George Michael out as an activist as well as a great artist. 5:52 AM - 26 Dec 2016 1,1031,103 Retweets 2,0322,032 likes Childline’s founder and president, Dame Esther Rantzen, revealed that Michael had given the royalties from his 1996 number one single Jesus to a Child to the charity. Thanks to the “millions” he had given, hundreds of thousands of children had been helped, she added. The star, who lost his partner Anselmo Feleppa to an AIDS-related illness in 1993, supported the Terrence Higgins Trust for many years, said the charity’s Jane Barron. “We are so saddened by the loss of George Michael. George also often thought of us to kindly donate experiences and gifts that were used to raise vital funds to help us support people living with HIV,” she said. “Along with other charities, we were grateful to benefit from the royalties of George’s 1991 duet with Elton John, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me. His donations contributed to a vision of a world where people living with HIV live healthy lives free from prejudice and discrimination.” Michael was among the stars who produced the original Band Aid single Do They Know It’s Christmas? which sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and raised more than $23m for famine relief in Ethiopia. © The Associated Press FILE - In this Dec. 2, 1993 file photo, George Michael performs at "Concert of Hope" to mark World AIDS Day at London's Wembley Arena. According to a publicist on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, the singer has died at the age of 53…He also donated the royalties from Last Christmas/Everything She Wants to Ethiopian famine relief, and proceeds from Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me went to AIDS hospice London Lighthouse and the Rainbow Trust children’s charity. But it was the revelation that he was given to unplanned acts of generosity that gave fans comfort in the hours following his death. On one occasion Michael had contacted a woman who appeared on Deal or No Deal to quietly give her the money she needed for IVF treatment, TV presenter Richard Osman revealed in a tweet. Follow Richard Osman ✔@richardosman A woman on 'Deal Or No Deal' told us she needed £15k for IVF treatment. George Michael secretly phoned the next day and gave her the £15k. 2:50 AM - 26 Dec 2016 31,54431,544 Retweets 65,76265,762 likes Author and journalist Sali Hughes revealed that Michael had once tipped a barmaid £5,000 “because she was a student nurse in debt”. Follow Sali Hughes ✔@salihughes I wrote in a piece ages ago about a celeb I'd worked with tipping a barmaid £5k because she was a student nurse in debt. Was George Michael. 5:37 AM - 26 Dec 2016 3,7293,729 Retweets 8,5788,578 likes She added that Michael was was the only star on the celebrity version of the game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire who felt comfortable gambling with all the money he had raised for his chosen charity, because he had decided he would pay back the money out of his own pocket if he lost. He was, said Hughes, an “absolute mensch”. Follow Sali Hughes ✔@salihughes George Michael also put on free concerts for NHS nurses, when others were falling over themselves for tickets. He was an absolute mensch. 5:39 AM - 26 Dec 2016 296296 Retweets 858858 likes Actor Emilyne Mondo wrote that Michael had volunteered at a homeless shelter with her, but had asked the others there not to publicize the fact. Follow EMILYNE MONDO @EmilyneMondo George Michael worked anonymously at a homeless shelter I was volunteering at. I've never told anyone, he asked we didn't. That's who he was 3:43 AM - 26 Dec 2016 6,2646,264 Retweets 12,84212,842 likes Beatles fans and Liverpudlians also paid tribute to Michael, who bought the piano John Lennon used to compose Imagine for $1.7m from a private collector in 2000. He donated it to the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool, where it had previously been on loan, so that it could be kept in Lennon’s hometown for ever, saying it was “not the type of thing that should be in storage somewhere or being protected, it should be seen by people”.
I can't even deal with this. The memorial parts of the Oscars and Grammys next year are going to need their own fucking show.
This is actually something I could get behind as an annual show for each. Include more people and do deeper retrospects on the bigger names. Always liked this quote: Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not.
I'm going to guess that someone big is going on NYE or NWD. Maybe the Queen as she's had a 'cold' recently and she is 90
Carrie Fisher? This one hurts. I guess her and George Michael died for the same tangential reasons. Coke habits always tend to catch up with you.
I read an article after her heart attack that said she had just wrapped up filming for episode 8. This one really hurts a lot. Genuinely bummed out. This year needs to end already.
Richard Adams of Watership Down fame. http://www.theatlantic.com/liveblogs/2016/12/news-today/511706/12875/?utm_source=atlfb