Profile: George Michael

12 June 2008 04:38pm

Real Name: Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou

Image: Solo pop singer and songwriter, one half of 1980s chart-topping duo Wham!

Birth Date: June 25, 1963

Best Known For: His controversial private life - including admitting to cruising for gay sex, a drugs caution and incidents in 2006 when he was seen slumped in his car.

Early Life: George was born in Fulwood, Preston. His father is Greek Cypriot and his mother is British.

Shortly after his birth his parents moved to London and this is where George spent most of his childhood.

His musical career began when he was still at school and formed a band called The Executive with best friend Andrew Ridgeley.

In 1981, the duo formed Wham! and they shot to fame with their first album, Fantastic!

He left Wham! in 1986 and his first solo album Faith has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

Career High: The first three singles of his solo career all went to No 1 in the UK chart with Careless Whisper (1984), A Different Corner (1986) and Aretha Franklin duet, I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (1987).

Love Life: He was very private about his sexual orientation, during his Wham! career and was linked to many high profile women.

His sexuality was outed in 1998 in the now infamous public toilet incident (see below) and he has since become public about his gay relationship with Kenny Goss.

Don't Mention: In April 1998, he was arrested by an undercover policeman for "engaging in a lewd act" in a public toilet in a park in Beverly Hills.

Words Of Wisdom: ""I still believe that music is one of the greatest gifts that God gave to man."

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