Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about George Michael

The world lost a pop music icon when singer George Michael passed on Christmas Day in 2016. Many of you know him for his hit songs like “Careless Whisper” and “Faith.” Here are ten other facts about George Michael that you may not have known.
#1: He was left handed. George Michael was one of the most famous lefty’s in the music business. He shares this rare trait with Paul McCartney and Phil Collins. Only about 10% of the world population is left-handed.
#2: His group Wham! Was the first Western Pop Group to tour in China, with a final concert held at the Worker’s Gymnasium in Beijing. The tour was documented in the film Foreign Skies: Wham! In China. It took Wham! manager Simon Napier-Bell nearly 18 months to book the deal with Chinese bureaucrats. Wham! played in front of 15,000 people at the Worker’s Gymnasium where police were on hand to stop the Chinese spectators from behaving in what they called an “overcited” manner.
#3: His wedding gift to Prince William and Kate Middleton was a cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1972 song, “You and I” which was released in April 2011. It was released solely on MP3 and was downloadable for free. The one catch was George asked that anyone who did download the special track make a contribution to the “Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton Charitable Gift Fund.” The song had its world premiere on April 15th, 2011 on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight.
#4: He accidentally fell out of a car traveling on the M1 motorway in England and was airlifted to a hospital. He spent two weeks in the hospital following the near-fatal accident, suffering head injuries, cuts and bruises, leaving him with a five-inch scar on his head. The singer fell out of a Range Rover that was traveling at 70mph at the time.
#5: During his career, he won 21 music awards from a total of 49 nominations, including two prestigious Grammy awards. A 1987 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance for Duo or Group and the 1989 Award for Album of the Year for Faith. His last Grammy nominations came in 2005 when he was nominated for Best Remixed Recording and Best Short Form Music Video.
#6: Undercover cop Marcelo Rodriguez busted him in 1998 for soliciting sex in a men’s toilet, which led to Michael publicly revealing he is gay and mocking the incident in the music video for “Outside.” The song was seen as a self-deprecating PR exercise and the video begins with a parody of a 1970s European adult film, with a sultry jazz saxophone score.
#7: His 1987 Duet with Aretha Franklin on “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” gave Aretha here first and only number-one hit in the UK. This was the song that won his first aforementioned Grammy. The video included Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, one of the greatest soul twosomes of all time. It was Michael’s third single since going solo.
#8: 25 Live was his first tour in 15 years. He performed 106 shows in 41 countries and grossed almost $200 million. Within two hours of initial sales, 240,000 tickets were snatched up by fans. The first to sell out were UK shows in London’s Wembley Arena and Earls Court as well as Birmingham’s NEC Arena and Manchester MEN Arena. To meet demand, 14 gigs were added to the tour, including three additional shows in London alone.

#9: Russian Billionaire Vladimir Potanin paid him $3 million for a 75-minute long New Year’s Eve concert in Moscow in 2007. The sum, which works out to about $40,000 a minute, is thought to be the largest a recording artist has ever earned for a single gig. Most of the payment was taken in cash. The party was for 250 of the billionaire’s family, friends and business associates. Guests were treated to 13 songs, one right after the other. The singer had 25 crew members and 15 band members flown in for the show. Mr. Potanin is Russia’s ninth-richest individual and runs the world’s largest producer of palladium and platinum, Norilsk Nickel.
#10: His father, Kyriacos Panayiotou is a Greek Cypriot while his late mother Lesley Angold was English. Speaking of his restauranteur father, George said, “I didn’t learn about hard work from him because I could never work as hard as he did. Just the idea of coming to a foreign country and working until your fingers bleed. When I look at my Dad, that’s what I see.” George was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou.
There you have it, 10 unbelievable facts about George Michael. How many tidbits of knowledge did you pick up today while Getting Up To Speed? Subscribe to our channel and check back soon for our next video. Ask yourself, Do You Have the Guts?

[rosamiller]

I love George Michael and think he's the greatest artist of my generation. He was a musical genius. Just amazing that he wrote and composed complete songs in his head and carried them in his memory sometimes for years before he actually recorded them in the studio. He was a rare talent that maybe comes along every hundred years.

[francoisevanwinckel]

George Michael est un génie de la musique, une star indetronable, une très belle personne, ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

[TheSunnybunny]

ANOTHER FACT BEST ARTIST OF ALL TIME R.I.P

[halfbreedlife]

He was ambidextrous, not just left handed. Watch him...he switches hands all the time!!!...switched

[lioneletreginelair]

Joyeux anniversaire george fan regine bisous💋🍰🎂🍾🥂💕💔😭😭😎😎🗯🗯

[halfbreedlife]

George was not just left handed. He was ambidextrous. Meaning he could use either hand. You can watch his videos. Sometimes he uses his left hand, sometimes his right. He ate with his right hand while the left was busy getting food for his plate. He'd be drinking a drink with his right hand & signing autographs with his left. Which when he used his right to sign it was a little more legible. You just have to watch his videos to see that he used both hands to do whatever!!!

[halfbreedlife]

Plus u miss pronounced Jack's name & their last name