READING COMPREHENSION/BUILDING VOCABULARY

George Michael (1963-2016):

Life of the pop superstar
George Michael, who was only 53 year old, suddenly died at
his home in a village Goring-on-Thames in Oxfordshire on
25th December 2016.

HIS YOUTH
George - whose real name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, with a nickname Yog
("Yours Only George") - had two older sisters and as the only boy in the family was given
more freedom. His father was an immigrant from Cyprus, a very determined person who had his own restaurant. His
mother, an English dancer, took two jobs to make their existence.
In one of his interviews George said: “...Then, at about the age of eight something strange happened. I had a
head injury. I know it sounds bizarre but all my interests changed. First I had been obsessed with insects.
Then suddenly, I became absolutely obsessed with music and everything changed after that.” George
refused to go to private school and his father gave up hope of him getting a “real career”.

HIS CAREER
George Michael sold more than 100 million albums throughout a career which
lasted almost four decades. He ranks among the best-selling British acts of all time, and he was
ranked 40th on Billboard's list of the Greatest 100 Artists of All Time. He won various music
awards, including three Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, two Grammy Awards
(from 8 nominations), three American Music Awards etc.

In 1981, he formed a band Wham! with his classmate Andrew Ridgeley. They were 18 when they signed in a contract for
£500 each that George would later describe as “professional slavery” (it would take him until
2007 to be free of that contract). George said: ”When your real name is Georgios Kyriacos
Panayiotou you need a stage name fast.” George Michael was born. While everything he wrote
for Wham! turned to gold, George learned he did not like the fame that came with it.
Wham! made massive success, releasing many hit singles including Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You
Do), Club Tropicana and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. Their song Last Christmas was a huge
hit and it’s still one of the most popular Christmas songs on the radio. In 1985 Wham! was such a
hit that it the first western pop group to tour Communist China. Their final single The Edge Of
Heaven from 1986 was also a No1 hit.
Three days after George’s 23rd birthday, Wham! ended it all at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 72,000 fans. A
million people applied for tickets.
Shortly before Wham! split, Michael started his solo career with the megahit song Careless Whisper (a
song about his two girlfriends which he wrote as a 17-year-old on the top deck of a bus). He dedicated
it to his mum and dad. In 1991, Wham! were reunited in front of 170,000 people - their biggest live
concert - in Rio.

His first solo album Faith was a massive success in 1988. It was No1 both in the UK and the USA,
selling more than 25 million copies. In 1990 his next album Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1 sold even more copies in the
UK than Faith.
He had another No1 single in 1994, with a song Jesus to a Child, a tribute to his partner Anselmo,
who died of HIV the year before. In 2004, he released the album Patience. In
2006 he began his first live tour in 15 years and in 2007 he made his wish
come true as he asked to be the first artist to perform on the new Wembley
Stadium (90,000 people). George started with a period of semi-retirement in
2008, quitting live performances and seeking a "quieter life" out of the public
eye. In 2011 George Michael started The Symphonica Tour, his last one,
which was made with a symphonic orchestra. Later he only appeared to make
an unforgettable performance during the closing ceremony at the London 2012
Olympic Games. In 2014 The Symphonica became his seventh No1 album in
the UK.
 A TROUBLED LIFE
It all probably started when Sony was suing him for failing to publicise the album Listen
Without Prejudice. George’s partner Anselmo had been dying of HIV and at the same time
George was trying to break free from the contract. George said: “When you have just made
$200million for a company, you expect them to be a little bit patient with you. It was very
obvious I was going through something personal which meant that I couldn’t face the world.
… I was absolutely terrified.” Three months after Anselmo’s death, the High Court ruled
against George.
His beloved mum Lesley died of cancer only three years after that, in 1997, which was a gut-punch for family-orientated
George. He started a battle with drug addiction which started after his mum's death. The 1998 arrest in Los Angeles made
an instant media attention, and seemed to jeopardise Michael's reputation. But instead of making excuses for his
behaviour, he spoke openly about his sexual orientation and released a single and video, Outside, which mocked the Los
Angeles police who had made a celebrity-targeted setup and arrested him in public toilets in a Beverly Hills park.
Outside was sold in fantastic numbers.
George Michael nearly died from pneumonia in late 2011 during a tour. After receiving treatment
in a Vienna hospital, he made a tearful appearance outside his London home. He said: "Basically it
was by far the worst month of my life", adding: "I have to believe that somebody thinks I've still
got some work to do here." Before he appeared outside his house, he arranged for an assistant to
bring out a plate of mince pies for the media gathered outside. George had to cancel his Australian
tour. But he was to return to hospital just 18 months later with a head injury following a bizarre
incident on the motorway when he fell from his vehicle. On Christmas 2016 he was found dead in
his home. It was his Last Christmas, indeed. An unexpected shock for the family, friends and millions of the faithful fans
all over the world that will leave a massive hole in their lives.

GENEROUS GEORGE

Stories of the pop superstar secretly handing out huge sums of cash to
needy causes have emerged since his death:

 £5,000 tip to indebted student nurse;

 he saw on TV and handed £15,000 to a woman who needed a
medical treatment to have a baby;
 a £5,000 tip to a barmaid who had student debt;
 the star donated royalties from some of his biggest selling singles and has made
huge donations to Childline, the Terrence Higgins Trust and Macmillan Cancer
Support;
 he often gave large sums to people he saw were in distress or having problems;
 he also gave free concerts for good causes;
 in 2000 he anonymously bought the piano on which the ex-Beatle John Lennon composed the classic hit song
Imagine. He paid £1.67 million. He was later revealed as the owner of the instrument and announced he was
going to hand it over to the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool;
 in the mid-eighties, 2 of his teenage fans had hitchhiked to see him and had lied to their parents about where they
were. When George found out, he paid for their taxi's home and he called their parents too (but still they ended up
being grounded for about 5 months).
 A) VOCABULARY EXERCISE - MATCH THE WORDS AN D DESCRIPTIONS:

immigrant continuance in life

existence a bad opinion or feeling formed without knowledge or reason

bizarre a strong hit to one's body or spirit

slavery action or reaction

fame a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country

prejudice plot; a secret plan to do something evil or unlawful

suing causing tears; to make cry

gut-punch unusual; strange; odd

jeopardise giving and sharing a lot; unselfish

behaviour to give

mock a part of money income that an author gets from the sale

setup complete ownership and control by a master

pneumonia loyal

tearful to travel by obtaining free lifts (in motor vehicles)

faithful to be commited to return money

generous making a process in law against somebody

handing out inflammation of the lungs

indebted to attack or treat with immitatation; make somebody look like a fool

royalties to put in risk

hitchhike public reputation

B) CIRCLE THE CORRECT ONE: TRUE or FALSE

George Michael’s father was a Greek from Cyprus and mum was English. TRUE FALSE
He fell out of his car and hit the head when he was 8. TRUE FALSE
He became a superstar and liked the fame very much. TRUE FALSE
George Michael’s first solo album was called Patience. TRUE FALSE
George Michael nearly died from pneumonia in late 2011. TRUE FALSE
He was very selfish and didn’t like to help strangers or people in general. TRUE FALSE