George Michael’s generosity revealed as world mourns tragic death
SPECULATION has begun to swirl over George Michael’s wealth which is tipped to be around $180 million — and who might share it.
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SPECULATION has begun to swirl over George Michael’s wealth, tipped to be around $A180 million, and who might share it.
According to The Mirror newspaper, the pop superstar’s estate includes a property portfolio of his £5million Oxfordshire home ($A8.5 million), £8m Georgian mansion ($A13.6 million) in Highgate, North London, a £2.5m pad ($A4.2 million) in Los Angeles and a £3.5m ($A5.9 million) beach home in Sydney bought in 2010, which he has been renting out.
Michael is expected to leave boyfriend Fadi Fawaz with money, as he was his current partner who sadly found him dead in bed on Christmas Day.
While he died unmarried and without any children, Michael was still godfather to his former WHAM! bandmate Shirley Holliman’s son Roman and daughter Harley who could benefit from his will.
Michael was planning a Boxing Day dinner with Shirlie and her husband, Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp, and their children.
Roman paid tribute to Michael after his death, calling him “Yog”, his family nickname.
The Mirror also speculated he could leave money to Geri Haliwell’s daughter Bluebell. While his ex-lover Kenny Goss was named as her godparent and not George, they were close to the former Spice Girl.
Michael is also godfather to former music producer Andros Georgiou’s children.
He and Michael grew up together. Their fathers left the same small village in Cyprus for a new life in London.
Michael is also expected to leave money to his two sisters, Melanie and Yioda.
He was also extremely generous with an array of charities, and it’s unclear if he left them anythin in his will.
POP ICON’S SECRET BATTLE WITH HEROIN
As Michael’s boyfriend Fadi Fawaz told of how he found him dead in bed, reports have emerged of the superstar’s secret battle with heroin.
According to The Daily Telegraph UK, a source said over the past year he is thought to have been battling a spiralling heroin addiction.
The source also revealed that Michael had been treated in hospital for an overdose.
The source told The Daily Telegraph: “He’s been rushed to A&E on several occasions. He used heroin. I think it’s amazing he’s lasted as long as he has.”
The news comes as fans, friends and charities have paid tribute to the generosity of the pop icon who secretly donated millions to good causes.
The reclusive pop superstar died at his home on Christmas Day from suspected heart failure.
Fellow musician Sir Elton John said he was in “deep shock” at the loss of “a beloved friend”.
As the world mourned his death, one of the final pictures taken of Michael in public showed the former teen heart-throb looking bloated while dining at an Oxfordshire restaurant with friends in September this year.
The revelations come as Fawaz, his celebrity hairdresser boyfriend, posted a heartfelt tribute online. Michael and Fawaz were seen together in Australia back in 2012.
“Its a xmas i will never forget finding your partner dead peacefully in bed the first thing in the morning.. I will never stop missing you xx,” he wrote.
ITs a xmas i will never forget finding your partner dead peacefully in bed first thing in the morning.. I will never stop missing you xx
— Fadi Fawaz (@fadifawaz) December 26, 2016
Fawaz told The Daily Telegraph UK that he and Michael had planned to spend Christmas Day together.
“We were supposed to be going for Christmas lunch. I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone, lying peacefully in bed. We don’t know what happened yet,” he told The Telegraph.
“Everything had been very complicated recently, but George was looking forward to Christmas, and so was I.
“Now everything is ruined. I want people to remember him the way he was — he was a beautiful person.”
The man who dated George Michael for 13 years, Kenny Goss, has also paid tribute to his “dear friend and longtime love.”
“I’m heartbroken ... He was a major part of my life and I loved him very, very much,” Goss said to E! News.
“He was an extremely kind and generous man. The beautiful memories and music he brought to the world will always be an important part of my life and those who also loved and admired him.”
GEORGE’S SECRET GENEROSITY
Michael, 53, had largely disappeared from the public stage in recent years but in private he was extraordinarily generous with his wealth.
The former Wham! singer donated royalties from some of his biggest hits to charity, gave a game show contestant thousands to fund IVF treatment and left a woman in a cafe £25,000 ($42,600) after overhearing her crying about debt.
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.
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) December 26, 2016
He helped countless children as a result of his donations to the UK children’s charity Childline.
Childline founder Esther Rantzen said Michael gave royalties from his 1996 hit Jesus To A Child to the charity, which offers phone counselling for young people.
He also supported HIV and sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.
Michael, who spoke about losing his partner Anselmo Feleppa to HIV, “personally supported” the Terrence Higgins Trust, a British HIV charity, for “many years”.
Jane Barron from the Trust said Michael gave the royalties of his Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me duet with Elton John in 1991.
In the hours after the singer’s death was announced TV presenter Richard Osman tweeted that a woman on the UK TV show Deal Or No Deal said she needed £15,000 for IVF treatment and that George Michael secretly phoned the next day and gave her the money.
It has also been reported that the Careless Whisper star gave a stranger in a cafe £25,000 after overhearing her crying over debt.
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
— EMILYNE MONDO (@EmilyneMondo) December 26, 2016
A lady from a children's charity once told me they were only still afloat because of George Michael ⤠https://t.co/W0vs3QxN1E
— Kate Waugh (@katewaugh) December 26, 2016
Another social media user joined the millions paying tribute and claimed to have volunteered with the musician at a homeless shelter.
While a journalist revealed Michael once gave a barmaid a £5,000 tip after learning she was a student nurse with large debts.
TRIBUTES POUR IN
The star’s premature death drew many remembrances and tributes from celebrities on social media.
Madonna posted a video on social media of herself presenting Michael with an award in 1989.
She also tweeted: “Farewell My Friend! Another Great Artist leaves us. Can 2016 F**k Off NOW?”
Former WHAM! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley said: “Heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog. Me, his loved ones, his friends, the world of music, the world at large. 4ever loved. A xx”
Robbie Williams, whose first solo single was a cover of Michael’s song Freedom, wrote: “Oh God no … I love you George … Rest In Peace x”.
Boy George wrote: “He was so loved and I hope he knew it because the sadness today is beyond words. Devastating.
“What a beautiful voice he had and his music will live on as a testament to his talent. I can’t believe he is gone. I hope the Buddha will hold him in his arms.”
Meanwhile fans streamed to the pop superstar home in Goring, Oxfordshire, to leave tributes.
James Corden, who was joined by Michael in 2011 for a comedy sketch that led to the hugely successful Carpool Karaoke segments on his Late Late Show on CBS, said: “I’ve loved George Michael for as long as I can remember. He was an absolute inspiration. Always ahead of his time.”
FIRST STAR TO PLAY IN CHINA
Michael — born Georgios Panayiotou — found fame as a teenager in the early 1980s after forming Wham! with school friend Andrew Ridgeley.
Michael enjoyed immense popularity early in his career as a teeny-bopper idol, delivering a series of hits such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Young Guns (Go For It) and Freedom.
The huge success of Wham! lead them to be the first major Western band to play in China after the death of Mao Zedong and decades of cultural isolation. Many Chinese who had never even heard of the band lined up for hours to buy $1.75 tickets to the groundbreaking April 1985 concert at the People’s Gymnasium, the biggest stadium in Beijing at the time.
As a solo artist, he developed into a more serious singer and songwriter, lauded by critics for his tremendous vocal range.
He sold well over 100 million albums globally, earned numerous Grammy and American Music Awards, and recorded duets with legends like Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti and Elton John.
His career suffered a blow, however, when, after years of refusing to be drawn on speculation about his sexuality, he was arrested in public toilets in Beverly Hills, California, in 1998 for engaging in a lewd act.
The incident forced him to disclose his homosexuality and his relationship with American Kenny Goss.
TROUBLE WITH THE LAW
Health scares dogged the last decade of Michael’s life.
Last year he publicly denied new allegations about drug-taking, describing them as ‘‘highly inaccurate’‘.
Michael nearly died from pneumonia in late 2011. After receiving treatment in a Vienna hospital, he made a tearful appearance outside his London home and said it had been ‘‘touch and go’‘ whether he lived.
He was also beset by legal troubles. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to driving while unfit through drugs and was banned from driving for two years after being found slumped over the wheel of his car.
In 2008 Michael took a step back from the public eye but less than a month later he was once again in the glare when he was cautioned for possession of class A drugs, which included crack cocaine, and class C drugs.
WORKING ON NEW DOCUMENTARY
In September 2010 Michael received an eight-week prison sentence following an incident the previous July in which he crashed his Range Rover into a shop in north London.
He was also given a five-year driving ban after he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs and possessing cannabis.
In 2011, he officially announced the ending of a turbulent 15-year relationship with Goss — though he said that the pair had actually split around two years earlier.
In an attempt to relaunch his musical career, Michael performed a song from his new album during the closing ceremony at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
He was set to release a documentary in 2017.
The movie, with the working title Freedom: George Michael, was to be narrated by Michael and set to feature Mark Ronson, Mary J Blige, Tony Bennett, Liam Gallagher, James Corden and Ricky Gervais.
Michael’s 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 had been set to be reissued accompanied by the documentary which would also feature Stevie Wonder, Elton John and the supermodels who starred in the video to his hit single Freedom! ‘90.
GEORGE MICHAEL’S EARLY SUCCESS
A musical great known for both his chart-topping hits and his turbulent personal life, George Michael was a giant of popular culture.
The WHAM! singer and solo performer enjoyed a glittering chart career, having sold more than 100 million records including seven number one singles in the UK, with tracks such as Careless Whisper and Faith.
He carved out an international name for himself, but brushes with the law and tales of his drug use increasingly made more impact than his musical output. The hit machine slowed, chart positions faltered and incidents of drug possession, driving offences and personal problems became the chief reasons for his occasional returns to the spotlight.
His last appearance in the top 10 was in 2004 and a Christmas single released last December climbed to just number 14 despite a devoted fanbase. Michael entered a period of semi-retirement in 2008, quitting live performances and seeking a “quieter life” out of the public eye.
Michael - born Georgios Panayiotou - found fame as a teenager in the early 1980s after forming Wham! with school friend Andrew Ridgeley.
The pair enjoyed hit after hit, including Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Club Tropicana, Young Guns (Go For It) and Last Christmas.
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