When I was in junior high school, Mp3 was not yet popular, and listening to songs in addition to playing tapes was to listen to radio stations on the radio.
I remember at that time, the favorite song recommended by many music radio anchors was "Careless Whisper" by Mighty Or "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Mighty lead singer George Michael and British superstar Elton John.
Then at the end of the song, the anchor will always sigh, "Mighty may be the band that Chinese is most familiar with, but unfortunately it has long been disbanded." ”
However, just after Christmas, we received bad news: George Michael died at the age of 53.
Michael's agent issued a statement: We confirm with great pain that our beloved child, brother and friend George Michael passed away peacefully at home during the Christmas period.
On April 7, 1985, the band arrived at Beijing Capital Airport by plane, and because of their "diplomatic" relationship, they became the first Western pop band to set foot on this part of China.
The performance at that time impressed countless Chinese, a ticket priced at 5 yuan was quickly snapped up, and on the day of the 10th performance, it was even more difficult to find a ticket, and the scalpers doubled this ticket by more than 5 times.
This performance is the pop music enlightenment of many Chinese singers, "Growing up so big to listen to this kind of music for the first time, we are all stupid, our own previous performance sound did not dare to open so big, this time when I heard the sound of the bass and drum, it was physiologically exciting." ”
With the rise of the mighty band in China, George Michael has undoubtedly become the most familiar European and American superstar of the older generation. If you tell your mom and dad the news of George Michael's death now, they may tell you the old story of that year with a little sadness.
You know, George Michael wrote the song "Careless Whisper" at the age of 17 and became a young idol that swept the 80s. But in fact, he seems to prefer to position himself as a musician rather than a pop idol.
In 1986, after a trip to China, the band Mighty announced their dissolution. George Michael flew solo and single-handedly completed his first solo album "Faith", and achieved unprecedented success, which also heralded the birth of a generation of superstars.
"Faith" won the Billboard Billboard chart for 12 consecutive weeks, and the sales figure in the United States was as high as eight platinums, and his fame had long overshadowed the previous mighty band, becoming a famous music composer in the pop music scene.
In 1990 he discovered his second album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1), due to the problems found by the publicity, the results of this work are not as good as the first one. But many fans hailed the album as the most classic of George Michael's career.
In 1991, George Michael gave a solo concert at Wimbledon Stadium and invited his idol Elton John to sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me", which became a classic in the hearts of a generation.
The '90s were the pinnacle of George's career and the most controversial phase of his life, no less than the madness of a rock superstar.
Because of the release of the album, he fought a lawsuit with the company that supported him, lost a huge liquidated damages, and was hidden by the record company, and did not release a record for 6 years.
In 1998, he was also forced to open up as gay for "lewd acts in the toilet."
In 2004 he discovered the EP Freeek! One of the songs is hated by Americans for nakedly satirizing American politics...
At a time when people thought that the former generation of kings was "over", George Michael used a documentary " George Michael : A Different Story " to explain to the public what he had done over the years.
George Michael and Elton John
From rage to sudden wealth, the pressure of fame, the death of his lover and mother due to AIDS, while becoming the king, he also got a tragic life. At that time, he once told reporters, "At that time, my life was very fragile and dangerous, and jumping off a building was probably the best relief." ”
Everyone thought that George's "Patience" released in 2004 was his last album, because he was too painful at that time, so he decided to quit the music scene. But the music was always with him and kept him free from the pain again.
In 2014, he released his sixth solo album, Symphonica, and a generation of superstars never left his favorite music, even though the times had left him.
George Michael and Paul McCartney
In this era of superstarfall, the death of George Michael is somewhat surprising. In the past he might have felt that death was a relief, but now, what does death mean to him? Let's count it as "fate", he eventually went to the fate of a rock star, although he was not an "orthodox" rock star.
The death of an idol king also means the dust of the memory of an era. The next time he hears the beautiful "Careless Whisper" on the radio, the young anchor will say, "Unfortunately, the former king has passed away." ”