George Michael
George Michael (born June 25, 1963) is a British pop singer, who was with the pop group Wham in the 1980s. His real name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou.
Some of his biggest hits as a solo artist include Faith, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (a duet with Elton John), and 2002's Rreek. His work covers a variety of pop styles, from ballads to funky dance tracks.
He was involved in a court case concerning his record contract after his record company CBS was taken over by Sony.
He is also well known for his 1998 arrest for "engaging in a lewd act" in a public restroom in a Beverly Hills city park. He was arrested by an undercover Beverly Hills police officer named Marcelo Rodriguez.
George Michael: "Well, I was followed into the restroom, and then, this cop - well, I didn't know he was a cop at the time obviously – he started playing this game. I think it's called ‘I'll show you mine, you show me yours, and then when you show me yours, I'm gonna nick you!'" [1]
After pleading "no contest" to the charge, Michael was fined $810 and was given 80 hours community service. After that incident, he became openly homosexual. Soon afterwards, Michael made a video for his single "Outside" which was clearly based on the public restroom incident and which featured men dressed up as policemen kissing. Rodriguez, the police officer, claimed that this video "mocked" him, and also that Michael had slandered him in interviews, and in 1999 filed a ten million dollar lawsuit against the singer. It was originally dismissed by a court in California on the grounds that public officials such as police officers were not entitled to sue, but this decision was overruled by an appeals court on December 3, 2002.
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Albums
As part of Wham!
As a solo artist
External links
