George Michael

George Michael had one of the most beautiful voices in pop, wrote perfect songs and sold records by the tens of millions. All of that was known while he was alive. What almost nobody knew — and what only began to come out when he died, on Christmas 2016 — is that this man had spent decades giving away his fortune in secret, helping strangers without anyone finding out, on the explicit condition that it never be made public. The measure of his greatness is not only in the songs. It is in all the good he did quietly, without wanting to be thanked for it.

First, the artist

Before the generosity you have to name the talent, because it was enormous. He started in the eighties with Wham!, that machine of bright hits, and from there he jumped into a solo career that placed him among the greats: "Careless Whisper", "Faith", "Freedom! '90", "Father Figure", "Praying for Time". He had a voice of extraordinary warmth and control, and he wrote with a sophistication that sometimes hid itself beneath how catchy the melodies were.

And he had backbone. In the early nineties he went to court against his own record company, Sony, fighting for artistic control of his work, in a battle he knew he would probably lose. He fought it anyway, on principle. He also lived his sexuality with a brave honesty, at a time far less kind than the present one. He wasn't just a pretty voice: he was an artist with convictions, willing to pay the price of standing by them.

The secret generosity

And here is what makes him unforgettable as a person. When he died, stories began to surface, one after another, of a generosity he had kept hidden his entire life.

He donated millions to charities anonymously. He worked as a volunteer, with nobody recognising him, at a soup kitchen for homeless people. He gave a stranger who had said on television that she couldn't afford fertility treatment the full amount she needed, in secret. He left enormous tips for waitresses in debt. He helped people who would never know their benefactor was one of the most famous stars in the world. And those who did find out, he asked to keep it quiet.

Think about what that means. Giving without it being known is the purest form of giving, because nothing comes back to you: no image, no prestige, no public gratitude. George Michael chose that form, for decades, in silence. He could have set up a foundation with his name on it, cameras and applause. He preferred to help out of sight. That is a greatness far harder to reach than the one on the charts.

What to remember

George Michael was one of pop's great talents — a beautiful voice, a fine songwriter, an artist with principles who took on his record company and lived honestly. And he was, in secret, one of the most generous men in his business: he gave away millions anonymously, helped strangers without seeking credit, and asked that nobody be told. He died in 2016, at fifty-three.

Remember him this way: his songs were magnificent, but the best thing George Michael ever did isn't on any record. It is in all the people he helped when nobody was watching. Generosity that seeks no applause is the only real kind, and he practised it his whole life.

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Sources

George Michael (Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou), British singer and songwriter born on 25 June 1963 in London and died on 25 December 2016, at the age of fifty-three. He began in the duo Wham! before a successful solo career with hits such as "Careless Whisper", "Faith", "Freedom! '90", "Father Figure" and "Praying for Time". In the early nineties he was in litigation with Sony over artistic control of his work. After his death numerous accounts emerged about his generosity, kept secret for years: anonymous multimillion donations to charitable causes, unacknowledged volunteer work supporting homeless people, and direct help given to strangers on the condition that it never be made public. Profile compiled for Rebobinados with fact-checking; interpretations of the meaning of the work are offered as the author's reading. No song lyrics are reproduced, for copyright reasons. Information drawn from NPR, Smooth Radio, Yahoo, Fox News and other coverage.