1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,160 I felt the cry in his voice. 4 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:27,040 I felt the cry. 5 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,800 I felt the joy and I felt the pain. 6 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:57,520 "My name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou" - 7 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:59,240 that's how it's said. Wonderful. 8 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:00,960 "Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. 9 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,800 "To the outside world, I am and always will be known as 10 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,080 "something else, but it's not my name. As a boy..." 11 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:08,760 I haven't read this for ages. I know. 12 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:13,640 "As a boy, my biggest fear was what my huge ambitions would stay just 13 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,760 "out of reach of the child that I saw in the mirror 14 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,320 "so I created a man in the image of a great friend 15 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,840 "that the world could love if they chose to. 16 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,040 "Someone who could realise my dreams and make me a star." 17 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,000 APPLAUSE 18 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,800 Basically we've been friends since we were 12 years old, 19 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,600 and, er, when we eventually got 20 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,200 a recording contract, we didn't see any reason to, er, 21 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:58,840 to bring anyone else in. 22 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,520 We thought the image would be very good. Two friends, you know. 23 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,640 Is it true that you were unemployed before you were successful? 24 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,000 Yeah, we were both on the dole. Both on the dole. 25 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:08,560 A friend of mine, Mark Dean, 26 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,200 had just launched a label called Innervision 27 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,200 and he decided to sign his mum's next-door neighbour. 28 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,240 He was already struck by George's star quality 29 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,960 because when he'd signed to Innervision, George went 30 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,720 for holiday immediately in Greece for two weeks 31 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,600 but flew back in the middle of it to get his hair cut! 32 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:30,240 And Mark thought that was so over the top and so superstarry. 33 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:31,600 It was not a good deal. 34 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:33,320 With young artists, one of the things 35 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,480 I say to them in that jubilant moment when they sign their first 36 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,600 contract is, "All you've done is get into the casino. 37 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:41,920 "You haven't even started playing the tables." 38 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,120 The actual demo tape that got us 39 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,760 the contract was about four minutes long, and, er, 40 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,360 it was just... We did it for £20 in Andrew's front room. 41 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,160 I first met George when he was an unknown teenager. 42 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,840 Erm, I met him at a small 43 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:02,160 gay disco above a pub by Manor House Tube Station in North London. 44 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:03,800 He was a great dancer. 45 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:05,680 He'd just sing along to all the songs 46 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,440 with a very good voice. I remember him telling me, 47 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,240 "One day I'm gonna be a pop star." 48 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:12,960 I thought to myself, "Well, maybe." 49 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:14,880 # Wham! Bam! 50 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:16,840 # I am a man! 51 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:18,440 # Job or no job 52 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,840 # You can't tell me that I'm not # 53 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,600 Two cute, gorgeous bubbly boys 54 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:25,040 and those voices together, 55 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:26,360 the harmonies. 56 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,760 They were box-fresh, minty clean, wholesome but sexy. 57 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:31,840 They just had everything from the go. 58 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:33,200 They were happy and poppy, 59 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,000 but had a little bit more sustenance. 60 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:36,760 I think I liked Wham in the very beginning 61 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,040 because of the stuff I read about them having 62 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,960 a social conscience and venting about being on the dole, 63 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,120 and that appealed to me so much more 64 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:45,960 than them just being pop artists. 65 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,440 They were just the sort of perfect pop package, 66 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,480 and really smart as well. 67 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,800 That kind of intelligence kind of billowed off them, 68 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:54,600 but they didn't make an issue of it. 69 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:56,800 That was the kind of clever thing about George - 70 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,480 the intelligence was sort of there, 71 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:00,600 but he didn't really care if you noticed it or not. 72 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,120 He was just looking to wow you as a pop star. 73 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,200 Pop became a very dirty word in England 74 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,440 for a good four or five years. Erm, 75 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:10,400 but it's definitely, er, 76 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,200 it's definitely the music of '83 in England. 77 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,440 You know, when George looked at Andrew, 78 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,520 that was Wham as far as he was concerned. 79 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,880 I actually thought Andrew was the key figure 80 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,520 because he was more confident, he looked good, 81 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:27,680 and he wasn't wearing a string vest. 82 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,120 People would say to George, "You're the songwriter, 83 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,680 "you're the singer, well, what does Andrew do?" 84 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,320 Andrew was the kind of look, the essence of it. 85 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,880 I just remember being, you know, immediately struck 86 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,640 by their bonhomie, you know. They were incredibly easy to be around. 87 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,600 You know, they were funny and they were bright. 88 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:47,760 I mean, they were 18 years of age. 89 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:53,560 George's father was Greek, Greek Cypriot. 90 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:55,200 When you grow up in England 91 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,840 but your parents aren't English, or at least in this case one 92 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,760 of your parents isn't English, the predominant pop cultural form 93 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,520 of your time is what you will turn to, 94 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,960 to find out who you are. And pop is more often than not 95 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,640 the engine of that realisation. 96 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,960 It tells you what you are. And Top Of The Pops, 97 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,200 I mean, Top Of The Pops, for someone like George, was 98 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,240 a news programme. It wasn't just an entertainment programme. 99 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,080 It was where you got your news from. 100 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:25,160 It wasn't cool, it wasn't hip, 101 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,240 but as far as young people were concerned, it was 102 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:28,840 the centre of the universe. 103 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,240 And it hit 15, 16, 17 million every week. 104 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:34,800 Who's in, who's out, who's top, 105 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:36,680 who's bottom, and who we need to care about. 106 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,480 And that was how we talked about it in the playground. 107 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:43,160 Good evening, welcome to Top Of The Pops. 108 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,560 A load of firsts tonight - it's the first chart of November, 109 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:46,920 it's my first Top Of The Pops, 110 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,040 and it's THEIR first Top Of The Pops. Wham! 111 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:51,520 The debut was very important cos 112 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,480 a debut was how you sort of announced yourself to 113 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,160 the world. And some artists came across as quite naive, 114 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,520 quite overwhelmed, like they hadn't thought it through. 115 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,320 And then there were other artists that had clearly... Knew all about 116 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,480 cameras and about red lights 117 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,760 and where to look when there was a red light on, 118 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,560 and George had that down to a T. 119 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:14,160 George was like a scholar of how to carry yourself on television. 120 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:16,400 # Well, I hadn't seen your face around town a while 121 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:18,240 # So I greeted you with a knowing smile 122 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:20,320 # When I saw that girl upon your arm 123 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,360 # I knew she'd won your heart with a fatal charm 124 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,920 I said, "Soul Boy, let's hit the town"... 125 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,080 They had their routines, they had the girls, 126 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:29,720 they had each other, of course, 127 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:31,720 and they were clearly going to be stars. 128 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,080 Right, now, I'm here in the middle of the nearest 129 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,160 to mass hysteria I've ever been in any way. 130 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,840 Last week I was an unknown, and suddenly I've got all these girls 131 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:43,640 around me. Anyway, I hear apparently you're in the process of trying 132 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:45,960 to change your record company or something? 133 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,040 Well, there's a lot of legal difficulties we're having 134 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:51,560 at the moment, erm, which is why we haven't got a single out at 135 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:52,880 the moment, which is a shame. 136 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,800 They had big hit records early on as Wham! 137 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:00,280 but these were dance records sold on 12-inch vinyl. 138 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,120 They didn't get a royalty for this. 139 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,600 It's very easy to say that we were all naive 140 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:06,280 and didn't know what we were doing, 141 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,200 but, you know, they had lawyers, I had lawyers, 142 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,120 erm, so I don't know really. 143 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,400 Basically, he knew what he was doing when he went to 144 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:17,760 the business just that much more than we did at first, 145 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:19,880 a considerable amount more, because he'd been in 146 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:21,640 the business for four or five years. 147 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:23,120 All the records they were selling, 148 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,680 they were absolutely making zero money for. 149 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,840 They needed money to get out of the Innervision contract. 150 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:36,120 The plan was then going on tour and creating Wham-mania. 151 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,960 I went to see them at Hammersmith Odeon where both Andrew 152 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,400 and George were putting shuttlecocks down their shorts 153 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:43,840 and then batting them out into the audience, which 154 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:45,880 seemed pretty gross to me at the time! 155 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,800 I must have been one of the only 12-year-old boys there. 156 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:50,120 I was there with my sister. 157 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:51,600 I must have seen thousands of gigs, 158 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,440 but that one I remember where I was standing, looking up at the stage, 159 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:56,680 and just watching this ridiculous kind of, erm, 160 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:58,640 cabaret happening onstage! 161 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,440 Fila sponsored the tour and George and Andrew took, 162 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,240 you know, great perverse fun at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, which was 163 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,200 the coldest venue this side of, you know, 164 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:12,000 the Arctic Circle. And I remember having jeans on 165 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,600 and a chunky jumper, and George going, 166 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,560 "You're not going on like that." I said, 167 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,800 "What are you talking about? It's freezing out there." 168 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:20,400 "No, Gary, we've got a deal with Fila. 169 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:23,160 "You've got to put the shorts on and the T-shirt." "What?!" 170 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:24,920 Actually the joke was on George 171 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:26,720 because halfway through the tour, he was 172 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:29,560 the one who ended up in bed with bronchitis. 173 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:30,960 How are you actually feeling now? 174 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,200 Er, on the mend, definitely on the mend. 175 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,280 Er, the voice is still not quite back yet, 176 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,080 but I feel fine otherwise really. 177 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:39,680 He's better now, though, isn't he? 178 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,000 During the tour, you started to hear this word Wham-mania. 179 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,600 On the front pages of the newspapers this was splashed, 180 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,080 and you saw the tension build 181 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,240 and the excitement as they conquered the country. 182 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:54,520 This was excellent 183 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:57,360 because it would provide money to fight the court case. 184 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:01,480 Innervision, they were a subsidiary of CBS 185 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:06,120 and so the plan was to force CBS to keep Wham! 186 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,440 and say cheerio to Innervision. 187 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:12,320 I think Mark Dean had an amazing eye and ear for talent, 188 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,840 and he correctly spotted George's potential. 189 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,320 I think one can feel a little bit sorry for Mark Dean 190 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,160 because he did provide great initial impetus. 191 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:22,280 A very self-determined young man, 192 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:24,600 totally in control of what he wanted to do. 193 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:30,080 George was pretty ruthless and knew what he wanted, and 194 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,920 Mark provided the stepping stone for him. 195 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,360 # Wake me up before you go-go 196 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:37,000 # Don't leave me hanging on... 197 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,360 They moved from something overtly political 198 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,280 to something far more hedonistic. 199 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,200 # I don't wanna miss it when you hit that high 200 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:48,000 It was as though they had received Thatcher's memo that your money is 201 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:49,240 to be made and enjoyed. 202 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,640 I thought, "This has got to be number one, and it was." 203 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:53,480 # ..before you go-go, ah 204 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,480 # Take me dancing tonight # 205 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:09,000 I remember talking to Ray Parker Junior in his studio in Los Angeles 206 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,280 and he was saying, "Guilty feet have got no rhythm. 207 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,280 "Damn, that's a good line!" 208 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,000 If you're obsessed with pop, 209 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:25,480 if you're buying those records, 210 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:28,600 your whole life is an apprenticeship for those moments when 211 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:30,800 a Careless Whisper lands into your head. 212 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:34,480 I can just remember being 213 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,440 a songwriter in Germany hearing Careless Whisper for 214 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:39,600 the first time on Armed Forces radio. 215 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,120 And I remember thinking, "How can a guy, 216 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:47,640 "you know, so young, write something so beautiful and mature?" 217 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:50,640 It was so, like, it was so elegant and mature 218 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:54,080 and so full of...of some kind of 219 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:56,760 French boulevardier, 220 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,360 his vision of life like Aznavour and these guys who've seen life 221 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:02,920 and they're kind of even a bit, you know, the schadenfreude 222 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:06,160 is, like, just overwhelming. Like, who the fuck are you, 223 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:07,800 that you're a teenager 224 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,400 and you're writing things like Careless Whisper? 225 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,440 The answer was that George, despite having written 226 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,640 a pop masterpiece, was just a teenager having teenage fun. 227 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,440 Sarah Jane Barker's on the line. Hello, Sarah Jane Barker. 228 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:22,520 Hello. Hello. Hello. They're all yours. 229 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:23,680 George Michael, please. 230 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,680 What things make you angry and how do you show it? 231 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:29,560 What things make me angry? Angry. 232 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,480 And how... I could slam the phone down! I may say... 233 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,040 Oh, I make George angry. 234 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,840 Andrew makes me angry, yeah. And how do I show it? 235 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,960 Well, I make the occasional solo record and say, like, 236 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,480 "You're gonna act that way, geezer, I'm off!" 237 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,000 I just like the fact that on Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, 238 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,720 he actually sings "I'm not planning on going solo" 239 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:49,880 and then the next record's a solo record. 240 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,840 We've got a new single coming out off the album, it's a brand-new one. 241 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:53,920 Great. 242 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:55,440 Called Last Christmas. 243 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:57,080 # Last Christmas I gave you... 244 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,200 Sleigh bells and everything actually. Oh, really? 245 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,080 # Duh-duh-duh-duh And the cover is amazing. 246 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,480 You've never seen us look so stupid in your life! 247 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,560 # This year, to save me from tears... 248 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,680 The lyrics were so clever and, you know, it might have been about 249 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:12,920 teenage angst and it didn't matter what age you were at, 250 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,560 whether you were going through it yourself or whether you'd been 251 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,840 through it, you could relate to what they were saying. 252 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:19,800 So, you'd see the video for Last Christmas, 253 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,080 and it would just be so plaintive and so painful and so brilliant. 254 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,200 Of course, Last Christmas is 255 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,360 the best-selling number two of all time 256 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:30,640 because it kept out of number one by Band Aid. 257 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,840 Last Christmas is a song that is obviously gonna snare 258 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,600 the mums and dads and the grans and the kids and stuff, 259 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:41,040 but of course, on the flip side, 260 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,320 you've got this song like Everything She Wants. 261 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,160 # Somebody told me 262 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,680 # "Boy, everything she wants is everything she sees" 263 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,280 Those lyrics are painful, painful, 264 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,280 you... It just gives you a physical reaction to it. 265 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:58,240 It was kind of ostensibly about a girl 266 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,560 but actually it was also a metaphor for capitalism 267 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:02,920 and the way capitalism works in the modern world. 268 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:10,160 So, why not become the capitalist world's representative of youth 269 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,840 culture and go to communist China? 270 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,680 And take along a world-famous film director with you, 271 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,040 Lindsay Anderson, and make a film of it. 272 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,720 I thought it was quite an inspired choice, I've got to be honest. 273 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,840 You know, Lindsay very left-wing film-maker, 274 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,480 you know, a pop band going to China, first time, 275 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:28,000 you know, closed borders, 276 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,160 terrified of the Western world kind of thing. 277 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,480 But we were dealing with a country that had never seen this before. 278 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,040 They just brought everything in from the airport on flat-bed trucks. 279 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:40,160 If it had rained that day, we'd never have played China. 280 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:44,200 # Everything you want, and everything you see 281 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,960 # Is out of reach, not good enough 282 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,160 The audiences was extraordinary cos they weren't allowed to clap. 283 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,640 They weren't allowed really to respond. 284 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:57,040 They're not allowed to shake, scream or make any kind... 285 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,600 and there are guards at all the tiers, 286 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:01,280 all the way round the auditorium. 287 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,360 TRANSLATION: The police were trying to contain 288 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,200 the crowds, telling them not to stand up. 289 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,440 The Chinese audience were pretty well behaved, 290 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:09,880 but the foreigners in the audience were going crazy. 291 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,720 They were all up dancing. The speakers were so loud - 292 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:15,680 boom, boom, boom. 293 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:17,760 Our Chinese concerts were never that loud. 294 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:19,400 My heart was jumping out of my chest. 295 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,000 It was very obvious that they actually wanted very much, 296 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:24,440 erm, to be able to appreciate what we were doing 297 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:26,720 even though there was no precedence for them, 298 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,680 and even though they obviously had no idea of how 299 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,400 to react to a concert, erm, a Western concert. 300 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,440 That was a kind of seminal moment. 301 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,280 I think what Wham! in China did was mark them out 302 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:41,240 as different from the crowd. 303 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,560 Motown returns to the Apollo! 304 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:50,960 And starring Debbie Allen, 305 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,040 Tempestt Bledsoe, Lisa Bonet, 306 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:54,520 Keshia Knight Pulliam, 307 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:57,880 Patty LaBelle, Little Richard, the Manhattans, 308 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,640 Marilyn McCoo, George Michael of Wham!. 309 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,480 THEY VOCALISE TOGETHER 310 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:11,320 It was the idea of doing something spontaneously as we did then. 311 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,920 Maybe he felt a little...maybe nervous, er, 312 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,280 and I just told him, "Don't tense up, it's all good." 313 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:19,360 You know, and we could. 314 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,160 # Hate's goin' round 315 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,360 You know he had a great voice. 316 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:24,800 It was fun, we just, you know, 317 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,280 we said, "Let's just have a good time." 318 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,720 CROWD CHEERS 319 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:32,240 So don't go away! 320 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,640 He was having hair extensions put in for this Different Corner shoot. 321 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:03,920 I just remember looking at him and thinking, you know, 322 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:05,160 "Why are you so sad 323 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,400 "when everything's going so well?" You know. 324 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,960 I mean, you've just had an album which is getting on 325 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,480 to sell 20 odd million records in a year, 326 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,560 and none of that success at this point seemed 327 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,720 to be making him to any degree happy. 328 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:26,000 # Take me back in time, maybe I can forget 329 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:32,320 # Turn a different corner and we never would have met 330 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:39,080 # Would you care? 331 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:43,000 A Different Corner is the first time where you can feel 332 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:44,720 the sexuality of the man, 333 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:49,640 not just as a subtext but as the context of everything he's doing. 334 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,680 It certainly felt as though we were being given access 335 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,720 to another side of him completely. 336 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:57,520 It's clearly the work of a confused person. 337 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,120 It's heartfelt and you want to help this guy. 338 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,960 It's a beautiful song which you can read about 339 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:08,360 a man absolutely fighting the tenets of his... 340 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:10,400 the central tenets of his sexuality. 341 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:11,680 Forget the composition, 342 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:16,000 just the way he presented that super-confident, brave song. 343 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,160 He used the image 344 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:22,720 to focus people's attention more by reducing it, 345 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:23,760 by making it simpler, 346 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,240 by making it more austere, if you like. 347 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,040 More like a Rembrandt late self-portrait, 348 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,920 so that you only focus on the sound of his voice 349 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:34,680 and the words that he's singing. 350 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:38,520 CROWD CHEERS 351 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,480 Shortly after A Different Corner was released, George announces the end 352 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,120 of Wham! and a huge concert at Wembley Stadium, the final. 353 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,320 These three amazing dancers - very sassy, all dressed in black, 354 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:03,320 and George is the middle one. No sign of Andrew. 355 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:07,000 He's gonna do that thing and he's gonna do it on his own. 356 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:13,120 It struck me that this wasn't Wham's last gig, 357 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,040 this was George's first as a solo artist. 358 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,520 CHEERING 359 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,640 # Yeah, yeah # 360 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,720 She's the best, quite simply she's the best. 361 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,120 And when Aretha turned up in the limousine, 362 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,120 she had just come from her fear of flying course. 363 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,880 She had an abject fear of planes. 364 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:12,280 She was trying to get round it, and that day they'd reached 365 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,800 the stage where you go hurtling down the runway 366 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,120 but you don't actually lift off. 367 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,640 So she was kind of nervous having come through that. 368 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,200 The pair of them just hit it off instantly. 369 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,360 You can hear it on the song, the ad-libbing. 370 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:29,680 It just worked out very well. 371 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:31,720 The Aretha video, shot in Detroit, 372 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:33,160 George and I flew to Detroit 373 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,520 and we went to a studio which had been booked. 374 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,520 Aretha arrived with 30 people 375 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,960 and six limos, basically. 376 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,800 And the interesting thing is people think it was shot in different 377 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,760 places because the shots of him 378 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,200 and Aretha don't quite look like they're together, and they were. 379 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,160 And what we found was that Aretha wouldn't look at 380 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:59,160 George when they were singing. She'd only look at her entourage. 381 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,040 # A bridge that's on fire 382 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,120 So, for her to get kind of eye-lined to George, we used 383 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:06,600 to have to move her entourage 384 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,600 all the way along the street behind his shoulder 385 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,560 so it looked like she was singing to him. 386 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,720 Any artist who wants to have a career in music 387 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,280 has to have a public image, and it has 388 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,080 to be separate from your private self, otherwise 389 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,040 destruction is lurking on the way. 390 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,960 It started with the styling. So the jacket, and then I found 391 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:28,440 the guitar at this pawn shop. 392 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,320 He had a stylist in LA that he didn't like and Mel - 393 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:33,560 his sister - and I went down Melrose 394 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,240 and found most of that stuff in Leathers and Treasures, 395 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,960 and there was a jacket with "revenge" on the back, 396 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,720 and then he put his pearls on, you know, which was his kind of 397 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,800 secret sign of his sexuality. 398 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,280 The public image has to have its roots in truth. 399 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,920 So it has to be some aspect of yourself that is true 400 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,520 but then you are performing that person. 401 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,160 # Sex is natural, sex is good 402 00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,600 # Not everybody does it, but everybody should 403 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,240 # Sex is natural, sex is fun 404 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:04,520 # Sex is best when it's one on one 405 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,600 I honestly can't think of really 406 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,800 a more tasteless verse than, 407 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:12,640 "Sex is natural, sex is good, 408 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:14,920 "not everybody does it, but everybody should." 409 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:20,000 I mean that would rank really as one of the most banal and trite 410 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,680 three lines in rock and roll. How...? I don't think it's trite. 411 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,320 How many people have you met in your life that you think are better 412 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:27,120 for not having sex? If you think about it, 413 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:28,920 sex is natural, sex is good, nobody does it, 414 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,680 but everything should. I genuinely believe it, I think sex is a natural 415 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,120 part of life. I didn't say, "Have it now," or, "Have it when you're 12," 416 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,640 or, "Have it when you're 14." I said everybody should have sex. 417 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,760 I'm not gonna sit and think, "Well, they wouldn't 418 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,320 "fancy me if I wasn't a pop star or if I wasn't a singer, 419 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:44,560 "if I wasn't rich." Because I am all those things, you know. 420 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,720 Once you create a persona for yourself in public 421 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:51,400 for your career that's separate from your private persona, 422 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:54,640 then you blow it up to cartoon-like proportions. 423 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,720 # Cos I gotta have faith 424 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,480 # Mm, I gotta have faith 425 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,960 # Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith 426 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,200 # I got to have faith, faith, faith 427 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,240 Faith, I like that. 428 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:11,520 # I got to have faith, faith, faith 429 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,360 You take some music and put an image with it, OK. 430 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:19,720 Take some music and put what George Michael did with Faith to it, 431 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,320 wow, you know, then it becomes a work of art. 432 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:24,760 And it is its own commercial masterpiece. 433 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:29,080 He was the only British artist who was competing at that level. 434 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:30,880 When the Faith tour came along, that was on 435 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,160 George's shoulders completely, there was no Andrew any more. 436 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,080 So, George definitely ramped his game up. 437 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:39,160 He decided he wanted Americans in the band. 438 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,200 So we trundled off to New York to get musicians 439 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,840 and then LA, and then we got a bass player 440 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,440 and a guitar player and a background vocalist from there 441 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,720 and that then became the band. And I remember 442 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:51,160 the sound check when he suddenly 443 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,240 realised that he had musicians behind him, 444 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:57,280 and we weren't machines. I could see it turn in his head, 445 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,640 "I've got real musicians here," and then that's how we got 446 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,000 to do Stevie Wonder covers cos he suddenly realised that he had people 447 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:05,960 that could actually play that stuff, you know. 448 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:07,680 He knew that this was all on him, 449 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,400 and he was far more involved in the planning stages. 450 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:12,840 George always wanted the record live, 451 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,600 cos I made that mistake on Faith - rehearsing with 452 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,960 the American band and putting a little extra guitar here 453 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,920 and a little bit... 454 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,040 He was not pleased when he heard it. 455 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,960 He wanted everything absolutely 456 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,160 the same, and every night. 457 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,240 He was far more aware of what was going on 458 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,440 and how this thing was building towards what ended up being 459 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,640 the biggest world tour in 1988. 460 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:37,680 CROWD CHEERS 461 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,000 Faith had this incredibly long run at number one in 462 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,480 the States, won the Grammy and so forth, 463 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,760 and produced five number ones, I believe. Er, incredible. 464 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,200 George Michael! George Michael! George...Michael! 465 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,680 CHEERING 466 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,960 He came down into the lobby of the Bel Age Hotel, 467 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,440 and George had the ripped jeans thing down, 468 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,080 you know? Long before it became fashionable. 469 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:19,320 He had this sense. 470 00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:22,240 George had this sense of what was gonna be cool. 471 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:26,320 And he walked down into the Lobby of the Bel Age 472 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:29,480 with these ripped jeans on and I went, "Listen, mate, 473 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,280 "you know, we're just sort of breaking here in America. 474 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,080 "This is a pretty cool restaurant, 475 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:36,080 "and there's a dress code down there." 476 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:38,520 And he said, "Listen, come with me," he said. 477 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,680 "I'll show you why a dress code doesn't matter 478 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:42,080 "when you're George Michael." 479 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:43,600 And hey, we got out the limousine. 480 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,160 When George put his leg out the limousine, I could see 481 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,400 the security guy at the door looking at his jeans, 482 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:50,720 going, "Oh, he's going nowhere!" 483 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,120 But then George followed his legs out the limousine 484 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:57,400 and the doors just flew open. You know? Best table in the house. 485 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:03,600 He was suddenly a world superstar, 486 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,960 and I think that scared the life out of him 487 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,280 because Faith had made him such a... You know, he was such 488 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,920 a strong image and the record company wanted to 489 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:13,640 turn him into this celebrity. 490 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,600 That was the kind of period when he just didn't wanna be seen by anyone, 491 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:21,000 you know. He was upset that he was mobbed when he came off 492 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:22,880 a plane from LA or somewhere. 493 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:24,560 And he had a cowboy hat on, 494 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,720 a pointed cowboy, he had all the Faith gear on. 495 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:31,080 And I said, "Well, why don't you dress down a bit?" You know. 496 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:35,320 The problem is once you are seen in that light, 497 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:39,280 once you have...once they realise the money in you 498 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,720 and they see that you are a golden goose, 499 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,480 the complete focus becomes about that. 500 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:45,960 They were trying to control him 501 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,560 and, you know, keep him doing promo all around America 502 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,320 for months and months and months. 503 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,480 And, you know, being on every TV show and chat show and... 504 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:55,080 Are you gay? Am I gay? 505 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:58,000 That's a pretty direct first question! 506 00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:59,840 Although pop is all about theatre 507 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,480 and performance, it has to have an authentic core. 508 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:03,600 No, I'm not. 509 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:05,840 There was mismatch between what 510 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,720 George was presenting and who he was. 511 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:14,360 But the main, the main, er, thing I like to express is that 512 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,520 I don't think it's anybody's business. 513 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,880 Most people seriously underestimate 514 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,480 what that kind of pressure is like, 515 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,720 that goldfish bowl existence. 516 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,720 Cos what I'm saying is I don't think it benefits anybody listening to my 517 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:29,960 music to know whether or not I was in bed with a dog 518 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,440 or a man or a woman last night. 519 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,080 You know, it doesn't make any difference. 520 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,400 Life seemed to be getting very difficult for him. 521 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:03,760 LAUGHTER 522 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,000 The way he marketed himself, 523 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,560 he made a rod for his own back. 524 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,600 So, the question about George is that having created this passion 525 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,440 play, having created this conundrum, 526 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,240 how the fuck do I get out of it now? 527 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,760 He was the most successful recording star in the world, 528 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,560 but he was basically unhappy. 529 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,840 If I use the analogy of American baseball, 530 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,040 you're no longer able to hit really cool singles and 531 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,720 doubles any more. Everything had to be a home run or grass them out 532 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,600 the park, and there was no... there was no visceral 533 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,360 width to the situation any more. 534 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,120 This is the moment that he turns from being a... 535 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,040 a Janet, or, you know, 536 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,720 a megastar on the global stage 537 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,720 to being one of the most serious 538 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,760 and interesting songwriters of his generation. 539 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,240 He does this meditative, 540 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,800 sad, hopeful, 541 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:04,920 beautiful suite of songs. 542 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,320 The music usually came first. Erm, 543 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:11,480 so we would construct some parts of 544 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:15,000 the song, and that may be constructed with just George 545 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,800 and a drum machine and some basic keyboards. 546 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:21,440 George needed the focus of the songs to be on his voice. 547 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,320 George wasn't a fantastic musician. However, 548 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,440 what he was able to do, 549 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,680 he could hear that music 550 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,480 and he would take quite a bit of time to work out how 551 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,160 to actually play that music. 552 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,720 And he was using incredibly expensive studios as almost like 553 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,040 demo writing sketchbooks. 554 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,720 The drum track is this - hopefully it should come up now. 555 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,960 He particularly hated cymbals and tom-toms. 556 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,400 So, the music became very simple. Everything had 557 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,720 to be in his earphones as he was singing it. 558 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,560 So, he'd say, "Now, the reverb is still not bright enough yet. 559 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,760 "Make it brighter, make it longer. 560 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,960 "Make those S's and T's last longer. 561 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,760 "I need every one to disappear into the distance." 562 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,480 And he needed that part of the process 563 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,040 to be right before he could move on. 564 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,360 And he would then start to write words in 565 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,600 the studio, sitting in front of the microphone. 566 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:16,600 And just build it up line by line. 567 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,720 Singing them, see how they sound, recording them. 568 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,560 "No, it doesn't sound right," change it. 569 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,480 It's like an artist with a brush and a... 570 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,760 "No, that line's not right." Get rid of that line 571 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,960 and try this new line cos it's got more impact, 572 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,400 it's rhythmically better, it sounds better, 573 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:34,520 the consonants are better. Well, let's say, erm, 574 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:35,920 Praying For Time, for instance. 575 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,240 If you go to a song like Praying for Time, 576 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,400 we had a band to record the rhythm track. 577 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,840 He sang the lyrics as they came into his head. 578 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:59,080 It was a way of working that I'd never, ever seen before. 579 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,200 There was never any lyrics written down, ever at all. 580 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,160 And he changed the lyrics as we were recording. 581 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:07,720 Praying for Time is his masterpiece. 582 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,360 A real anthem against poverty and injustice. 583 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:11,880 There comes a point where you have 584 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,440 to write something which you have not written before 585 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:19,760 and which you're interest, erm, your interest in any particular topic 586 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,880 or subject will inspire you, and that's why 587 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:27,280 I suppose eventually most lyricists do 588 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,360 approach wider topics than sex and love. 589 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,360 You can listen to Praying For Time, 590 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,560 and it's completely consistent 591 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,520 with this kind of character 592 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:41,120 who is trying to be worthy of his fame and what's happened to him. 593 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,120 What is my fame good for? How's it made things better for me? 594 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:48,120 He understands that really art gets reinvented 595 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,440 in the heart and the soul of the person experiencing it. 596 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,000 Every personal experience is slightly different, 597 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:55,680 and that's quite important to preserve. 598 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:58,200 The best pop songs are like Rorschach tests, 599 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,600 like the ink blot tests that psychologists give 600 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:04,200 to patients, where they see in those shapes whatever it is that's going 601 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,440 on for them. And in a way, pop stars are like Rorschach tests too. 602 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,160 People project onto them the person they want to see, 603 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:17,240 and when they become devoted to a particular artist, it's 604 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,880 because they perceive in that artist something that they're 605 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,240 missing in their own lives. 606 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,120 I don't believe that I am important as a pop star. 607 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:26,600 I don't think that there are many people that are important as 608 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:28,520 pop stars in the sense that they used to be. 609 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:32,520 I don't believe that I will leave a great mark as a, er, 610 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,920 as an entity. You know? I want to leave something as a writer. 611 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:52,000 At the centre of this beautiful suite of songs is a song, 612 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,720 Freedom 90, which is about him shedding his Faith image 613 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:57,800 and shedding his fame skin. 614 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:02,320 # All we have to do now 615 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:04,960 # Is take these lies 616 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,160 # And make them true somehow 617 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:11,720 # All we have to see 618 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,920 # Is that I don't belong to you 619 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,200 # And you don't belong to me, yeah, yeah 620 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:22,320 Then suddenly it's about artistic reach being everything. 621 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,480 They burn the Faith leather jacket in a closet. 622 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,160 You could not get anything any more symbolic than that. 623 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,800 You know he was saying, you know, "I wasn't that. 624 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,280 "I'm not that George Michael that was in Faith any more." 625 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,080 But I never wanted to be someone else. 626 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,880 I wanted to be a star, and I wanted people to love me 627 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,760 and recognise me in the street. As a child that was what I wanted, 628 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,120 but I never really wanted to be someone else. 629 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:46,560 But you don't have that many supermodels in your videos 630 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:48,320 unless you want attention. 631 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,520 Fame is the worst drug of all. 632 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,760 I've seen it destroy people. 633 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:56,560 There is no drug human beings will ever come in contact with 634 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,160 as powerfully narcotic as fame. 635 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,440 To be there and then down to be here 636 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,600 is, for some of them, more painful than any drug addiction. 637 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:09,400 They dynamic is, "Yeah, I wanna be famous, I love fame, 638 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:11,000 "I like the attention." 639 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,400 On the other hand, "Don't disturb me, I'm a private person, 640 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,920 "I wanna close the doors, I don't want paps outside my house. 641 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:19,120 "I don't want people investigating this." 642 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:21,760 It seems to me there's always a paradox, 643 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:23,920 what Jung called the tension of opposites. 644 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,080 He loved fame and hated it. 645 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:28,040 He loved the media and hated it. 646 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,040 He loved music but also hated the system. 647 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:32,200 So, there's the paradox. 648 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:36,400 On the one hand, what you long for is anonymity 649 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,800 and your individualism and your privacy 650 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,000 in a public space. And on the other hand, 651 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,280 you're required to play the game. 652 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,680 And to keep up appearances, and to put on a show from 653 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,960 the moment you get out of your front door. 654 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,400 It is true, yes, when you put yourself out there as 655 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:02,400 a performer, then you know your life belongs to the public. 656 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,000 But your soul belongs to God. 657 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:23,080 When he was at his most happiest was, I would say, after Rock in Rio. 658 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:27,240 # All we have to do now 659 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,320 He was fantastic! 660 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:33,320 # Is take these lies and make them true somehow 661 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,920 # All we have to see...# 662 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:48,480 He met the man who was going to be the love of his life, 663 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:50,240 Anselmo Feleppa. 664 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:54,000 He was so happy, he was a joy to work with. 665 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:55,560 The sense of humour. 666 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:59,760 Anselmo was a great bloke who'd come to the gigs, 667 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,200 sitting with the band and have a couple of beers with everybody. 668 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:05,040 We assumed that was George's partner 669 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,000 but he never introduced Anselmo at all in that way. 670 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,640 Anselmo was great to have around. 671 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,000 We all knew. 672 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,000 You're amongst friends, it's fine. Not a problem. 673 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,160 But for him, psychologically, there was a problem. 674 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:23,240 He then had the conflict 675 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:26,640 of not being able to tell anyone about this. 676 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:31,560 Cypriot culture around sexuality is very...it's, you know, 677 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,440 it was, "Oh, you'll bring shame upon the family." 678 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:36,320 Since he came from an immigrant family, 679 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:40,040 and I had come from an immigrant family in America, I then felt 680 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:45,400 quite a bit of empathy for him of the torture for coming out for him. 681 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:46,920 It's a very difficult childhood. 682 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,360 Father, a Greek immigrant, which wouldn't have been easy, 683 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:51,720 worked incredibly hard. 684 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:55,520 Disappointed having two daughters to start with. 685 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,840 Er, George came along - thrilled, but, erm, 686 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:00,720 George wasn't the son he wanted. 687 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,720 As soon as a boy realises he's a disappointment 688 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:06,800 to his father, there's such a crushing feeling. 689 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,520 It's like a cold hand gripping the heart. 690 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:11,000 Jack wasn't a bad man. 691 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:16,880 He grew up himself with his Greek patriarchal ideas that, you know, 692 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:18,600 the son follows the father. 693 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:22,160 And his business by this time was successful, 694 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,400 and of course, in that high expectation and traditional way, 695 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:28,960 he'd expected George to go into the business. 696 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,120 I spent my whole childhood between seven and about, well, 697 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:35,160 really until the day that I got my record contract having rows 698 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,320 with my parents and specifically my father. 699 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:41,800 And during family rows he would escape to his bedroom. 700 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,800 Erm, he lived a fantasy life. 701 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,240 The experience of not being loved, 702 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:52,200 not being properly seen had tended to validate it, 703 00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:54,280 is traumatic as well. 704 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:56,720 When you're troubled or you've had trauma, 705 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,360 a way of dealing with it is to sort of reinvent yourself, 706 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,920 is to create a number of personas over the years, 707 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:04,640 try them out for size. 708 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,520 It helps you push back the bad stuff. 709 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,400 I knew Master George struggled within his life as I did. 710 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:14,960 I was just looking for my father to say, 711 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,160 "I respect you, I respect your way." 712 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,600 A lot of creative artists are 713 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,000 initially driven in their childhood 714 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:24,280 by a bad relationship with their father. 715 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:28,440 It's later in life that they come to realise that that bad 716 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:31,880 relationship has led to their creativity. 717 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:35,680 Trying to become famous is a way of getting validation 718 00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:36,880 for yourself as a person 719 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:39,880 that you don't feel in a personal way 720 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:41,880 because you feel you're kind of, you are 721 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:43,960 the person your parents warned you against. 722 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,360 But if you can get lots of people to love you on a stage, 723 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:49,960 that will kind of make up for it and validate you 724 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,560 and make you a worthwhile person. 725 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:54,520 If they find the love that they were seeking from 726 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,920 the crowd in an individual who'll nourish them 727 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:01,920 and give them that support and love and validation, 728 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:05,440 then something interesting can happen in their career. 729 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:09,320 For the first time, George was really, really happy. 730 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:13,320 They'd spent time at George's fabulous home in California. 731 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:15,760 Anselmo travelled with him for concerts 732 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,560 and that sort of thing. 733 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:18,920 But tragedy struck. 734 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,920 There is now a danger that has become a threat to us all. 735 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:27,520 It is a deadly disease and there is no known cure. 736 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:32,600 The virus can be passed during sexual intercourse with 737 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:37,400 an infected person. Anyone can get it, man or woman. 738 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:41,040 Anselmo was diagnosed HIV positive. 739 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:42,400 For the man who once sang, 740 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,440 you know, "Wise guys realise there's danger in emotional ties," 741 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:46,840 I mean, my God, 742 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:51,600 because of a disease that there's no cure for at that point, 743 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:55,040 you probably are. I think I knew, I was canny, 744 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,600 that was my insurance policy against this heartache. 745 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:21,480 The rock group Queen said tonight they were planning 746 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,280 a big musical event dedicated to their lead singer, 747 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,760 Freddie Mercury, who died last night of Aids. 748 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:32,400 George, knowing that his great love was seriously ill 749 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,600 and might not survive, 750 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:38,640 had to go onstage and be George Michael. 751 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:42,000 That's a performance you've been rehearsing your whole life for. 752 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:44,520 But knowing Anselmo was there, 753 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,120 he wasn't just performing it, he was living it. 754 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:51,400 How he had the nerve to just pull off such a moment of perfection. 755 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:57,120 # Can anybody find me 756 00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:06,200 # Somebody to... 757 00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:07,480 Come on! 758 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:09,720 AUDIENCE: # Love. 759 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:27,720 Anselmo died, and George wrote his mum and dad 760 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,880 a letter explaining what had happened to him. 761 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:33,640 And of course, his mum was absolutely horrified 762 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:37,640 that he'd gone through all this without her knowing. 763 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:44,480 And his dad responded also in a very sympathetic way. 764 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:58,160 It's a ridiculous situation to sign a contract when you're 18 years old 765 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:01,280 and be held to it for your entire professional career. 766 00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:06,200 I am bound to a very old contract. 767 00:41:06,240 --> 00:41:08,640 The end result is that I'm still a very wealthy man, so really 768 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:12,200 I can understand people thinking, "He should shut his mouth." 769 00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:13,840 But the principal is wrong. 770 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:21,040 George reacted to Anselmo's death with anger. 771 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,440 There was an allegation at this time that one of 772 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:27,280 the executives at Sony had described George Michael as a faggot. 773 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:30,600 When this got back to George, 774 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,000 he told his lawyers that come what may, 775 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:36,200 the arrangement had to come to an end. 776 00:41:36,240 --> 00:41:39,280 The copyright belongs to the record company. 777 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,160 They have loaned the artist the money to make 778 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,960 the recording. If an artist repays all those loans 779 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:48,960 and the cost of production has been paid off, 780 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:51,880 the copyright doesn't return to the artist. 781 00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:54,120 I think that's what upsets artists the most, 782 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:55,840 is the fact that they've made the records, 783 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:57,120 and especially true artists, 784 00:41:57,160 --> 00:41:59,480 they've kind of put their heart and soul into it. 785 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:01,760 They've actually made a person investment 786 00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,360 into the record, and to find that then somebody can lock it away. 787 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,480 Imagine you go to the bank and borrow money to buy a house, 788 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,920 and you place the deeds of the house in the bank's vault. 789 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:15,360 You pay the mortgage and the bank keeps the deeds 790 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,240 and continues to own the house. 791 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:19,880 There isn't one other industry 792 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:22,320 that operates on this basis. 793 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:26,960 The music business uses you, so you're allowed to use it back. 794 00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:30,440 The lawyers often were on both sides of the fence. 795 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:32,840 The lawyers were often representing 796 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:34,760 a lot of the senior executives in 797 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,440 the record company as well as representing the artist. 798 00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:40,760 Label bosses and label heads of A&R 799 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:44,080 have got just as big egos as artists 800 00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:47,760 but they haven't got the release of all the glory. 801 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:51,480 So they very often are quite hard on artists. 802 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,080 This is one industry which has been getting away with 803 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:56,600 the kind of stuff that the film industry 804 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:59,320 and the sports industry and the publishing industry 805 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:03,320 and just about every other industry has had to address. 806 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,440 You know, the right of the individual, the freedom of 807 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:10,880 the individual has been obtained in just about every other industry. 808 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:14,000 After three days, I knew it was a no-go. 809 00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:15,320 Just look at the judge. 810 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:19,480 The judge was a property lawyer. 811 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:23,760 As far as he's concerned, Sony had a piece of property. 812 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:25,080 The judge who's trying him, 813 00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:29,920 he's seen a guy complaining about the nuances of a life 814 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:31,680 of a very beautiful young superstar, 815 00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:35,200 a very wealthy superstar. And I remember thinking at some point 816 00:43:35,240 --> 00:43:37,120 that that wasn't gonna play well. 817 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:39,240 A terrible time of life that was, getting through 818 00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:41,440 a three-month lawsuit when you know you haven't got 819 00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:42,920 a hope in hell of winning. 820 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,040 I am shocked and extremely disappointed 821 00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,240 at the judgment of Mr Justice Parker. 822 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:53,280 When Mr Justice Parker sent down his judgment, 823 00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:56,040 the clue is in the first paragraph, 824 00:43:56,080 --> 00:43:59,680 because he refers to George being a wealthy man. 825 00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:01,600 I think we all realised, erm, 826 00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:04,400 that he had made so much money that it seemed 827 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,160 a bit churlish to be splitting the difference over 828 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:08,560 a contract. On the one hand, 829 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:10,680 we'd heard how grown up he was and how independent 830 00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:12,480 and how self-assured, 831 00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:15,280 and yet we were being told that he was some kind of 832 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:19,040 little patsy being played around with by the record company. 833 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:21,880 The perception was that the men in the suits 834 00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,320 and the record executives that came over from 835 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:27,520 New York were serious businessmen, 836 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:30,400 and this was a whiney recording artist 837 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:33,600 who had made lots of money and wanted more. 838 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:37,080 Even though I both created and paid for my work, 839 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:39,960 I will never own it or have any rights over it. 840 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:43,920 There is no such thing as resignation for an artist 841 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:45,440 in the music industry. 842 00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:49,680 And peppered throughout the judgment, he refers to 843 00:44:49,720 --> 00:44:51,960 the amount of money George has made. 844 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,240 At one point echoing a statement made by Sony. 845 00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:59,280 George Michael was going from being excessively overpaid 846 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:02,080 to being grossly excessively overpaid. 847 00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:03,920 When you get into court, 848 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:08,440 you know, it's a pretty vicious, dirty place. 849 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,280 Litigation is hideous. 850 00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:13,480 It's exhausting, its unbelievably stressful. 851 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:17,840 For an artist to voluntarily do that, it's a real tribute 852 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:19,800 to the strength of their feeling. 853 00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:22,560 They do understand how important it is for us to create, 854 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:24,720 and they will always have that particular leverage. 855 00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:27,480 You have to face yourself and say, "What's more important to me?" 856 00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:30,560 Is it going further in this fight, or is it getting back 857 00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:32,400 and just writing songs and making music? 858 00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:34,200 You're not just fighting for yourself, 859 00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:36,760 you're fighting for a greater sense of what could make 860 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:39,440 the industry also greater. Because it was not necessarily 861 00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:41,200 an industry that's ever embraced 862 00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:44,520 change, even when that change has been clearly to its benefit. 863 00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:47,440 All I know is, in this situation, 864 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:50,880 I can only move up from that position. 865 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:54,680 I mean, I've lost everything in terms of, erm, 866 00:45:54,720 --> 00:45:57,520 what I tried to achieve with this action. 867 00:45:57,560 --> 00:45:59,080 Well, what happens now, then? 868 00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:01,920 Well... 869 00:46:01,960 --> 00:46:05,520 What about if they said, "George, we'll release you absolutely, 870 00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:09,520 "we're not even gonna ask for any transfer fee as long as just as 871 00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:12,640 "a parting gift you give us one final album"? 872 00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:14,040 I couldn't do that. 873 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,400 He knew he was gonna lose. 874 00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:20,920 He knew it, he was a realist in things like that. 875 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:25,400 But, as he said, you know, "OK, so we'll lose, 876 00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:28,480 "they win the lawsuit." 877 00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:30,880 I'll never make a record for them again 878 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:34,360 and when I do, somebody else will pay the legal fees. 879 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:38,680 The legendary music mogul David Geffen went to Sony 880 00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:41,800 and said, "Look, George is never gonna record for you again. 881 00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:45,520 "Why don't you sell his contract to me, then at least you're covered, 882 00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:48,000 "and we can all move forward?" 883 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:51,880 # Kindness 884 00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:56,800 # In your eyes, I guess 885 00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:59,880 # You heard me cry 886 00:46:59,920 --> 00:47:02,360 # You smiled at me 887 00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:06,600 # Like Jesus to a child...# 888 00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:09,560 We were in the studio and George is beginning to write the lyrics 889 00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:11,520 to Jesus To A Child. 890 00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:13,720 They're coming at me, 891 00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:17,000 with this gorgeous Latin music, 892 00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:18,880 and it is heart breaking. 893 00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:22,080 What I liked about George's voice 894 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:24,880 were songs that were talking about 895 00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:27,920 you know, painful situations, 896 00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:29,840 and I felt the pain. 897 00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:35,080 When he suffered the loss of Anselmo dying 898 00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:38,440 is when the very personal songs started to surface 899 00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:40,480 because he'd had his validation, 900 00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:42,240 he'd lost his validation 901 00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:45,840 and there was nothing else to do but tell the truth. 902 00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:02,200 With all that George again had gone through, 903 00:48:02,240 --> 00:48:05,920 a grieving process with Anselmo, and what Pray To Me, 904 00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:08,240 like, turning up on this record, 905 00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:12,560 I just turned up as a 25-year-old kid 906 00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:16,840 just full of positivity and anything was possible. 907 00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:19,680 George just had a unique tongue. 908 00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:22,120 I can't understand the magic of it, 909 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:26,280 but some people have just got a tongue that just works, 910 00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:29,000 it just goes into your ears, and it works in your brain, 911 00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:32,040 it goes down to your heart or wherever else in your body, 912 00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:35,720 it just is a lovely thing to listen to. 913 00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:40,320 # Five o'clock in the morning You ain't home 914 00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:43,280 # Can't help thinking that's strange 915 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,520 # Yeah, yeah 916 00:48:48,240 --> 00:48:51,960 # Baby, I just want you to know 917 00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,000 # I won't go through it again...# 918 00:48:55,040 --> 00:49:00,240 Spinning the Wheel is an absolute masterwork about safe sex. 919 00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:02,680 These are incredible songs. 920 00:49:02,720 --> 00:49:07,720 These are songs that nobody else was writing, music like that, 921 00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:10,360 with that subject matter, at that time, 922 00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:13,760 and this is where he's starting to present himself 923 00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:18,560 as a documenter of gay men's interior lives. 924 00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:21,080 When I first met him, George hadn't even come out, 925 00:49:21,120 --> 00:49:23,920 so even that was very much of a kind of secret. 926 00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:27,560 There'd be stuff about lyrics and I think I was such a fan, 927 00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:30,880 I didn't ever wanna ask him to kind of spoil all that illusion 928 00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:35,000 which is bizarre, even songs that I've kind of written with him. 929 00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:37,120 When Fast Love came along I just thought it was one of 930 00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:39,200 the best records I'd ever heard. 931 00:49:39,240 --> 00:49:43,440 Fast Love on his original demo was like a Latin kind of ballad, 932 00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:47,160 it was like a salsa, very chilled out kind of thing, 933 00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:49,360 and I just put on my disco pants. 934 00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:55,840 George had this way of giving you something that created 935 00:49:55,880 --> 00:49:58,960 a particular dialogue between your hips and your heart, 936 00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:01,960 but also your head. 937 00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:04,600 We spent about three months on it and I thought, 938 00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:07,480 "That's it, it done, it sounds great." 939 00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:11,920 He comes in, he's like, "I want the track to turn into Forget Me Nots" 940 00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:14,280 I was like, "What? What you talking about?" 941 00:50:14,320 --> 00:50:16,520 # I miss my baby 942 00:50:16,560 --> 00:50:18,600 # Forget me nots...# 943 00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:21,480 Like all things, George would say stuff and you'd kind of be like, 944 00:50:21,520 --> 00:50:24,160 "It's just a terrible idea," and you'd do it, 945 00:50:24,200 --> 00:50:26,760 and it was an absolutely brilliant idea. 946 00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:31,840 # Searching for some peace of mind 947 00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:33,680 # Hey, I'll help you find it...# 948 00:50:33,720 --> 00:50:39,160 On one level you could put it with his up tempo disco club hits. 949 00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:42,200 There's an underlying bitter sweetness to that 950 00:50:42,240 --> 00:50:45,200 with the Forget Me Nots sample where it's kind of, 951 00:50:45,240 --> 00:50:47,640 there's a pain in there as well. 952 00:50:47,680 --> 00:50:50,680 It's like, "Yes, let's go out," and it's about anonymous sex, 953 00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:53,880 it's about one night stands but then also it's about the pain 954 00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:56,240 and the loneliness that comes with that at the same time. 955 00:50:56,280 --> 00:50:59,920 Fast Love was when the layers fell from even 956 00:50:59,960 --> 00:51:02,360 the most naive eyes and we thought hang on a minute, 957 00:51:02,400 --> 00:51:04,960 "What is George Michael actually singing about?" 958 00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:06,360 When we were filming George, 959 00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:08,800 it was almost like working with a Hollywood Icon. 960 00:51:08,840 --> 00:51:12,000 He knew the exact angle that he'd obviously worked out in the mirror. 961 00:51:12,040 --> 00:51:15,480 He had to see himself reflected in the map box of the camera. 962 00:51:15,520 --> 00:51:19,440 So, if you were to pan off him and he'd go, "Whoa, whoa, stop!" 963 00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:22,120 and the minute he couldn't see himself you'd have to start again. 964 00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:25,440 In the end we invented a kind of little, erm, playback system 965 00:51:25,480 --> 00:51:28,640 where he could see himself through the lens of the camera 966 00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:30,960 and so it was almost like performing to himself. 967 00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:32,520 And then he'd let you edit it, 968 00:51:32,560 --> 00:51:34,840 but he knew exactly how he wanted to edit it 969 00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:36,080 and it was always in his head. 970 00:51:36,120 --> 00:51:38,280 We'd show him a cut and he'd go, "Yeah, great." 971 00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:40,560 And then it would be, "OK, start again." 972 00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:42,280 GULLS CRY 973 00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:44,080 WAVES CRASH 974 00:51:56,720 --> 00:51:58,280 We met, end of May, 975 00:51:58,320 --> 00:52:00,840 and by the middle of June I came home, 976 00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:04,560 and he said, "Darling, I wanna show you this jumper" 977 00:52:04,600 --> 00:52:06,760 and he took me back to the house. I'm like, "Jumper?" 978 00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:09,240 That's something a cheerleader wears, that's all stretchy, 979 00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:10,680 one piece, that girls wear. 980 00:52:10,720 --> 00:52:12,040 So I went back there 981 00:52:12,080 --> 00:52:14,360 and he pulled out these two rings he'd got in Maxfield. 982 00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:17,600 "I want you to have this. Let's be together." 983 00:52:20,080 --> 00:52:22,160 They were best friends in many ways. 984 00:52:22,200 --> 00:52:25,320 Kenny had quite a calming effect. 985 00:52:25,360 --> 00:52:29,240 They both shared a great love of dogs. 986 00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:30,720 For the first time in his life, 987 00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:35,120 he can phone up his mum because she now knows, erm, 988 00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:37,040 that he's a gay man. 989 00:52:37,080 --> 00:52:39,600 So, he phones up to let her know that he's met somebody 990 00:52:39,640 --> 00:52:42,800 and of course, she's wonderfully happy about this. 991 00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:45,920 But during the same phone call 992 00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:50,000 she also tells him that she's had a cancer scare 993 00:52:50,040 --> 00:52:54,240 and that scare, unfortunately, became a reality 994 00:52:54,280 --> 00:52:56,680 and she sadly died. 995 00:53:06,920 --> 00:53:10,600 I suppose a lot of people would ask the question about why you, 996 00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:12,080 as a public figure, 997 00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:14,680 as somebody who is recognised, both here and America, 998 00:53:14,720 --> 00:53:17,040 why do you take such an outrageous risk? 999 00:53:17,080 --> 00:53:19,080 Well, I suppose that's the whole point, isn't it? 1000 00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:20,920 It gets addictive, reckless behaviour. 1001 00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:22,920 So, it becomes a point sometimes 1002 00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:27,120 where you're taking more of a risk, the chance of you being caught, 1003 00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:28,880 you're doing things more openly. 1004 00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:31,480 Beverly Hills Police Officers arrested the singer 1005 00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:34,120 known as George Michael. 1006 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:35,920 It was a throwback to the '50s. 1007 00:53:35,960 --> 00:53:37,560 It was an Agent Provocateur. 1008 00:53:37,600 --> 00:53:40,240 The policeman was actively 1009 00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:44,040 manipulating himself which is really wrong, 1010 00:53:44,080 --> 00:53:45,800 that's entrapment. 1011 00:53:45,840 --> 00:53:49,200 There's someone standing there waving their genitals at you. 1012 00:53:49,240 --> 00:53:51,480 You don't think that they're an officer of the law! 1013 00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:53,720 It's not your first presumption. 1014 00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:58,080 I quite often see celebrities of what I call the bubbles of shame. 1015 00:53:58,120 --> 00:54:00,440 So, their lives are kind of all right, 1016 00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:03,560 but then they have a moment where they do something really reckless 1017 00:54:03,600 --> 00:54:08,080 and really foolish, almost as if they want to be exposed. 1018 00:54:08,120 --> 00:54:10,800 My reaction to this was, "I'm not gonna be like another one 1019 00:54:10,840 --> 00:54:13,520 "of these people that's peeking out from behind their net curtains 1020 00:54:13,560 --> 00:54:14,800 "a month later." 1021 00:54:14,840 --> 00:54:16,640 I thought, I'm just gonna go out for a meal. 1022 00:54:16,680 --> 00:54:19,560 I know they'll all chase me, and it did cause havoc, 1023 00:54:19,600 --> 00:54:22,880 you had all these cars going across red lights, 1024 00:54:22,920 --> 00:54:25,760 and I was just ambling down to my local restaurant, you know. 1025 00:54:25,800 --> 00:54:28,600 I think it's pretty brave of him to come and do something like this. 1026 00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:32,640 When you're caught, it's taking the responsibility away from you, 1027 00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:34,120 because it stops you in your tracks. 1028 00:54:34,160 --> 00:54:35,720 It's the moment where you have to go, 1029 00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:37,800 "Sharp intake of breathe, what shall I do now?" 1030 00:54:37,840 --> 00:54:40,160 And I literally got a call the next day going, 1031 00:54:40,200 --> 00:54:42,040 "I'm gonna make a song about it" 1032 00:54:42,080 --> 00:54:43,560 and it's kind of, "Great." 1033 00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:45,360 It was just the perfect answer. 1034 00:54:45,400 --> 00:54:47,240 It was the perfect clap back 1035 00:54:47,280 --> 00:54:49,720 and I think he just wanted to just go, "Fuck it," 1036 00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:51,720 and just reply with a load of humour. 1037 00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:53,760 When you get on with somebody and you gel with them 1038 00:54:53,800 --> 00:54:55,440 and you've got the same sense of humour, 1039 00:54:55,480 --> 00:54:57,480 and when you tell somebody an idea, 1040 00:54:57,520 --> 00:54:59,520 sometimes you tell somebody and there's a blank look. 1041 00:54:59,560 --> 00:55:01,920 But when you tell George an idea and you see a little sparkle 1042 00:55:01,960 --> 00:55:03,360 and there's a little smirk... 1043 00:55:03,400 --> 00:55:05,840 So, he was really not George Michael the superstar, 1044 00:55:05,880 --> 00:55:07,960 George was in the crew van with all the crew 1045 00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:09,320 and everyone's chatting to him, 1046 00:55:09,360 --> 00:55:11,640 and he was telling everybody the stories of life. 1047 00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:13,880 He'd be telling about he was in a restaurant with Lady Di 1048 00:55:13,920 --> 00:55:16,320 and then he'd see someone putting a parking ticket on his car 1049 00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:18,680 and he'd go running out to the parking warden 1050 00:55:18,720 --> 00:55:20,080 and just offer his autograph. 1051 00:55:20,120 --> 00:55:22,960 Just really nice things like that kind of thing. 1052 00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:24,440 He'd say, "What are you thinking?" 1053 00:55:24,480 --> 00:55:26,800 and it would always be, you know, I'd kind of trigger it. 1054 00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:29,080 I think he had loads of ideas in his head. 1055 00:55:29,120 --> 00:55:31,720 For me, I wasn't quite sure how to portray the whole thing 1056 00:55:31,760 --> 00:55:35,520 but all I could see was just this toilet turning into a disco. 1057 00:55:35,560 --> 00:55:38,840 # Take me to the places that I love best 1058 00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:42,480 # And, yes I've been bad 1059 00:55:42,520 --> 00:55:46,240 #Doctor won't you do with me what you can...# 1060 00:55:46,280 --> 00:55:49,160 He wanted to kind of develop it more to make a secondary video 1061 00:55:49,200 --> 00:55:51,040 which was slightly more hardcore 1062 00:55:51,080 --> 00:55:54,760 and a more hardcore porn version of it running at the same time. 1063 00:55:54,800 --> 00:55:58,840 He was around maybe 50% of the time on the shots 1064 00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:00,120 and things like that. 1065 00:56:00,160 --> 00:56:02,200 Obviously, for his scene he was there all the time. 1066 00:56:02,240 --> 00:56:03,800 He would just let us go off and do things 1067 00:56:03,840 --> 00:56:05,280 cos a lot of it was shot from the air. 1068 00:56:05,320 --> 00:56:07,520 We wanted people making out in in public, 1069 00:56:07,560 --> 00:56:10,640 as if it was a nude scene or something 1070 00:56:10,680 --> 00:56:14,000 so it had to be done somewhere where people couldn't see you doing it. 1071 00:56:14,040 --> 00:56:16,920 Some of it was full penetration as well that we were doing. 1072 00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:19,720 So, yeah, that was full-on in the control tower. 1073 00:56:19,760 --> 00:56:22,920 People like myself trapped in that prism almost, 1074 00:56:22,960 --> 00:56:25,600 it was a kind of ray of light. 1075 00:56:25,640 --> 00:56:27,960 It was mocking his tormentors, it was ridiculing them, 1076 00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:30,960 it was making them look ridiculous and absurd. 1077 00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:34,360 Like the couple in the van on top of the cliff, 1078 00:56:34,400 --> 00:56:36,840 then we had the other couple who are kissing 1079 00:56:36,880 --> 00:56:38,560 on top of the mast on the ship. 1080 00:56:38,600 --> 00:56:41,040 The executive producer on it, who played the part, 1081 00:56:41,080 --> 00:56:43,840 he was one of the cops snogging on the roof with his partner. 1082 00:56:43,880 --> 00:56:46,440 He wanted to use it to let his family know. 1083 00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:48,720 The idea was to actually expand the video 1084 00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:51,840 and make a porn movie of it as well. 1085 00:56:51,880 --> 00:56:54,440 That was the idea, but it never got made. I think it got canned. 1086 00:56:54,480 --> 00:56:56,880 George, why do you feel compelled to open up 1087 00:56:56,920 --> 00:57:00,040 a very private part of your life and make it so public? 1088 00:57:00,080 --> 00:57:02,800 Well, I feel because I've kind of done that, haven't I? 1089 00:57:02,840 --> 00:57:05,400 I've done that in a way that I didn't really intend to. 1090 00:57:05,440 --> 00:57:07,040 Oh, thank fuck for that. 1091 00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:10,960 Thank fuck that he can actually be himself cos if he's pretending 1092 00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:13,760 we're having to pretend as well, you know what I mean? 1093 00:57:13,800 --> 00:57:16,440 Don't wanna be sitting there going, "Did you see the game, George? 1094 00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:18,320 "Look at the tits on her." That's pointless. 1095 00:57:18,360 --> 00:57:21,440 There were periods, more than a couple, 1096 00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:26,640 where the country wanted to put their collective arms around George 1097 00:57:26,680 --> 00:57:28,720 and say, "We like you, it's OK." 1098 00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:32,640 In a way he was in a situation where the closet door was kicked open 1099 00:57:32,680 --> 00:57:35,600 but then he walked through tall and proud. 1100 00:57:35,640 --> 00:57:39,360 That's the moment that he will be loved for forever 1101 00:57:39,400 --> 00:57:41,880 by a generation of gay men. 1102 00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:45,280 George had to do community service. 1103 00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:48,960 So, he came here, and he was put on dessert duty 1104 00:57:49,000 --> 00:57:52,720 and on that day we were making white cakes as dessert 1105 00:57:52,760 --> 00:57:54,000 for all of our clients. 1106 00:57:54,040 --> 00:57:57,440 He really cared about these clients. 1107 00:57:57,480 --> 00:58:00,840 It wasn't as if he picked a random place 1108 00:58:00,880 --> 00:58:03,040 to do his community service. 1109 00:58:03,080 --> 00:58:07,640 It was a place that he had been donating to for five years 1110 00:58:07,680 --> 00:58:10,800 and had served people who were dying of Aids. 1111 00:58:10,840 --> 00:58:15,200 He was very dedicated to doing this and very serious about it. 1112 00:58:15,240 --> 00:58:17,920 You know, he celebrated it. 1113 00:58:17,960 --> 00:58:20,120 People like George's life are accidents, 1114 00:58:20,160 --> 00:58:24,040 they're purposely designed into the matrix 1115 00:58:24,080 --> 00:58:28,560 to do what it is that they need to do to move the rest of us forward. 1116 00:58:30,360 --> 00:58:32,120 I used to be in charge of the fundraising 1117 00:58:32,160 --> 00:58:33,520 for the Terrence Higgins Trust, 1118 00:58:33,560 --> 00:58:35,480 the biggest Aids charity around 1119 00:58:35,520 --> 00:58:37,560 and I used to have these little dinners. 1120 00:58:37,600 --> 00:58:38,920 I'd have these big gala ones 1121 00:58:38,960 --> 00:58:41,280 but I'd have little ones for the big names. 1122 00:58:41,320 --> 00:58:45,880 I remember one where Mick Hucknall and David Gilmore 1123 00:58:45,920 --> 00:58:49,560 and George in a little downstairs room at Carluccio's. 1124 00:58:49,600 --> 00:58:54,680 I told them about what Terrence Higgins Trust needed to keep going, 1125 00:58:54,720 --> 00:58:57,800 what the work it was doing, and everyone around the table 1126 00:58:57,840 --> 00:59:00,640 was being extremely generous and George said, 1127 00:59:00,680 --> 00:59:05,200 "Erm, I was thinking maybe not just write you a cheque," 1128 00:59:05,240 --> 00:59:06,600 and my heart slightly sank. 1129 00:59:06,640 --> 00:59:09,000 But, no, he said, "I've got this new album, 1130 00:59:09,040 --> 00:59:12,600 "this best of called Ladies & Gentlemen, 1131 00:59:12,640 --> 00:59:16,960 "and I thought maybe you could use the UK residuals from that." 1132 00:59:17,000 --> 00:59:20,640 I said, "What do you mean? The money you earn from it?" 1133 00:59:20,680 --> 00:59:23,040 He said, "Yeah." I said, "All of it?" 1134 00:59:23,080 --> 00:59:26,200 He said, "Yeah, but don't tell anybody." 1135 00:59:26,240 --> 00:59:28,720 So, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone, I can tell you now, 1136 00:59:28,760 --> 00:59:31,640 and people know what an extraordinary man he was. 1137 00:59:31,680 --> 00:59:35,200 But, wow, that generosity. I mean I...I cried, 1138 00:59:35,240 --> 00:59:38,000 I was just simply amazed by it. 1139 00:59:38,040 --> 00:59:40,480 Cos he was a sweet, 1140 00:59:40,520 --> 00:59:43,480 vulnerable, hurting man, for most of his life 1141 00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:48,920 and yet he had this giant sort of strength and courage 1142 00:59:48,960 --> 00:59:53,520 and this ability to say things that would do him harm as if he wanted, 1143 00:59:53,560 --> 00:59:55,680 like a child will break his own toys. 1144 00:59:55,720 --> 00:59:58,840 As if he wanted to break out of the space of stardom 1145 00:59:58,880 --> 01:00:00,520 and admiration and riches. 1146 01:00:00,560 --> 01:00:02,760 As if he wanted to be free of that 1147 01:00:02,800 --> 01:00:05,840 so that he could express something much more primarily about himself. 1148 01:00:05,880 --> 01:00:08,280 And that's almost the definition of an artist. 1149 01:00:18,240 --> 01:00:21,840 There were times in the last five, six years that I was very tempted 1150 01:00:21,880 --> 01:00:24,200 to just say you know what, "Forget it." 1151 01:00:24,240 --> 01:00:27,560 It was a four-year period of just making track after track. 1152 01:00:27,600 --> 01:00:28,960 "This is too difficult, 1153 01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:31,240 "you're not gonna come up with the album that you need." 1154 01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:33,000 I think it was just under 1,000 tracks. 1155 01:00:33,040 --> 01:00:35,440 "You're driving yourself crazy with it." 1156 01:00:35,480 --> 01:00:38,320 I think we whittled it down to about 300 tracks 1157 01:00:38,360 --> 01:00:40,240 that we had on data cassettes. 1158 01:00:40,280 --> 01:00:42,040 I was almost ready to give up. 1159 01:00:42,080 --> 01:00:43,480 Out of this 300 1160 01:00:43,520 --> 01:00:47,720 I think two ended up forming on to Patience. 1161 01:00:47,760 --> 01:00:50,720 The fact that it feels more gay to people is probably due 1162 01:00:50,760 --> 01:00:54,320 to the fact that my life is more of an open book these days. 1163 01:00:54,360 --> 01:00:57,720 By Patience he was like a blueprint 1164 01:00:57,760 --> 01:00:59,480 for an elder statesman of pop. 1165 01:00:59,520 --> 01:01:02,280 It would be a horrible way to leave my career, 1166 01:01:02,320 --> 01:01:07,120 to leave people thinking that my sexuality took away my market 1167 01:01:07,160 --> 01:01:08,560 cos I just knew that wasn't true. 1168 01:01:08,600 --> 01:01:11,040 And he really found his look. 1169 01:01:11,080 --> 01:01:12,480 It's really important to say, 1170 01:01:12,520 --> 01:01:16,560 "Look, it is not damaging, if you have ability, 1171 01:01:16,600 --> 01:01:21,560 "it is not damaging, erm, to have the confidence to come out." 1172 01:01:21,600 --> 01:01:25,160 Every album there were enough good songs on it to justify the wait 1173 01:01:25,200 --> 01:01:28,160 and I think as long as he kept doing that, his fans were going nowhere. 1174 01:01:28,200 --> 01:01:31,280 For my sins I do check out my fan websites 1175 01:01:31,320 --> 01:01:34,280 and they'll say, "He sounds a bit gay now," 1176 01:01:34,320 --> 01:01:36,720 or, "That bit at the beginning there sounds really gay." 1177 01:01:36,760 --> 01:01:38,000 And you're just thinking, 1178 01:01:38,040 --> 01:01:40,200 "It sounds exactly like I've always sounded. 1179 01:01:40,240 --> 01:01:41,960 "It's just you know I am gay." 1180 01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:44,760 But he just seemed to be cruising at that point 1181 01:01:44,800 --> 01:01:47,600 into middle age pop serenity. 1182 01:01:47,640 --> 01:01:51,080 I think I have quite a good take on both sexes, 1183 01:01:51,120 --> 01:01:53,400 maybe cos I grew up with two sisters 1184 01:01:53,440 --> 01:01:55,720 and also because of the relationships I had 1185 01:01:55,760 --> 01:01:57,360 in my earlier life with women, 1186 01:01:57,400 --> 01:02:00,560 and now having totally, err, 1187 01:02:00,600 --> 01:02:02,320 I suppose, 1188 01:02:02,360 --> 01:02:05,400 I feel totally part of gay culture now. 1189 01:02:05,440 --> 01:02:07,800 # I'll be your sexual freeek 1190 01:02:07,840 --> 01:02:09,640 # Of the week 1191 01:02:09,680 --> 01:02:11,640 # You're such a sexy mama 1192 01:02:11,680 --> 01:02:14,280 # I'll be your inspirational brother 1193 01:02:14,320 --> 01:02:16,920 # I think I need a re-booty 1194 01:02:16,960 --> 01:02:18,840 # I'll be your sexual freeek...# 1195 01:02:20,800 --> 01:02:22,160 It was that level of defiance. 1196 01:02:22,200 --> 01:02:26,160 He wasn't going to be a sanitised air-brushed gay man 1197 01:02:26,200 --> 01:02:28,560 who you could have along at dinner parties 1198 01:02:28,600 --> 01:02:30,400 and "Isn't he so civilised?" 1199 01:02:30,440 --> 01:02:34,800 Freak, when you think of the public, it was maybe a step too far, 1200 01:02:34,840 --> 01:02:38,600 commercial public, cos it putting his sexuality out there in such 1201 01:02:38,640 --> 01:02:41,000 an aggressive way that I think people didn't know how 1202 01:02:41,040 --> 01:02:42,280 to take it at the time. 1203 01:02:42,320 --> 01:02:45,680 It was a rare commercial misstep for him. 1204 01:02:45,720 --> 01:02:48,440 We wanted to do a ballet which was just like 1205 01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:50,680 where George was the Devil, 1206 01:02:50,720 --> 01:02:53,200 and he also had this big, long cock which was like his tail. 1207 01:02:53,240 --> 01:02:54,880 He wanted to do it with the Royal Ballet 1208 01:02:54,920 --> 01:02:56,840 with them covered in tattoos glue sniffing. 1209 01:02:56,880 --> 01:02:58,840 George was telling me the idea and he was saying, 1210 01:02:58,880 --> 01:03:01,960 "I wanna be Captain FF" which was Captain Fist Fucker 1211 01:03:02,000 --> 01:03:04,280 and all these things and I was saying, "I'm not sure, 1212 01:03:04,320 --> 01:03:06,880 "I can't see how it's gonna work" and I didn't get it. 1213 01:03:06,920 --> 01:03:08,680 I just felt it was the wrong way to go, 1214 01:03:08,720 --> 01:03:12,480 to go too far to try and get a youth audience in. 1215 01:03:12,520 --> 01:03:16,000 Gay people are some of the most interesting people on the planet 1216 01:03:16,040 --> 01:03:18,640 because they are born into an environment 1217 01:03:18,680 --> 01:03:21,080 which is gonna be difficult for them, 1218 01:03:21,120 --> 01:03:25,840 The world is full of human beings trying to procreate 1219 01:03:25,880 --> 01:03:27,840 and that's not what we're here for. 1220 01:03:27,880 --> 01:03:32,680 If you are strong enough to realise that what you are is not wrong, 1221 01:03:32,720 --> 01:03:35,720 and yet a large percentage of the world is telling you it is, 1222 01:03:35,760 --> 01:03:38,200 then you begin to question everything. 1223 01:03:38,240 --> 01:03:40,560 # I'm gonna shoot the dog 1224 01:03:40,600 --> 01:03:42,720 # I'm gonna shoot the dog 1225 01:03:42,760 --> 01:03:43,760 # Come on, ladies 1226 01:03:43,800 --> 01:03:46,880 # Nine, nine, nine gettin' jiggy 1227 01:03:46,920 --> 01:03:48,960 # People, did you see... # 1228 01:03:49,000 --> 01:03:54,440 "Shoot The Dog" now is almost a prophetic song, 1229 01:03:54,480 --> 01:03:58,720 because almost everyone now agrees with him on the rights and wrongs 1230 01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:00,040 of the Iraq War. 1231 01:04:00,080 --> 01:04:02,280 But he took the stance that was, at that time, 1232 01:04:02,320 --> 01:04:04,160 considered very threatening. 1233 01:04:04,200 --> 01:04:07,360 Tony Blair has no authority to do this. 1234 01:04:07,400 --> 01:04:10,880 He's the Prime Minister, he is not someone we are supposed 1235 01:04:10,920 --> 01:04:15,520 to follow into lethal situations without asking questions. 1236 01:04:15,560 --> 01:04:17,920 I interviewed him in so many different situations. 1237 01:04:17,960 --> 01:04:20,600 One when he produced this record called "Shoot The Dog," 1238 01:04:20,640 --> 01:04:23,800 which was about the Iraq War in the early 2000s, 1239 01:04:23,840 --> 01:04:27,120 and he was ranting against George Bush and against Tony Blair. 1240 01:04:27,160 --> 01:04:29,120 He came into the studio, and he sat down, 1241 01:04:29,160 --> 01:04:30,720 and we opened up the microphone, 1242 01:04:30,760 --> 01:04:33,160 and he just laid into to me, 1243 01:04:33,200 --> 01:04:35,440 into Radio 1, into everything. 1244 01:04:35,480 --> 01:04:37,120 You know, I mean, he had the forum, 1245 01:04:37,160 --> 01:04:39,760 you know it was live radio, he could say what he liked, 1246 01:04:39,800 --> 01:04:41,280 he had me over a barrel 1247 01:04:41,320 --> 01:04:44,080 and, you know, when George was on a mission, he was on a mission. 1248 01:04:44,120 --> 01:04:46,120 It was a very provocative record, 1249 01:04:46,160 --> 01:04:48,520 and it was a huge risk 1250 01:04:48,560 --> 01:04:52,240 with his American career which wasn't that big by then anyway, 1251 01:04:52,280 --> 01:04:54,760 so I'm not sure really how big a risk it was. 1252 01:04:54,800 --> 01:04:57,040 But it was typical George Michael. 1253 01:04:57,080 --> 01:05:00,840 It was provocative, it was designed to get everybody talking, 1254 01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:02,680 had a very provocative video with it. 1255 01:05:02,720 --> 01:05:06,040 And he knew that the media would be very important to him to drive 1256 01:05:06,080 --> 01:05:07,880 the narrative of that record. 1257 01:05:07,920 --> 01:05:11,640 This is about Rupert Murdoch and my making, er, 1258 01:05:11,680 --> 01:05:13,840 what he considered to be statements 1259 01:05:13,880 --> 01:05:16,640 that were anti-American at this time, er, 1260 01:05:16,680 --> 01:05:18,560 is something that is obviously... 1261 01:05:18,600 --> 01:05:20,880 I'm the kind of guy that has to be slapped down, 1262 01:05:20,920 --> 01:05:23,760 and I'm just saying, "I won't be slapped down." 1263 01:05:23,800 --> 01:05:26,280 You might even take away my career, you might manage it, 1264 01:05:26,320 --> 01:05:30,080 but I know that I'm not going to let it happen without a fight. 1265 01:05:30,120 --> 01:05:35,880 And basically, I am going to be in the centre of a war of PR 1266 01:05:35,920 --> 01:05:39,760 with Mr Rupert Murdoch if he doesn't leave me alone. 1267 01:05:39,800 --> 01:05:42,960 It's a fine line, really, between self-destruction 1268 01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:45,320 and contrariness, and bravery. 1269 01:05:45,360 --> 01:05:47,600 And he exhibits all three to me. 1270 01:05:47,640 --> 01:05:49,200 You take on the Murdoch empire, 1271 01:05:49,240 --> 01:05:51,160 you take on the tabloids at your peril. 1272 01:05:51,200 --> 01:05:54,080 I mean, they are very patient and very powerful. 1273 01:05:54,120 --> 01:05:57,240 And once you cross them, they don't forget. 1274 01:05:57,280 --> 01:06:01,800 The point that really destroyed him, I think, was when he came out 1275 01:06:01,840 --> 01:06:03,520 against the Murdoch newspapers, 1276 01:06:03,560 --> 01:06:05,080 and these papers went for him. 1277 01:06:05,120 --> 01:06:07,280 He knew he would get eaten alive, and he did. 1278 01:06:21,640 --> 01:06:24,880 With George being so upfront about his sex life and defending 1279 01:06:24,920 --> 01:06:26,560 cruising on Hampstead Heath, 1280 01:06:26,600 --> 01:06:29,040 er, with his political songs, 1281 01:06:29,080 --> 01:06:32,720 with a clear controversial social message, 1282 01:06:32,760 --> 01:06:37,120 he knew that the tabloids would probably gun for him. 1283 01:06:37,160 --> 01:06:38,440 And, indeed they did. 1284 01:06:38,480 --> 01:06:41,240 ..Possession of cannabis after being found slumped in his car 1285 01:06:41,280 --> 01:06:42,280 on both occasions. 1286 01:06:42,320 --> 01:06:44,160 Sky's Sarah Hughes reports. 1287 01:06:44,200 --> 01:06:46,680 This stuff keeps me sane and happy. 1288 01:06:48,040 --> 01:06:51,960 I could write without it if I was sane and happy. 1289 01:06:52,000 --> 01:06:53,000 HE LAUGHS 1290 01:06:55,040 --> 01:06:57,840 Well, this is the worst possible timing for George Michael. 1291 01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:00,640 He's just started a 28-city European tour, 1292 01:07:00,680 --> 01:07:03,000 he's only had one date so far - and now, once again, 1293 01:07:03,040 --> 01:07:05,800 he's in the headlines for something other than his music. 1294 01:07:05,840 --> 01:07:07,600 The timing is atrocious. 1295 01:07:07,640 --> 01:07:09,840 OFF CAMERA: Is it an accident, or is there a possibility 1296 01:07:09,880 --> 01:07:11,360 that he does it deliberately? 1297 01:07:11,400 --> 01:07:13,400 Oh, a lot of people speculate that this is someone 1298 01:07:13,440 --> 01:07:15,000 who just likes the attention. 1299 01:07:15,040 --> 01:07:17,800 So, with that amount of power that he had in his command, 1300 01:07:17,840 --> 01:07:19,960 and I think he liked to challenge himself. 1301 01:07:20,000 --> 01:07:22,040 And I think what when you're a control... 1302 01:07:22,080 --> 01:07:23,240 ..wanting to be in control, 1303 01:07:23,280 --> 01:07:25,840 one of the ways to challenge yourself or thrill yourself, 1304 01:07:25,880 --> 01:07:28,840 or entertain himself by putting himself into situations where 1305 01:07:28,880 --> 01:07:30,360 there was a huge challenge, 1306 01:07:30,400 --> 01:07:32,360 and he could potentially lose control, 1307 01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:34,120 he would dance on that knife edge. 1308 01:07:34,160 --> 01:07:35,880 It's the second time of the year... 1309 01:07:35,920 --> 01:07:37,160 George, George, George! 1310 01:07:37,200 --> 01:07:39,200 ..an unused spliff in the car... 1311 01:07:39,240 --> 01:07:42,680 and no drink or drugs in my body. SHOUTING 1312 01:07:42,720 --> 01:07:47,800 He did manage to do the thing that he professed to want to do. 1313 01:07:47,840 --> 01:07:50,360 He destroyed his own star quality. 1314 01:07:50,400 --> 01:07:52,000 And in doing that, 1315 01:07:52,040 --> 01:07:53,920 he didn't become any less special. 1316 01:07:53,960 --> 01:07:56,000 In fact, he became more magical, 1317 01:07:56,040 --> 01:08:00,240 because he became more quantifiable, and more knowable to you. 1318 01:08:00,280 --> 01:08:02,360 There's no drink or drugs in my body. 1319 01:08:02,400 --> 01:08:05,720 As a journalist, you're aware it's all good fodder. 1320 01:08:05,760 --> 01:08:09,040 And as a big lifetime fan, 1321 01:08:09,080 --> 01:08:13,760 it's just desperately upsetting to see that the person that you 1322 01:08:13,800 --> 01:08:18,800 have always celebrated so much is reduced to becoming that fodder. 1323 01:08:18,840 --> 01:08:22,720 I have not cheated or lied about my sex life. 1324 01:08:22,760 --> 01:08:24,640 Why are those cameras there? 1325 01:08:24,680 --> 01:08:28,240 To trap an individual in something which is a completely normal, 1326 01:08:28,280 --> 01:08:32,640 commonplace, er, part of his cultural activity. 1327 01:08:32,680 --> 01:08:35,840 He revelled in his own sexuality 1328 01:08:35,880 --> 01:08:40,080 and felt it was really important to be honest, upfront, 1329 01:08:40,120 --> 01:08:43,560 and open about the fact that he really enjoyed sex. 1330 01:08:43,600 --> 01:08:47,000 If you get some sanity back into the idea of privacy, 1331 01:08:47,040 --> 01:08:49,200 any kind of privacy, right? 1332 01:08:49,240 --> 01:08:51,760 Then the fact that these people are doing this to me 1333 01:08:51,800 --> 01:08:53,240 is completely immoral. 1334 01:08:53,280 --> 01:08:55,920 ALL SHOUTING: George! 1335 01:08:55,960 --> 01:08:58,120 Guys, watch your legs! SHOUTING CONTINUES 1336 01:08:59,840 --> 01:09:02,280 And the Murdoch newspapers were camped outside his house 1337 01:09:02,320 --> 01:09:03,680 24 hours a day following him. 1338 01:09:03,720 --> 01:09:06,520 They all knew that he was going to Hampstead Heath cruising. 1339 01:09:06,560 --> 01:09:08,600 They'd known that for years and years, and years. 1340 01:09:08,640 --> 01:09:10,080 But now, they went into overdrive. 1341 01:09:10,120 --> 01:09:11,880 Here is the reality of my life. 1342 01:09:11,920 --> 01:09:15,000 And if you're a straight person, you might not understand 1343 01:09:15,040 --> 01:09:16,920 why it makes me so happy. 1344 01:09:16,960 --> 01:09:20,400 I have a career that I love. 1345 01:09:20,440 --> 01:09:23,560 I live in the most beautiful house I've ever seen. 1346 01:09:23,600 --> 01:09:26,160 I have a wonderful partner of ten years. 1347 01:09:26,200 --> 01:09:28,960 I'm a very, very happy gay man. 1348 01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:33,320 The fact that I'm portrayed as some kind of loser by straight society 1349 01:09:33,360 --> 01:09:35,080 is their problem. 1350 01:09:35,120 --> 01:09:40,520 My problem is that I'm expected to live with people lying constantly, 1351 01:09:40,560 --> 01:09:42,880 one lie laid on top of another lie, 1352 01:09:42,920 --> 01:09:45,000 laid on top of another lie, and say nothing. 1353 01:10:01,400 --> 01:10:05,280 We was in San Francisco, and Kenny, George's partner, 1354 01:10:05,320 --> 01:10:09,280 was trying to help me get George to contribute to this documentary. 1355 01:10:09,320 --> 01:10:11,000 And every time I called, he'd say, 1356 01:10:11,040 --> 01:10:13,240 "George isn't sure he wants to do it now. 1357 01:10:13,280 --> 01:10:15,240 Anyway, I was going back to England the next day, 1358 01:10:15,280 --> 01:10:17,560 and Kenny calls and says, "George says he wants to do it!" 1359 01:10:17,600 --> 01:10:20,360 And he was living in Dallas, Fort Worth, where he had a place, 1360 01:10:20,400 --> 01:10:22,440 an art gallery with Kenny. 1361 01:10:22,480 --> 01:10:26,880 And so, I had to divert the flight and with the crew, and we... 1362 01:10:26,920 --> 01:10:28,560 We stopped off at Dallas, 1363 01:10:28,600 --> 01:10:32,560 and on the way to his house, he called up and said, 1364 01:10:32,600 --> 01:10:34,920 "Oh, I can't get my make-up artist. 1365 01:10:34,960 --> 01:10:37,160 "Do you mind if I use yours?" 1366 01:10:37,200 --> 01:10:41,280 I said, "George, I'm making a documentary series for the BBC! 1367 01:10:41,320 --> 01:10:43,880 "I haven't got a make-up artist! 1368 01:10:43,920 --> 01:10:46,680 "I mean, occasionally there's a fleck of something on my mouth, 1369 01:10:46,720 --> 01:10:48,920 "someone will tell me to wipe it away, but..." 1370 01:10:48,960 --> 01:10:51,720 He said, "Oh, oh, really?" And so, it was so sweet. 1371 01:10:51,760 --> 01:10:55,040 And so, he got someone in, then he came started talking about Aids. 1372 01:10:55,080 --> 01:10:58,200 And, of course, he immediately started saying things that were 1373 01:10:58,240 --> 01:11:00,160 dark and dangerous, and aggressive, 1374 01:11:00,200 --> 01:11:03,440 and angry, and political, and real.. 1375 01:11:03,480 --> 01:11:06,280 And that's why he'd not wanted to do it. 1376 01:11:06,320 --> 01:11:07,720 And when he finished, he said, 1377 01:11:07,760 --> 01:11:09,680 "I knew I shouldn't have talked to you. 1378 01:11:09,720 --> 01:11:11,520 "I'll only get into trouble for this. 1379 01:11:11,560 --> 01:11:13,960 "'There goes George, shooting his mouth off.'" 1380 01:11:14,000 --> 01:11:16,880 And he was, you know, saying how people would respond - 1381 01:11:16,920 --> 01:11:22,200 and yet, he was tugged by this need to be absolutely raw and honest. 1382 01:11:22,240 --> 01:11:26,560 And by this knowledge that it would make his life more difficult, 1383 01:11:26,600 --> 01:11:28,720 but, you know, there'd be headlines, 1384 01:11:28,760 --> 01:11:31,680 people would say he was arrogant, or he was, you know, 1385 01:11:31,720 --> 01:11:33,280 self-regarding or something. 1386 01:11:33,320 --> 01:11:35,880 You just wanted to fold him in your arms. 1387 01:11:35,920 --> 01:11:39,400 # So now I walk in the midday sun 1388 01:11:39,440 --> 01:11:41,200 # I never thought that 1389 01:11:41,240 --> 01:11:43,480 # My saviour would come 1390 01:11:43,520 --> 01:11:46,400 # I think it's amazing 1391 01:11:47,920 --> 01:11:51,160 # I think it's amazing.. # 1392 01:11:51,200 --> 01:11:53,680 "Amazing" - it's a good song. Thank you, thank you very much. 1393 01:11:53,720 --> 01:11:55,720 Yeah, it really is. You must be very happy with it. 1394 01:11:55,760 --> 01:11:58,880 Well, it's kind of usual to hear me singing about love, really, 1395 01:11:58,920 --> 01:12:01,360 in the context of "Ooh, I'm in love" - 1396 01:12:01,400 --> 01:12:05,680 normally it's, "I'm so miserable! Love me, love me." 1397 01:12:05,720 --> 01:12:10,280 That's a song that I actually enjoy watching people, er, like, yeah. 1398 01:12:10,320 --> 01:12:13,320 Talking about the joys of meeting someone and being in love, 1399 01:12:13,360 --> 01:12:15,040 and how it makes a difference in your life. 1400 01:12:15,080 --> 01:12:16,400 This song is really, like, 1401 01:12:16,440 --> 01:12:20,840 "I just can't believe it, how fantastic and life-changing 1402 01:12:20,880 --> 01:12:22,280 "this relationship is." 1403 01:12:24,680 --> 01:12:28,400 I didn't want it to look like just some pop star let his boyfriend 1404 01:12:28,440 --> 01:12:31,000 have something that he wanted to do and just played with it. 1405 01:12:31,040 --> 01:12:32,640 So, he took it very seriously. 1406 01:12:32,680 --> 01:12:35,840 I just didn't want it to be a place where, er, very wealthy people 1407 01:12:35,880 --> 01:12:37,760 came to look at paintings or art. 1408 01:12:37,800 --> 01:12:41,440 And so, we were very, very philanthropic from the start. 1409 01:12:41,480 --> 01:12:44,200 So, we helped raised a lot of money in general, 1410 01:12:44,240 --> 01:12:46,040 it's a big part of it. 1411 01:12:46,080 --> 01:12:49,800 Yeah, we had one of the most amazing British contemporary art collections 1412 01:12:49,840 --> 01:12:52,640 in the world, and so, to make that full, it can't just be 1413 01:12:52,680 --> 01:12:55,160 what you like, and you know, art doesn't have to... 1414 01:12:55,200 --> 01:12:57,960 You don't have to love it, it can move you, it can make you think, 1415 01:12:58,000 --> 01:13:00,800 it doesn't naturally always have to evoke happy emotions. 1416 01:13:00,840 --> 01:13:05,280 If we're talking about rock music or pop music, 1417 01:13:05,320 --> 01:13:07,920 making music also is a form of visual art. 1418 01:13:07,960 --> 01:13:10,480 Its pretty much almost a portrait. 1419 01:13:10,520 --> 01:13:11,840 A self-portrait. 1420 01:13:12,920 --> 01:13:16,120 And what you're playing with, by definition, 1421 01:13:16,160 --> 01:13:19,600 if you're a rock star, is you're playing with the idea of identity. 1422 01:13:19,640 --> 01:13:21,800 You're playing with the idea of who you are. 1423 01:13:21,840 --> 01:13:25,120 He has seen a documentary that Tracey had done, 1424 01:13:25,160 --> 01:13:28,240 and we were eating at the Ivy, and he wanted to meet her. 1425 01:13:28,280 --> 01:13:29,480 So, I went over and said, 1426 01:13:29,520 --> 01:13:31,480 "Hey, can we come over and chat with you?" 1427 01:13:31,520 --> 01:13:33,640 So, we went over and chatted with her, and, er, 1428 01:13:33,680 --> 01:13:34,920 a lifelong friendship. 1429 01:13:36,440 --> 01:13:38,760 So, with the Tracey Emin works, 1430 01:13:38,800 --> 01:13:42,080 you know, they had this blur to its confessional quality, 1431 01:13:42,120 --> 01:13:47,280 this spidery writing expressing the feeling, floating it out there 1432 01:13:47,320 --> 01:13:49,880 and seeing what that feeling looks like. 1433 01:13:49,920 --> 01:13:55,160 Well, to me that's almost like how George would 1434 01:13:55,200 --> 01:13:57,680 throw a line out in the studio. 1435 01:13:57,720 --> 01:14:00,800 "Does it sound right? Is that what I really feel?" 1436 01:14:00,840 --> 01:14:03,920 George Michael is now on a 22-date North American tour, 1437 01:14:03,960 --> 01:14:05,840 his first in 17 years. 1438 01:14:05,880 --> 01:14:08,920 Now that California's handing out same sex-marriage licenses, 1439 01:14:08,960 --> 01:14:11,560 Michael says he and his partner of 12 years, Kenny Goss, 1440 01:14:11,600 --> 01:14:14,680 might make a trip to the courthouse and say "I do," 1441 01:14:14,720 --> 01:14:16,600 though not any time soon. 1442 01:14:16,640 --> 01:14:20,360 When he toured Europe, every city we went to, 1443 01:14:20,400 --> 01:14:24,640 I had £25,000 that I could help an organisation. 1444 01:14:24,680 --> 01:14:27,160 For the most part, it was organisations that related to 1445 01:14:27,200 --> 01:14:28,960 nurses or children. 1446 01:14:29,000 --> 01:14:31,520 And so, I would research, find an organisation, 1447 01:14:31,560 --> 01:14:33,160 go and visit them while I'm there, 1448 01:14:33,200 --> 01:14:36,480 and then take as many people as possible to the concert that night, 1449 01:14:36,520 --> 01:14:38,440 and they would get £25,000, as well. 1450 01:14:38,480 --> 01:14:41,160 # If you're gonna do it, do it right 1451 01:14:41,200 --> 01:14:43,880 # Come on, baby, yeah # If you're gonna do it, do it right 1452 01:14:43,920 --> 01:14:47,440 # Whoo, take me on # If you're gonna do it, do it right 1453 01:14:47,480 --> 01:14:51,680 # Please don't leave me here # If you're gonna do it, do it right 1454 01:14:51,720 --> 01:14:53,400 # To do it on my own 1455 01:14:53,440 --> 01:14:56,000 # First class information # Oh! 1456 01:14:56,040 --> 01:14:58,800 # Sense your inspiration... # 1457 01:14:58,840 --> 01:15:01,080 The screens on the side he wanted curved, and then, 1458 01:15:01,120 --> 01:15:02,880 this big one that comes over in, 1459 01:15:02,920 --> 01:15:04,400 like, a wave, which was expensive. 1460 01:15:04,440 --> 01:15:07,000 And the production costs was huge, but he never really worried 1461 01:15:07,040 --> 01:15:08,960 about how much money was in his bank account. 1462 01:15:09,000 --> 01:15:10,640 He thought you only needed so much money. 1463 01:15:10,680 --> 01:15:13,520 George's mother was in a National Health Hospital when she had cancer, 1464 01:15:13,560 --> 01:15:15,040 and the nurses were incredible. 1465 01:15:15,080 --> 01:15:16,960 He was so impressed, and he wanted to give back. 1466 01:15:17,000 --> 01:15:19,400 So, he had this wonderful concert for them. 1467 01:15:19,440 --> 01:15:22,080 It's nice that someone's done something for nurses, 1468 01:15:22,120 --> 01:15:25,160 cos all the time we get abused verbally, physically - 1469 01:15:25,200 --> 01:15:28,080 and somebody's actually appreciated nurses. 1470 01:15:28,120 --> 01:15:30,320 Concerts to put on are very expensive, so I think people 1471 01:15:30,360 --> 01:15:32,200 don't realise, you just don't show up. 1472 01:15:32,240 --> 01:15:34,440 I don't think he ever worried about being, what was it, 1473 01:15:34,480 --> 01:15:36,200 Behind the Music, or whatever that is, 1474 01:15:36,240 --> 01:15:38,800 where they tell the story of a washed-up quarterback now, 1475 01:15:38,840 --> 01:15:40,280 and he's working at Wendy's. 1476 01:15:43,120 --> 01:15:44,920 Then we came off air. 1477 01:15:44,960 --> 01:15:47,520 And the editor was waiting for us outside the studio, 1478 01:15:47,560 --> 01:15:49,000 and she's jumping up and down 1479 01:15:49,040 --> 01:15:52,120 with excitement because one person's donated 50 grand. 1480 01:15:52,160 --> 01:15:55,320 And we said, "Who?" She said, "It's anonymous, I can't tell you." 1481 01:15:55,360 --> 01:15:57,760 And of course, all the philanthropy was secret. 1482 01:15:57,800 --> 01:16:00,560 It wasn't that we wasn't a great philanthropist, 1483 01:16:00,600 --> 01:16:02,840 he was a fantastic philanthropist. 1484 01:16:02,880 --> 01:16:05,240 But he would give with the condition 1485 01:16:05,280 --> 01:16:07,760 that you don't let people know it's me. 1486 01:16:07,800 --> 01:16:10,720 He would see things on television, or hear about something, 1487 01:16:10,760 --> 01:16:12,080 or read about something. 1488 01:16:12,120 --> 01:16:14,640 He would see somebody who needed a new set of glasses, 1489 01:16:14,680 --> 01:16:16,640 or a new set of teeth or something, 1490 01:16:16,680 --> 01:16:18,400 and he'd call in and he'd do it. 1491 01:16:18,440 --> 01:16:20,160 Also about helping friends. 1492 01:16:20,200 --> 01:16:22,320 I had a terminally ill child. 1493 01:16:22,360 --> 01:16:24,840 He had, you know, his house in the South of France - 1494 01:16:24,880 --> 01:16:26,920 Chez Nobby, that's what it was called. 1495 01:16:26,960 --> 01:16:28,960 You know, there was a helicopter to pick us up 1496 01:16:29,000 --> 01:16:30,680 and drop us off in the garden. 1497 01:16:30,720 --> 01:16:35,640 He was a guy who was looking for ways, like Bill Gates, 1498 01:16:35,680 --> 01:16:37,280 to give away the money he'd made. 1499 01:16:37,320 --> 01:16:39,640 We don't know, so let's go with instinct and just go... 1500 01:16:39,680 --> 01:16:41,240 Shall we go with C? C. 1501 01:16:41,280 --> 01:16:44,160 I'll tell you what, we'll go with C. 1502 01:16:44,200 --> 01:16:47,240 And if it's wrong, I'll match it, so we make it to 64. 1503 01:16:49,400 --> 01:16:51,480 That way, we can't lose, we're going to 64, 1504 01:16:51,520 --> 01:16:53,480 but we might still be going home. 1505 01:16:53,520 --> 01:16:54,760 That's fantastic of you. 1506 01:16:54,800 --> 01:16:57,160 We were having a problem making pay roll. 1507 01:17:00,120 --> 01:17:05,280 All of a sudden, a letter appeared at our doorstep that said, 1508 01:17:05,320 --> 01:17:08,960 "Dear Project Angel Food, keep doing what you're doing. 1509 01:17:09,000 --> 01:17:10,640 "Love, George." 1510 01:17:10,680 --> 01:17:15,200 He's our single largest donor in the history of Project Angel Food, 1511 01:17:15,240 --> 01:17:18,880 donating more than half a million dollars to us. 1512 01:17:18,920 --> 01:17:22,880 When you know that you're making the world a better place, 1513 01:17:22,920 --> 01:17:28,400 that is a positive feeling that helps lift you through downers. 1514 01:17:28,440 --> 01:17:31,320 District Judge John Perkins told George Michael that 1515 01:17:31,360 --> 01:17:34,760 he'd taken a "dangerous and unpredictable mix of drugs." 1516 01:17:34,800 --> 01:17:39,120 He banned him from driving for five years before sentencing him 1517 01:17:39,160 --> 01:17:41,040 to eight weeks in prison. 1518 01:17:41,080 --> 01:17:45,200 There were gasps and tears from fans within the court's public gallery. 1519 01:17:45,240 --> 01:17:48,760 There were tears, too, from George Michael's long-term partner, 1520 01:17:48,800 --> 01:17:51,360 Kenny Goss, as he left court alone. 1521 01:17:53,800 --> 01:17:55,480 The good life got not so good. 1522 01:18:08,440 --> 01:18:09,520 Hello, George. 1523 01:18:10,960 --> 01:18:12,560 I'm sorry to do this. 1524 01:18:12,600 --> 01:18:15,520 Thank you to everybody that supported me in there. 1525 01:18:15,560 --> 01:18:18,000 It was quite inspirational and, er, 1526 01:18:18,040 --> 01:18:20,040 I'm coming out here on my own 1527 01:18:20,080 --> 01:18:22,520 so that you'll realise I just want to start again. 1528 01:18:25,680 --> 01:18:28,920 Ooh! By the way, I've just thought of a really good idea for a song. 1529 01:18:28,960 --> 01:18:30,360 THEY LAUGH 1530 01:18:30,400 --> 01:18:33,640 And it won't be published, it'll be nothing to do with prison! 1531 01:18:44,000 --> 01:18:46,600 The thing about George is he hated interviews. 1532 01:18:46,640 --> 01:18:48,160 He didn't really like journalists. 1533 01:18:48,200 --> 01:18:50,160 But when he did decide to do interviews, 1534 01:18:50,200 --> 01:18:52,120 he was going to give you everything. 1535 01:18:52,160 --> 01:18:56,360 He was almost evangelical about his need to talk about his sexuality. 1536 01:18:56,400 --> 01:18:58,280 He was a compulsive truth-teller. 1537 01:18:58,320 --> 01:19:01,600 And initially, George was there in his sunglasses, 1538 01:19:01,640 --> 01:19:03,640 quite, sort of, reserved. 1539 01:19:03,680 --> 01:19:05,760 Spliffing his way through the interview - 1540 01:19:05,800 --> 01:19:07,840 spliffing one, spliffing two, spliffing three. 1541 01:19:07,880 --> 01:19:10,840 And then, he got more relaxed, the sunglasses came off, 1542 01:19:10,880 --> 01:19:12,360 the stories started flowing. 1543 01:19:12,400 --> 01:19:16,760 And what he still felt guilty about was having taken 1544 01:19:16,800 --> 01:19:18,240 so long to come out. 1545 01:19:18,280 --> 01:19:20,400 It was almost an act of penance. 1546 01:19:21,520 --> 01:19:24,240 And he'd have to tell you everything. 1547 01:19:24,280 --> 01:19:26,440 When he talked about the family history 1548 01:19:26,480 --> 01:19:28,680 and the suicides in the family, 1549 01:19:28,720 --> 01:19:31,080 and the impact of Anselmo's death, 1550 01:19:31,120 --> 01:19:32,520 and then, his mother's death, 1551 01:19:32,560 --> 01:19:34,680 and you started to see it all as one, 1552 01:19:34,720 --> 01:19:36,880 there was this real, erm, 1553 01:19:36,920 --> 01:19:39,960 suffering that he'd been through in his life. 1554 01:19:40,000 --> 01:19:43,800 Before that interview, there'd been a tiny, tiny story 1555 01:19:43,840 --> 01:19:47,120 saying he'd been cautioned for possession of crack. 1556 01:19:47,160 --> 01:19:51,000 And I found, at one point, I was becoming like some headmaster 1557 01:19:51,040 --> 01:19:53,760 to him, and I said to him, 1558 01:19:53,800 --> 01:19:57,000 "George, there was a story about you being caught 1559 01:19:57,040 --> 01:19:59,920 "in possession of crack?" 1560 01:19:59,960 --> 01:20:02,240 And he nodded. 1561 01:20:02,280 --> 01:20:05,040 And again, went into denial. 1562 01:20:05,080 --> 01:20:09,920 And in the end, I said to him, "George, look me in the eye. 1563 01:20:09,960 --> 01:20:12,000 "Were you smoking crack that day?" 1564 01:20:13,360 --> 01:20:18,840 And he kind of went... "Yeah, on that occasion, I was." 1565 01:20:18,880 --> 01:20:21,680 With all the fame and all the money, and all the great things, as well, 1566 01:20:21,720 --> 01:20:25,240 there was also this, sort of, spectre over him, I think, 1567 01:20:25,280 --> 01:20:28,280 from a lot of his life, of death. 1568 01:20:38,560 --> 01:20:42,240 Well, I didn't do that tour, 1569 01:20:42,280 --> 01:20:43,760 because... 1570 01:20:45,480 --> 01:20:50,280 Well, I wasn't sure that he should be out on the road, frankly. 1571 01:20:50,320 --> 01:20:52,680 But he obviously wasn't well. 1572 01:20:52,720 --> 01:20:55,680 You've been going for almost 30 years now, three decades. 1573 01:20:55,720 --> 01:20:58,080 How have you changed as a person from when you started? 1574 01:20:58,120 --> 01:21:00,880 Well, I suppose I've got a little bit more fashion sense 1575 01:21:00,920 --> 01:21:02,560 than when I started. 1576 01:21:02,600 --> 01:21:04,920 Other than that, I'm pretty much the same, I suppose. 1577 01:21:04,960 --> 01:21:07,600 It felt to me like it was something he was doing more for himself. 1578 01:21:07,640 --> 01:21:11,800 He's positioning himself as someone who had produced a canon, 1579 01:21:11,840 --> 01:21:16,280 and was singing these classics that, sort of, were from the canonical 1580 01:21:16,320 --> 01:21:18,080 classics of the previous century. 1581 01:21:18,120 --> 01:21:22,400 I think one of his things was to work with Phil Ramone 1582 01:21:22,440 --> 01:21:24,280 on an album. 1583 01:21:24,320 --> 01:21:28,000 He was very, very in awe of Phil Ramone. 1584 01:21:28,040 --> 01:21:32,000 APPLAUSE 1585 01:21:35,160 --> 01:21:38,080 If you go through his career, it's almost as if the camera's 1586 01:21:38,120 --> 01:21:39,440 just slowly zooming in - 1587 01:21:39,480 --> 01:21:42,720 and at the end, all you've got is him. 1588 01:21:42,760 --> 01:21:46,680 And I think you should probably know the truth behind this one 1589 01:21:46,720 --> 01:21:48,080 before I sing it. 1590 01:21:48,120 --> 01:21:50,200 His songs just got more and more intense. 1591 01:21:50,240 --> 01:21:54,320 And therefore, I think they become less pleasant for him to write. 1592 01:21:54,360 --> 01:22:01,080 My battles with various substances are very well-documented. 1593 01:22:01,120 --> 01:22:05,280 We had the tendency towards the slower more reflective material, 1594 01:22:05,320 --> 01:22:08,560 a, kind of, musical psychiatry. 1595 01:22:08,600 --> 01:22:11,280 The truth - Kenny and I have not been together for about 1596 01:22:11,320 --> 01:22:13,800 two-and-a-half years, and... 1597 01:22:13,840 --> 01:22:15,400 SCATTERED APPLAUSE 1598 01:22:15,440 --> 01:22:17,840 And all I'm going to say is I love him very much, 1599 01:22:17,880 --> 01:22:21,160 but my love life's been a lot more turbulent than I've let on. 1600 01:22:22,880 --> 01:22:25,400 Yeah, he wrote a song called "Where I Hope You Are". 1601 01:22:25,440 --> 01:22:29,400 Probably the very first break-up that song I've ever written. 1602 01:22:29,440 --> 01:22:34,600 I actually have listened to that song quite a bit, and I actually... 1603 01:22:34,640 --> 01:22:36,720 I didn't know that he was going to... 1604 01:22:36,760 --> 01:22:39,280 I didn't even know he was going to perform it, so... 1605 01:22:40,960 --> 01:22:43,320 # For so long 1606 01:22:43,360 --> 01:22:49,960 # There's been no-one else I care about... # 1607 01:22:52,440 --> 01:22:55,120 Living the life you've lived, 1608 01:22:55,160 --> 01:22:57,440 you know, with all the focus on you as a person, 1609 01:22:57,480 --> 01:22:58,920 how does that effect your life? 1610 01:22:58,960 --> 01:23:01,640 It's had catastrophic effects on my personal life. 1611 01:23:01,680 --> 01:23:05,240 What is so fantastic in your life that you can actually, you know, 1612 01:23:05,280 --> 01:23:07,280 live the way you do with all of this? 1613 01:23:07,320 --> 01:23:09,480 Music! Music. It's the only if it wasn't music, 1614 01:23:09,520 --> 01:23:11,720 if I wasn't absolutely driven, 1615 01:23:11,760 --> 01:23:15,640 and if I didn't find it impossible to live without music, 1616 01:23:15,680 --> 01:23:17,760 then I wouldn't be doing this any more. 1617 01:23:17,800 --> 01:23:19,160 So, you're actually happy? 1618 01:23:19,200 --> 01:23:21,280 Erm, I'd say I've never... 1619 01:23:21,320 --> 01:23:24,680 I'd say I haven't been happy with fame since I was 22. 1620 01:23:24,720 --> 01:23:29,040 Right? So, I've wished I was someone else since I was 22. 1621 01:23:29,080 --> 01:23:32,320 Because I do, I hate the effect it has on friendships, 1622 01:23:32,360 --> 01:23:33,960 on relationships, 1623 01:23:34,000 --> 01:23:37,360 on your privacy, I hate it, all of it. 1624 01:23:39,640 --> 01:23:43,360 George, I'd heard really loved Going To A Town, 1625 01:23:43,400 --> 01:23:46,520 and I got a call from George, 1626 01:23:46,560 --> 01:23:48,640 at 3.00 in the morning when I got to my hotel. 1627 01:23:48,680 --> 01:23:51,040 And he was talking about how much he loved the song, 1628 01:23:51,080 --> 01:23:52,160 how important it was - 1629 01:23:52,200 --> 01:23:54,240 and it was all, you know, wonderful stuff. 1630 01:23:54,280 --> 01:23:58,320 But needless to say, he was also very high. 1631 01:23:58,360 --> 01:24:02,320 HE CHUCKLES And half an hour passed, 1632 01:24:02,360 --> 01:24:04,280 an hour passed, 1633 01:24:04,320 --> 01:24:06,360 an hour-and-a-half passed, 1634 01:24:06,400 --> 01:24:11,400 and then, eventually, he actually...fell asleep. 1635 01:24:11,440 --> 01:24:14,560 I enjoyed the experience cos it was so unusual. 1636 01:24:14,600 --> 01:24:18,120 I mean, in retrospect, it is quite tragic, 1637 01:24:18,160 --> 01:24:21,400 you know, cos he lost that battle. 1638 01:24:21,440 --> 01:24:26,680 # I'm goin' to a town that has already been burnt down 1639 01:24:29,400 --> 01:24:34,600 # I'm goin' to a place that has already been disgraced 1640 01:24:37,480 --> 01:24:40,160 # I'm gonna see some folks... # 1641 01:24:40,200 --> 01:24:43,840 He's turned it so completely into a George Michael song, 1642 01:24:43,880 --> 01:24:46,960 that you can almost see him more clearly. 1643 01:24:47,000 --> 01:24:50,960 Having George Michael sing that song 1644 01:24:51,000 --> 01:24:53,680 was one of the high points of my career, 1645 01:24:53,720 --> 01:24:56,080 and an epic moment that I could... 1646 01:24:56,120 --> 01:24:58,840 That, to the end of my days, I will refer to - 1647 01:24:58,880 --> 01:25:02,440 especially being, you know, a gay boy who, you know, 1648 01:25:02,480 --> 01:25:06,480 at puberty, drooled over his behind. 1649 01:25:06,520 --> 01:25:07,760 HE LAUGHS 1650 01:25:18,200 --> 01:25:20,480 Er, I've got Streptococca-something. 1651 01:25:20,520 --> 01:25:21,840 HE LAUGHS 1652 01:25:21,880 --> 01:25:23,480 It's a form on pneumonia. 1653 01:25:23,520 --> 01:25:26,680 And they spent three weeks keeping me alive, basically. 1654 01:25:26,720 --> 01:25:32,040 The last ten days since I woke up, literally, thank you people 1655 01:25:32,080 --> 01:25:33,520 for saving my life... 1656 01:25:33,560 --> 01:25:36,160 VOICE BREAKS: ..which is something I've never had to do before, 1657 01:25:36,200 --> 01:25:37,680 and I never want to do it again. 1658 01:26:09,400 --> 01:26:13,840 He was very ill, post that time when I saw him... 1659 01:26:13,880 --> 01:26:16,080 ..in the immediate aftermath, 1660 01:26:16,120 --> 01:26:19,160 and he was not a well man. 1661 01:26:19,200 --> 01:26:23,840 And it took him a long time to recover from that. 1662 01:26:23,880 --> 01:26:27,880 Whether he ever recovered fully or not is open to question. 1663 01:26:27,920 --> 01:26:34,040 There was dark demons involved that led him down a dark spiral. 1664 01:26:34,080 --> 01:26:37,960 George's family had an uncle who was a depressive, 1665 01:26:38,000 --> 01:26:39,600 who killed himself. 1666 01:26:39,640 --> 01:26:42,120 And that's a genetic thing. 1667 01:26:42,160 --> 01:26:46,200 I doubt you could override that, to that extent. 1668 01:26:49,880 --> 01:26:55,520 It was a self-destruct for reasons that George knows. 1669 01:26:55,560 --> 01:27:00,160 One could hypothesise that perhaps it was the death of 1670 01:27:00,200 --> 01:27:03,000 George's therapist, friend, 1671 01:27:03,040 --> 01:27:06,320 father figure in the form of Barry Nacouper, 1672 01:27:06,360 --> 01:27:08,640 that was a grief too many. 1673 01:27:08,680 --> 01:27:11,480 That's a very strong ally, 1674 01:27:11,520 --> 01:27:14,120 somebody who you really trust who's on your side. 1675 01:27:16,360 --> 01:27:19,360 On his piano, there was a photograph of Barry Nacouper - 1676 01:27:19,400 --> 01:27:22,680 given that a tradition of a grand piano is that you have 1677 01:27:22,720 --> 01:27:26,000 the photograph of the person you love most in the world, 1678 01:27:26,040 --> 01:27:27,920 or for your most loved one. 1679 01:27:27,960 --> 01:27:30,960 Barry was an incredibly important figure in George's life, 1680 01:27:31,000 --> 01:27:33,880 and his death must've brought him 1681 01:27:33,920 --> 01:27:36,720 an overwhelming amount of grief. 1682 01:27:36,760 --> 01:27:42,280 When he dies, there's a very slow progression down, 1683 01:27:42,320 --> 01:27:44,640 and then, it seems to go further and further down. 1684 01:27:44,680 --> 01:27:47,080 And there's nobody else to whom he trusts. 1685 01:27:47,120 --> 01:27:50,080 He was putting on weight, he was getting very morose, 1686 01:27:50,120 --> 01:27:51,880 taking more and more drugs. 1687 01:27:51,920 --> 01:27:55,760 Inevitably, the voice did deteriorate. 1688 01:27:55,800 --> 01:28:01,040 His voice - which is, I think, after he got pneumonia, was why he, 1689 01:28:01,080 --> 01:28:03,840 you know, became more depressed. 1690 01:28:03,880 --> 01:28:07,920 He was just desperately miserable within his life and who he was. 1691 01:28:07,960 --> 01:28:08,960 It's just awful. 1692 01:28:09,000 --> 01:28:11,280 It was his descent into drug use, that was the thing, 1693 01:28:11,320 --> 01:28:13,200 cos that was what was destroying him. 1694 01:28:13,240 --> 01:28:15,440 The circle of people around him had changed, 1695 01:28:15,480 --> 01:28:17,760 and they were all part of that same lifestyle. 1696 01:28:17,800 --> 01:28:20,560 You know I know people who worked very closely with him 1697 01:28:20,600 --> 01:28:23,360 who would despair of how he was being. 1698 01:28:23,400 --> 01:28:24,840 He was on a downward spiral. 1699 01:28:29,120 --> 01:28:31,920 I went and had a meeting with him up in the house, 1700 01:28:31,960 --> 01:28:33,920 but he didn't want to be in at all. 1701 01:28:33,960 --> 01:28:36,240 So, we just went to Barcelona, 1702 01:28:36,280 --> 01:28:40,880 shot it in a really old vintage, fairground in Barcelona. 1703 01:28:40,920 --> 01:28:43,520 He didn't come with us. And then, it was really weird, though. 1704 01:28:43,560 --> 01:28:46,400 So, we'd be shooting, and then, 1705 01:28:46,440 --> 01:28:48,440 I'd hear George's voice behind me. 1706 01:28:48,480 --> 01:28:49,920 I'd go, "What the fuck?" 1707 01:28:49,960 --> 01:28:51,760 And then, somebody would hold a laptop open, 1708 01:28:51,800 --> 01:28:54,680 and George was on Skype looking at what we were doing, and it was like, 1709 01:28:54,720 --> 01:28:55,880 "Hello there, mate." 1710 01:28:55,920 --> 01:28:59,200 That's a wonderful example of how one musician 1711 01:28:59,240 --> 01:29:02,240 can bring their history, their story, their persona, 1712 01:29:02,280 --> 01:29:05,200 their image to someone else's song. 1713 01:29:05,240 --> 01:29:07,160 And that song becomes something else, 1714 01:29:07,200 --> 01:29:08,920 and it becomes about George Michael, 1715 01:29:08,960 --> 01:29:11,760 or it becomes about who we think George Michael might be, 1716 01:29:11,800 --> 01:29:13,040 or might have been. 1717 01:29:13,080 --> 01:29:14,760 # Let her down easy 1718 01:29:14,800 --> 01:29:18,040 # Her heart is on the line 1719 01:29:20,040 --> 01:29:23,000 # Let her down easy 1720 01:29:23,040 --> 01:29:27,200 # And you'll grow up in time... # 1721 01:29:29,320 --> 01:29:33,000 If you're thinking about art and music... 1722 01:29:35,200 --> 01:29:37,640 ..George's music, 1723 01:29:37,680 --> 01:29:41,640 I think you can think of it all as an astonishing sequence 1724 01:29:41,680 --> 01:29:43,440 of self-portraits... 1725 01:29:44,880 --> 01:29:50,840 ..in which the artist, George, is looking at himself in the mirror 1726 01:29:50,880 --> 01:29:53,400 each time he comes up with a new song, and he'll say, 1727 01:29:53,440 --> 01:29:56,320 "Right, who am I? Who are you?" 1728 01:29:56,360 --> 01:29:58,760 And each time, there's a different answer. 1729 01:29:58,800 --> 01:30:00,640 And if you listen to all the songs, 1730 01:30:00,680 --> 01:30:04,040 and you watch all the videos one after the other, 1731 01:30:04,080 --> 01:30:08,560 you emerge with this wonderful sense of the indeterminacy of a self, 1732 01:30:08,600 --> 01:30:11,760 the fact that all the richness, if you like, that how many selves 1733 01:30:11,800 --> 01:30:14,040 you can be - and I think that's one of the things 1734 01:30:14,080 --> 01:30:15,520 that people love about him. 1735 01:30:15,560 --> 01:30:18,480 I think that you can see that there's a darkness there a lot. 1736 01:30:18,520 --> 01:30:20,320 There's a lot of darkness there. 1737 01:30:20,360 --> 01:30:25,560 And you can conclude, from the end of his story, 1738 01:30:25,600 --> 01:30:27,080 that the darkness won. 1739 01:30:29,880 --> 01:30:33,360 But I always like to think that there are all these other sides, 1740 01:30:33,400 --> 01:30:36,480 and one of those could have won, it just didn't. 1741 01:30:36,520 --> 01:30:39,800 You know, such and such happened in a certain period of time, 1742 01:30:39,840 --> 01:30:42,480 and his demons got the better of him. 1743 01:30:42,520 --> 01:30:45,040 But they didn't have to - and he left us with 1744 01:30:45,080 --> 01:30:48,120 so many angels, that maybe that's enough anyway. 1745 01:31:06,680 --> 01:31:08,800 "My name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou" - 1746 01:31:08,840 --> 01:31:10,320 that's how it's said. Wonderful. 1747 01:31:10,360 --> 01:31:11,960 "Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. 1748 01:31:12,000 --> 01:31:14,840 "To the outside world, I am and always will be known 1749 01:31:14,880 --> 01:31:17,640 "as something else, but it's not my name. 1750 01:31:17,680 --> 01:31:18,680 "As a boy..." 1751 01:31:18,720 --> 01:31:20,520 I haven't read this for ages. I know. 1752 01:31:20,560 --> 01:31:24,160 "As a boy, my biggest fear was that my huge ambitions would stay 1753 01:31:24,200 --> 01:31:27,280 "just out of reach of the child that I saw in the mirror. 1754 01:31:27,320 --> 01:31:31,680 "So, I created a man in the image of a great friend that the world 1755 01:31:31,720 --> 01:31:33,520 "could love if they chose to. 1756 01:31:33,560 --> 01:31:36,760 "Someone who could realise my dreams and make me a star. 1757 01:31:36,800 --> 01:31:38,640 "I called him George Michael," 1758 01:31:38,680 --> 01:31:41,840 "and for almost a decade, he worked his arse off for me 1759 01:31:41,880 --> 01:31:43,720 "and did as he was told. 1760 01:31:43,760 --> 01:31:47,000 "He was very good at his job - perhaps a little too good. 1761 01:31:47,040 --> 01:31:49,800 "Anyway, shortly before I was approached with the idea 1762 01:31:49,840 --> 01:31:53,360 "of this book, I decided that his services were no longer required. 1763 01:31:53,400 --> 01:31:55,880 "He went quietly, he didn't make a fuss. 1764 01:31:55,920 --> 01:31:58,800 "I know many of you will think that that was a strange thing 1765 01:31:58,840 --> 01:32:01,320 "for me to do, but believe me, he really had to go." 1766 01:33:54,160 --> 01:33:58,520 Subtitles by Red Bee Media