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2016 is not over folks.
BBC news confirmed that legendary rock star George Michael is dead. His publicist said, “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period.
The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.”
Like many of you, I grew up listening to Wham!, and their ‘Last Christmas’ song is a staple on radio for many years around this time of the year.
My very first cassette I ever bought was for George Michael’s solo album Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 (there was never a volume 2), purchased for $7.99 at the Wherehouse Record Store in Fresno. I no longer own the tape, but I used to listen to it all the time, particularly for Side A, which included ‘Playing For Time’ and ‘Freedom! ‘90’.
The record didn’t do that well against his solo debut Faith, which had two massive hit songs ‘Faith’ and the overly sexual ‘I Want Your Sex’. Although the sex thing sold, Michael did somewhat regret it, later addressing it in ‘Freedom! ‘90’ with the lyrics, “Posing for another picture, everybody's got to sell. But when you shake your ass they notice fast. Some mistakes were built to last.”
Needless to say, George Michael, you will be missed.
Below are more deaths for the month of December - for the full death list: Musicians who died in 2016.
December (107)
[25 Dec 2016] George Michael (Wham!), 53, not given
[25 Dec 2016] Red Army Choir (64 members, including Valery Khalilov, L. Kulikov, V. Ermolin, A. Kormilitsyn, VI Shtefutsa, EM Labkovsky, SV Ivanov, PD Bogachev, VP Maystruk, AA Gvozdetsky, BM Mizyuk, YA Lysenko, Y. Shtrunov, IM Pirogov, IS Sobolev, И.Ф. Volkov, OV Filimonov, AN Savitsky, VA Nagorny, VP Kokarev, AA Hristachev, JN Deynekin, VM Bolonenko, VN Antonov, AN Stritenko, AA Toschev VS Buzlov, SP Lapik, VF Orthodox, GU Razgasimov, V. Chekin, MD Mochalina, AA Mogulkin, Y. Savkin, MG Chervov, PD Shchennikov, NI Diakov, AI Egorov, VM Predelin, MI Glinka, PI Tchaikovsky, Professor KP Lisovsky, V. Brodsky, GD Pavlyuchenko, IV Konygina, P.U. Khmelnitski), various ages, plane crash
[24 Dec 2016] Rick Parfitt (Status Quo), 68, shoulder injury
[23 Dec 2016] Heinrich Schiff (Austrian cellist), 65
[23 Dec 2016] Mick Zane (Malice), cancer
[22 Dec 2016] Ruud Merx (Dutch musical composer and trombonist for Johann Strauss Orchestra), 47
[22 Dec 2016] Frank Murray (British band manager for Thin Lizzy and The Pogues), 66, suspected heart attack
[21 Dec 2016] Weston Noble (American music educator and conductor), 94, complications from a fall
[21 Dec 2016] Sam Leach (British concert promoter and talent agent, worked with The Beatles), 81
[21 Dec 2016] Abdul Gafur Hali (Bangladeshi singer, composer and lyricist), 87
[21 Dec 2016] Betty Loo Taylor (American jazz pianist), 87
[19 Dec 2016] Andrew Dorff (American songwriter), 40
[18 Dec 2016] Gustavo Quintero (Colombian singer-songwriter), 76
[18 Dec 2016] Léo Marjane (French singer), 104
[18 Dec 2016] Gordie Tapp (Canadian country singer and entertainer on Hee Haw), 94
[17 Dec 2016] Bob Coburn (Rockline), 68
[15 Dec 2016] Bohdan Smoleń (Polish singer), 69
[15 Dec 2016] Ajit Varman (Indian composer), 69
[14 Dec 2016] Karel Husa (Czech-born American composer), 95
[14 Dec 2016] Arnie Norse (Norwegian singer), 91
[14 Dec 2016] Päivi Paunu (Finnish singer), 70
[14 Dec 2016] Bunny Walters (New Zealand singer), 63
[13 Dec 2016] Betsy Pecanins (American-born Mexican singer), 62,stroke
[13 Dec 2016] Ahuva Ozeri (Israeli singer), 68, cancer
[12 Dec 2016] Lucila Campos (Peruvian singer), 78
[12 Dec 2016] Jim Lowe (American singer-songwriter), 93
[12 Dec 2016] Barrelhouse Chuck (American blues musician), 58, prostate cancer
[11 Dec 2016] Bob Krasnow (Elektra Records), 81
[11 Dec 2016] Joe Ligon (Mighty Clouds of Joy), 80
[11 Dec 2016] Esma Redžepova (Eurovision), 73
[10 Dec 2016] Damião Experiença (Brazilian singer and musician), 81
[07 Dec 2016] Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), 69, cancer
[07 Dec 2016] Elliott Schwartz (composer), 80
[07 Dec 2016] Mohamed Tahar Fergani (Algerian singer), 88
[07 Dec 2016] Junaid Jamshed (musician, television personality and preacher), 52, plane crash
[05 Dec 2016] Big Syke, 48, rapper
[05 Dec 2016] Mona Maraachli, 58, singer, heart attack
[05 Dec 2016] Adam Sagan (Circle II Circle), 35, lymphoma
[04 Dec 2016] Wayne Duncan (Daddy Cool), 72, stroke
[04 Dec 2016] Radim Hladík (Blue Effect), 69, pulmonary fibrosis
[02 Dec 2016] Allan Zavod (Frank Zappa), 71, brain cancer
[02 Dec 2016] Mark Gray, 64, country singer
[02 Dec 2016] Gisela May, 92, German actress and singer
[01 Dec 2016] Micky Fitz (The Business), 60?, cancer
The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.”
Like many of you, I grew up listening to Wham!, and their ‘Last Christmas’ song is a staple on radio for many years around this time of the year.
My very first cassette I ever bought was for George Michael’s solo album Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 (there was never a volume 2), purchased for $7.99 at the Wherehouse Record Store in Fresno. I no longer own the tape, but I used to listen to it all the time, particularly for Side A, which included ‘Playing For Time’ and ‘Freedom! ‘90’.
The record didn’t do that well against his solo debut Faith, which had two massive hit songs ‘Faith’ and the overly sexual ‘I Want Your Sex’. Although the sex thing sold, Michael did somewhat regret it, later addressing it in ‘Freedom! ‘90’ with the lyrics, “Posing for another picture, everybody's got to sell. But when you shake your ass they notice fast. Some mistakes were built to last.”
Needless to say, George Michael, you will be missed.
Below are more deaths for the month of December - for the full death list: Musicians who died in 2016.
December (107)
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