1981-1986: Wham! In the five years from 1982 to 1986, the Wham band composed of George Michael and Andrew Wedgeley has successfully entered the market in the United Kingdom and the United States. They have a US number one album.
, 2 UK champion albums, 3 US champion singles, and 5 UK champion singles and other brilliant records.
The single "Careless Whisper" also beat Madonna's "Like a Virgin" to become Billboard's best single of the year in 1985. This song has also become a classic representative of love songs in the 1980s, but many people don't know that it was written by George when he was 17 years old.
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In April 1985, Wham Band became the first Western pop band to perform in China, and their concert in Beijing caused a huge sensation.
In June 1986, Wham Band held a farewell concert at Wembley Arena in London, England, and this popular group officially announced its disbandment.
1987-1989: Faith George Michael released his first solo single I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) in January 1987. This single invited the "First Lady of Soul Music"
Veteran singer Aretha Franklin sang along.
The collaboration of two singers from different generations, different music fields and even different fan bases was unprecedented at the time. It was also a very bold attempt. After all, the 1980s was not the era of Aretha Franklin.
Unexpectedly, after the single was released, the market response was quite good. The combination of new and old singers created a new appeal. The single won the championship in both the UK and the United States. This good result also helped George's upcoming solo album to gain traction.
It raised a lot of momentum.
On October 30, 1987, George Michael released his solo album "Faith". The album's lyrics, composition, arrangement, production, etc. were all handled by George. The album's genres also cover jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, etc.
There are a variety of styles, and George also interprets them with more mature singing styles in response to the different styles in the album.
After the album "Faith" was released, it quickly topped the album charts in the United Kingdom and the United States. It also topped the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States for 12 weeks. Its sales figures in the United States reached eight platinums. The album contains 11 songs.
Song, released 6 singles in a row. The first single "I Want Your Sex" was blocked on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 8, 1987 by U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
runner up.
The album's single of the same name, Faith, topped the Billboard Hot 100 on December 12, 1987, beating Belinda Carlyle's Heaven Is A Place On Earth and stayed there for four weeks, selling over 500,000 copies.
Ranked second on the list.
The third single, Father Figure, topped the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of February 1988 and stayed there for 2 weeks.
The fourth single, "One More Try," topped the Billboard Hot 100 on May 28, 1988, and stayed there for three weeks, selling gold records.
The fifth single, "Monkey," topped the Billboard Hot 100 on August 27, 1988, and stayed at the top of the list for 2 weeks.
The sixth single, Kissing A Fool, peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In terms of Billboard's 1988 year-end results, George Michael won the best artist of the year, the best album of the year "Faith" and the best single of the year Faith. Together with Careless Whisper in 1985, George alone had two albums in the 1980s.
The first year-end number one single.
The album "Faith" also won the "Best Album of the Year" award at the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988.
In 1988, George Michael launched his global concert tour for the album "Faith". Starting from the first concert in Japan Budokan in February, George Michael's footsteps traveled to Australia, Europe and North America.
America.
In June, George temporarily put aside his intensive performance schedule and returned to London's Wembley Arena to participate in a charity concert in support of Mandela, who later became the president of South Africa. Afterwards, he entered the recording studio to record songs for his long-time friend.
, bassist Deon Estus performed a duet on the song "Heaven Help Me", which became a Top 5 hit in the United States in 1989 after its release.