George Michael’s moment of liberation followed what seemed at first to be a time of deep humiliation.
He was blessed with sensual good looks and an exquisite voice, attributes he used to become first a teenybopper heartthrob and then a mature solo artist with videos that played up his considerable appeal. He kept his own sexual orientation private, until he was arrested in 1998 for lewd behavior in Los Angeles.
Michael, whose death from heart failure at 53 was announced Sunday, struggled in his later years, fighting health issues and substance abuse problems. His voice remained golden—at times it seemed there was almost no limit to his range—but his behavior in public became ever more erratic.
The Oxfordshire home of British pop singer George Michael in Goring, England on Dec. 26, 2016. Singer George Michael died on Christmas day in his country home in Oxfordshire at the age of 53 on Dec. 25. Carl Court/Getty Images
