Gay Icon George Michael To Be Inducted Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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Gay pop superstar and icon George Michael will be posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year.
This was the first year Michael’s name could be included on the ballot.
To be eligible, a performer needs to have released their first recording 25 years prior.
He won the fan vote ahead of second-place winner Cyndi Lauper. The official event will be held on November 3.
The late British musician’s family expressed their gratitude via his official Instagram page.
“We are incredibly proud to learn that George will be officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year – he would have been honoured to be included in such esteemed company.”
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Beginning his career in 1981 with friend Andrew Ridgeley, forming the pop duo Wham! With hits Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Club Tropicana and Everything She Wants. The duo featured in charts both in the United Kingdom and United States with their quintessential 80s sound still heard on the radio today.
Michael branched out on more solo projects while still with Wham! Such as the hit track Careless Whisper. With Wham! Disbanding in 1986 he enshrined his reputation as a pop idol with the release of his debut solo album Faith in 1987. The title single of the same name alone reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart.
Michaels came out publicly in 1998 on live television following an arrest by an undercover Policeman in a Beverly Hills park restroom. This act was credited with inspiring future generations of LGBTQIA+ singers and songwriters to be themselves openly and proudly.
Michael passed away on the December 25, his death attributed to natural causes. He lives on through his music.
Local Inspiration
Sydney was not spared from the aura of Michael, with street artist Scott Marsh painting a large “St George” mural in St Peters following his death.
Speaking to The Music, Marsh stated, “The guys who live in that building, they were both friends with George Michael and I had already been speaking with them about painting their wall. They offered their wall up to me a while ago and I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.”
“They were telling me stories about him and their times with him in Sydney and he sounded like a pretty incredible person, so I just sat down with them and threw some ideas around. The idea we stuck with was him as the patron saint of the gays,” Marsh laughs. “They love it.”
The mural became a symbol of the LGBTQI community in Sydney, even featured prominently during the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey when a man claiming to be defending his religion vandalised the mural.
Now people are attacking the George Michael mural in Newtown, an entirely respectful and beautiful work of art
Man, homophobes are SO MAD about the marriage survey result (and need to find new hobbies) https://t.co/x38XyRJreU
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) November 18, 2017
The vandalised mural epitomised the lack of respectfulness and harm felt by the community as a direct result of the survey. Later the vandalised mural became the site of positive messages of love and affirmations when Australia said a resounding YES.
The mural remains sorely missed in Sydney.
