WE WERE IN THE THROES of holiday celebrations when the news came that George Michael was dead. It was Christmas day, and he had passed away in his sleep at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He was only 53.
George Michael (1963 – 2016)
English singer, songwriter, and record producer George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley, London in 1963 to a Greek Cypriot restaurateur father and English dancer mother.
While in his early teens, the family moved to Radlett, Hertfordshire. It was here, in Bushey Meads School in the neighbouring town of Bushey, where he would meet friend Andrew Ridgeley. Both had the same ambition to become musicians and would go on to form the band Wham! in 1981. Michael’s early days in the music business began as a DJ playing at clubs and local schools around Bushey, Stanmore, and Watford and would end with him selling more than 100 million records worldwide.
In April of 1985, Wham! toured China — it would be the first visit to China by a Western pop music act and generated worldwide media coverage, as before Wham!’s appearance, many kinds of music were forbidden in the country. Members of the Chinese government were in attendance and Chinese television presenter, Kan Lijun, the on stage host, said of Wham!’s historic performance: “No-one had ever seen anything like that before. All the young people were amazed and everybody was tapping their feet. Of course the police weren’t happy and they were scared there would be riots.”
Wham! officially separated in 1986 and Michael would go on to become one of the best-selling British acts of all time, with Billboard magazine ranking him the 40th-most successful artist to ever live.
George Michael discography
Faith (1987)
Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990)
Older (1996)
Songs from the Last Century (1999)
Patience (2004)
Wham! discography
Fantastic (1983)
Make It Big (1984)
The Final (1986) (UK only)
Music from the Edge of Heaven (1986) (North America and Japan only)
Style File: November Shopping List /002
There’s something undeniably enchanting about November – the crisp air, the first hints of winter, and the promise of festive gatherings just ahead.
Style File: November Shopping List
With Christmas exactly one month away, and our neighbourhood’s lighting ceremony on Thursday evening, one can’t help but get a little caught up in all the holiday excitement. Here are a few things on our list, from the kinds of pieces that feel made for this in-between moment of the year, when November is slipping quietly toward winter and everything seems to slow under the softer light.
A Few Things We Loved this Week 12.11.25
In our Weekly Newsletter, we often highlight a few things that inspired us that week (you can see those here). It’s been a while since we’ve shared something similar in this space, so we thought we’d bring it back for the holiday season—this time with a focus on meaningful offerings you might want to share with others…
Lately at our Newsletter, Hyperreality /006
The clocks went back this past Sunday, and all anyone can talk about is how dark it’s become. It is dark, and it will take some adjusting. After all, it’s that season again – the one Hemingway said made you sad without knowing why.
Style File: October Shopping List
The light is slipping away earlier and earlier, and once British Summer Time ends on the 26th, we’ll lose even more of it. I won’t pretend I’m taking it well. People are posting their loafers and soft sweaters, but outside it’s cold, wet, and sharp with wind.
Lately at our Newsletter, Hyperreality /005
It’s been three months since the last our last newsletter update, though it feels both longer and shorter than that – like most things lately. Since then, we’ve moved constantly: Scotland to England, city to city, trains and overnights and cafes that all blur together now. Glasgow, London, Stamford, Manchester. A collage of impressions.