George Michael Scores 7th No.1
George Michael’s new album ‘Symphonica’, which is his first release since 2006, has reached the top spot in the UK album charts, beating the likes of Kylie Minogue and Pharrell Williams.
Michael’s last album ‘Twenty five’ topped the charts back in 2006, his sixth album to reach no. 1 since ‘Faith’ back in 1987, excluding the two ‘Wham’ albums which also made it to the top spot.
George has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and notched up 7 no. 1 singles throughout his solo career. Debut album ‘Faith’ sold more than 20 million copies and churned singles such as ‘One More Try’, ‘I Want Your Sex’, ‘Father Figure’ and the single of the same name ‘Faith’, which was the best-selling singe in the US for 1988.
Throughout his career Michael has teamed up with some of the industry’s most notorious artists including Elton John for ‘Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’, Mary J Blige with ‘As’, Aretha Franklin with ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’ and ‘Somebody To Love’ with Queen, which was performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert back in 1992.
‘Symphonica’ is a compilation of Michael’s songs from his 2011 tour including six of his own compositions and several covers. Though the tour started well, it was subsequently cancelled in November 2011 due to illness. It was this year that George was nominated for a place in the coveted Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame but lost out to Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.