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George Michael saved my life!!!
Another Original FREEEK! Singing karaoke saved my life
Evening News - Edinburg, January 31, 2002
A POSTMAN who miraculously cheated death when a tree crushed his car today revealed how karaoke saved his life. Richard Taylor, 30, from Uphall, believed he would die in his smashed Ford Orion during Monday's gales. Fire-fighters trying to rescue him from the wreckage were concerned Mr Taylor was in danger of blacking out, so they told him to do something he could concentrate on to help him remain conscious.
He decided on a rousing rendition of Elton John's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me while fire-fighters struggled to cut him from the car. Mr Taylor, who is a regular karaoke singer at the Volunteer pub in Uphall, has been in intensive care since the accident. Fears that he would be left paralysed have passed and he has been transferred to a regular ward. Speaking from his hospital bed at the ERI, Mr Taylor said he thought he would not survive the accident.
He said: "I was in excruciating pain having taken the full force of the tree and there was blood everywhere. There was one fireman who was holding me still - he said I had to do something to stop myself passing out, so I began singing karaoke songs. I can't remember a great deal but George Michael's version of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me by Elton John must have been one of them, I always sing that when I am out at the pub. The firemen found the whole thing very amusing - and so would I, if I hadn't been in such pain. But at the time I thought I wasn't going to survive. You could say George Michael saved my life."
Mr Taylor was driving back from arranging his wedding reception at Uphall Bowling Club on Monday when a fierce gust of wind sent a mature beech tree crashing on to his car. His two children, five-year-old Chloe and Elle, aged 16 months, were pulled virtually unscathed from the back of the wrecked vehicle by a passing off-duty nurse.
Mr Taylor said he saw the tree starting to fall but was unable to stop his car. He said: "The tree crushed the roof and came in through the windscreen. My first worry was that I couldn't hear Chloe crying and Elle said she couldn't see her. But this nurse just appeared from nowhere and pulled them free. I then began to find it really difficult to breathe so I tried to lie across the passenger seat."
It took more than an hour for the emergency services to cut Mr Taylor free, during which time the storm continued to rage and other trees threatened to come crashing down. Specialists at the ERI had feared Mr Taylor would be paralysed following the accident. He suffered several fractured vertebrae, fluid on his lung and cracked ribs. But today, a hospital spokeswoman said Mr Taylor was still defying the odds and recovering speedily.
She said: "It's amazing that he is recovering so quickly, especially so when you consider the state the car was left in."
Mr Taylor is now able to sit up in bed unassisted and can move his legs and feet. His fiance Michele Sharland, 27, from Uphall, said she still couldn't believe his progress.
She said: "When we first saw him after the accident, he was surrounded by monitors in intensive care, and looked in such a bad way. Today, he looks more like his old self."
Scott McLaughlin, the St John's Hospital nursing assistant who was first at the scene and pulled the girls to safety, also paid tribute to Mr Taylor. He said: "I'm very surprised he came out of that car alive. And his recovery since seems to be even more miraculous - he's a very lucky man indeed."
Mr Taylor, who praised the emergency services for their handling of the accident, is now vowing to recover for his wedding day on March 1. He said: "If I can walk, I'll marry Michele and I'll be doing everything I can to make the wedding go as planned."
Footloose Bullock Saved By Boogieing George Michael
Press, January 30, 2002
Footloose Sandra Bullock was rescued by singer George Michael when her Murder By Numbers co-star Ben Chaplin refused to dance with her at a club recently. The fun-loving actress was desperate for a dance while partying with the British actor in Los Angeles, after wrapping their upcoming police thriller, but was disappointed by the reticent Chaplin - only to be swept off her feet by the smooth former Wham! frontman. Chaplin reveals, "We were at Moomba in LA where Sandy tried to get me out on the floor to do some salsa dancing. She couldn't drag me out there. Suddenly, Sandy and George were boogieing and it was like the 1980s revisited!" However, spurred on by George's fleet footed skills and a change of musical styles by the club's DJ's, Chaplin rose to Bullock's challenge. "When it came to good old fashioned disco, I gave her a run for her money," he proudly adds.
George Michael's comeback single Freeek
Sunday People, January 18, 2002
The massively expensive video for George Michael's comeback single Freeek is all about going to the dentist. The mini film - shot in LA - cost L2 million and features George dressed in a dentist's outfit with hundreds of actors and actresses. Record company Universal put their money where their mouth is to show George they are 100% behind him.
George's Careless Whisper
Daily Record-Glasgow, January 18, 2002
Love is obviously in the air for pop star George Michael and his Texan boyfriend Kenny Goss. The singer beamed with delight as Kenny threw his arms around him and planted a kiss on his cheek as they strolled through Los Angeles. After the public embrace, Kenny, wearing a blue hooded top, burst into laughter, as did 38 year old George, who was sporting sunglasses and a baseball cap. An onlooker said: "They semed like any other couple who are in love. I think Kenny caught George off guard but he didn't seem to mind at all." George flew to Los Angeles last week to start work on the video for his new single , Freak [-note the misspelling-lol] Long-time partner Kenny, 40, [uh 43], stood by the star whne he was arrested for performing a lew act in a toilet in the city. At the time, Geoorge said: "He understands it was a stupid mistake and has forgiven me-I hope."
George Michael: E! True Hollywood Story
E!online, January 15, 2002
Premieres: Feb. 26, 8 p.m. ET/PT
E!'s Got Your Back with Rockin' Coverage of the 2002 Grammys
A pinch of pop stardom, a dash of rock 'n' roll scandal and--Wham!--you've got the inside scoop on one of the '80s biggest pop stars.
Only sing when you're winning:
Pop stars claw back their lives from music label moguls
Tired of being bossed around, musicians demand more say
Independent, January 13 2002
They've earned their walls of gold discs, their shelves of Brit awards and their state-of-the-art studios on Mustique. Now, some of the biggest names in rock are fighting to win back the one thing they have grown used to living without: their freedom. In a turnabout that has echoes of the changing balance of power between Premiership footballers and club chairmen, stars ranging from Robbie Williams to Sir Cliff Richard are demanding a bigger say in the marketing of their talent. Eschewing the eight-figure multi- album contracts of yesteryear, they have started to shop around for the best deals on a record-by-record basis.
George Michael has just persuaded Universal to agree to a landmark deal that will initially allow it to release just one single. In a sign that he is still smarting from the memory of his protracted 1993 legal battle to extricate himself from a 15-year contract with rival label Sony, he wants to see how well the new record is marketed before giving the company enough material for a full LP.
Meanwhile, Robbie Williams is reportedly negotiating a new contract with EMI, worth up to pounds 20m, that could see the label forced to adopt a similar single-by-single approach.
The same pattern is being followed by Sir Cliff, who ended his 40- year association with EMI over the company's refusal to issue his 1999 Christmas single, The Millennium Prayer. His new label, Papillon, a three-year-old division of Chrysalis that has helped resurrect the careers of 1980s survivors The Human League and Deacon Blue, has the option to record just one further album with him.
David Bowie, however, has adopted a different tack. Apparently frustrated by his lack of major hits since the release of his Let's Dance album nearly 20 years ago, the veteran singer has left Virgin/ EMI to set up his own label.
Now, in the wake of EMI's reported disquiet over the chart performance of pop diva Mariah Carey since she signed a pounds 66m, five-album deal last year, industry insiders are predicting the demise of traditional multi- record contracts. John McKie, former editor of music magazines Smash Hits and Q, says the introduction of piecemeal recording contracts indicates a fundamental shift in the balance of power. Popular musicians are winning bargaining rights equivalent to those enjoyed by David Beckham and Michael Owen.
"The recording industry is becoming like the Premiership, where footballers now have more control over their contracts and are increasingly concerned about their freedom of movement," says Mr McKie. "That's what most concerns George Michael, and it's probably partly behind what happened to Mariah Carey. With Cliff Richard, who has been one of the most successful British pop stars of all time, it doesn't make sense that EMI would allow him to walk away."
Alexander Ross, a specialist music lawyer with London-based firm Theodore Goddard, confirmed that most record companies now view 10- album deals as a thing of the past. "Signing artists up for 10 records is seen as excessive now," said Mr Ross. "We've arrived at a more mutually acceptable level where a company will normally commit to one album and sign an option for another four."
Mr Ross said increasing caution on the part of companies had been accompanied by the willingness of big-name stars to turn the tables on their bosses by dictating the terms under which they are prepared to record for them. "There's been a real shift in their awareness of their bargaining power," he said. "Some of the real Stone Age artists are so wealthy that if they don't like the way their work is being marketed they can set up their own labels, record their own music and sell it to interested companies under licence."
He added: "You can't force an artist to record an album. If they refuse to, all you can do is to sue for breach of contract. But then that will become public, and in practice it never gets that far."
Get stuffed Geri
Mirror, January 9, 2002
IT'S EARLY days but George Michael is already a contender for our coveted Man Of The Year Award. The superstar singer had us in stitches with his hilarious festive prank at the expense of his former friend Geri Halliwell.
It was last May when The Mirror exclusively revealed the once-inseparable pals had stopped speaking to each other, after George decided he wanted the former Ginger Spice out of his life for good. But, clearly, the thought of ambitious Ms Halliwell still amuses George.
Imagine the scene on Christmas Eve when a huge parcel arrived at London home of Nina Campbell, the friend with whom 29-year-old Geri is temporarily residing. Excitedly, Geri rushed to see what the gift was. When she saw that George had sent it, she must have thought he was ready to heal their rift... But her smiles turned to tears when she realised that the old wag had sent a massive Harrods hamper - bursting with fattening festive goodies such as pates, caviare, cheeses, a shank of lamb and hundreds of Belgian chocolate truffles.
Once she dried her eyes, shocked Geri decided to give away the calorific contents to friends. "It was a wickedly funny thing for George to do," one of Geri's chums told us. "Geri lives with constant temptation and it takes an enormous amount of discipline for her to resist fattening food. "As soon as she saw the hamper, she knew she had to get rid of it - and, er, fast. A lot of us are still laughing. But Geri wasn't too thrilled."
So fixated is the yoga-loving singer with her slim-line physique that she has even banned pals from munching fried food and cakes around her. George, 37, tired of his wannabe chum after deciding she was using him to boost her status and that she was obsessed with publicity. Can't wait to see what gift Robbie Williams is planning for her birthday.
The beautiful people: Robbie and Kylie hold on to the top spots
Birmingham Post, January 8 2002
The results of the annual survey, conducted among readers of Heat magazine....
Men:
1. Robbie Williams: same position;
2. David Beckham: up 2;
3. Brad Pitt: down 1;
4. Dermot O'Leary: up 7;
5. Jude Law: up 1;
6. Brian Dowling: new;
7. Tom Cruise: new;
8. Ewan McGregor: new;
9. Ryan Phillipe: up 7;
10. Gary Lucy: new;
23. George Michael: new;
Sir Paul is 'pop billionaire'
BBC, January 7, 2002
Sir Paul is laughing all the way to the bank. Sir Paul McCartney has been named Britain's first ever pop billionaire, according to a new survey. The former Beatle has amassed a fortune of £1.1bn, the Sunday Express's "Rich List" for 2002 says. McCartney has seen his bank balance increase thanks in part to the hugely successful Beatles compilation album One. His fortune lifts him to the 11th richest person in the country - motor racing tycoon Bernie Ecclestone is number one with a reported £3.2bn. McCartney has also been helped by a £200m inheritance from his late wife Linda.
David Bowie is named as the second richest in showbusiness with a fortune of £510m. The singer has a huge back catalogue of songs which still remain popular.
Sir Elton John is reported to have lost £40m of his fortune, but he is still laughing all the way to the bank with £450m saved up.
Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber had a poor 2001, thanks in part to the downturn in theatre ticket sales after 11 September.
Singers round out the top 10 with Mick Jagger (£300m), Tom Jones (£270m), Keith Richards (£250m), George Michael (£210m), Sting (£190m) and Phil Collins (£180m) still keeping their bank managers happy.
The world of pop is a fickle one
The Belfast News Letter, January 4 2002
The fickle world of pop success is legendary. One minute you're flying high in the charts, the next you are in the bargain bucket. But pop group Steps appeared to have bucked the trend. The British group - Lisa Scott-Lee, Claire Richards, Lee Latchford-Evans, Faye Tozer and Ian 'H' Watkins - burst on to the music scene five years ago and have sold more than 12 million records and enjoyed 13 consecutive top five hits, including Tragedy and Better Best Forgotten - the only band to beat the Beatles' record. So you could forgive their fans for being the teeniest bit shocked when the five announced yesterday they were to quit the pop world and go their separate ways while at the height of their success.
In splitting the group have echoed the actions of other pop acts including the fab four who also preferred to end on a high note. We look back at the groups who preferred to burn out rather than fade away.
The Beatles
It was the end of 1962 when the Beatles burst into the UK charts with their debut single Love Me Do. Over the next year Beatlemania swept the nation and throughout the Sixties they enjoyed a string of hits including All You Need Is Love, A Hard Day's Night and Can't Buy Me Love.
The phenomenal four - Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr - may have enjoyed global success, but by the end of the Sixties the cracks were showing in their personal and musical relationship and in 1969 the Beatles celebrated their final UK number one with The Ballad Of John And Yoko, on which only Lennon and McCartney performed. In 1970 the band's last official single Let It be went in at No 2 in the UK charts - despite splitting the same year, the band's legend lives on.
Abba
The disco group Abba stormed on to the scene in 1974 with their Eurovision song contest winner Waterloo which swept the UK charts and hit the US top 10. What followed was an endless stream of catchy dance floor grooves including classics like Dancing Queen, Take A Chance On Me and Money, Money, Money which cemented their appeal to a mainstream audience. But by the beginning of the 1980s the marriages of the four group members - husband and wife team Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson and his wife Anni-Frid Lyngstad - had foundered. Although the group went on to enjoy two more UK number 1's The Winner Takes It All and Super Trouper, the group disbanded in 1982.
However, the memory of the band lives on today with tribute groups and cover versions giving their songs a new lease of life. Bjorn Ulvaeus, band member, said: "When we split up I thought that was it. It was all in the past. I thought it was the end of Abba and that we would never be remembered. It seems both amazing and absurd that it's still around." He even revealed that the band members were offered a billion dollars to reform in 2001. They turned the offer down.
Wham!
As Wham!, George Michael and schoolfriend Andrew Ridgeley epitomised 80s pop. After playing small gigs in their native Hertfordshire, they stormed into the pop charts with Young Guns in 1982. Wham Rap followed and their third single Bad Boys also enjoyed Top Five success in the UK charts. Timeless classics like Last Christmas, I'm Your Man, Club Tropicana and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, followed before singer George Michael released the solo hit Careless Whisper. Despite the group's popularity increasing throughout the 80s the duo decided to call it a day in the mid-Eighties and following a tour of China, they announced a farewell concert. The sell-out concert at Wembley in June 1986 was aptly called The Final and marked the end of one of pop's most successful pairings.
George Michael, who was only 23 when Wham! split, said: "I see now that my time with Wham! were the happiest years of my life. When I listen to our records I hear two young men who are having the best time they would ever have. It's amazing - the joy in it, the spirit of it. I listen to myself singing in Wham! and I think - who is that person? And I know who he is, and I know who those two boys are - two kids at the top of a dream."
Take That
Formed in Manchester, Take That enjoyed phenomenal success in the 1990s. Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald enjoyed a string of Top 10 hits including How Deep Is Your Love, Back For Good and Could It Be Magic. But the stress of success proved too much for band member Robbie Williams who quit in July 1995, before going on to forge a successful solo career. Despite fans' hopes that the remaining four would continue, the band announced it was to call it a day in February 1996. Nigel Martin Smith, creator of the band in 1990, launched a high court action against Williams for commission - making the split a far from amicable one. At the time he described the band as "stressed out and paranoid" despite their continuing popularity with teenage girls everywhere.
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