George Michael, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963, in East Finchley, London, had a childhood shaped by his family background and an early interest in music.
His father, Kyriacos “Jack” Panayiotou, was a Greek Cypriot restaurateur who had emigrated to England in the 1950s. His mother, Lesley Angold (née Harrison), was an English dancer. George was the youngest of three children, with two older sisters, Yioda and Melanie.
The family spent most of his childhood in Kingsbury, London, in a home his parents bought soon after his birth. He attended Roe Green Junior School and Kingsbury High School. While his mother was generally supportive of his artistic inclinations, his father was reportedly more distant and initially disapproved of music as a career choice, even telling George he didn't think he could sing.
Despite this, George’s musical interests began at a very young age. He reportedly wrote his first song at age six after finding a gramophone in his parents'’garage. By the age of eight, he knew he wanted to pursue music as a career, though he kept this secret from his parents for a while.
In his early teens, the family moved to Radlett. It was there, at Bushey Meads School, that he met and became close friends with Andrew Ridgeley, his future Wham! partner. They shared a common ambition to become musicians, bonding over their love of music and similar “outsider” backgrounds. George even busked on the London Underground, performing songs by artists like Queen.
While his childhood saw the nurturing of his immense musical talent, it was also marked by a somewhat complicated relationship with his father and a deep, though at times complicated, bond with his mother. His early life laid the foundation for the global superstardom he would later achieve.
In the early hours of Christmas Day 2016, Michael died in bed at his home in Goring-on-Thames, at the age of 53.
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