Hello one and all.
Exactly 30 years ago today, Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, who was known to the world as the iconic George Michael, scored his first solo number one smash with "Faith", the lead off song to his 1987 debut solo album of the same title. He had scored a number two hit with his second solo hit, the controversial funk/pop hit; "I Want Your Sex", but was denied the top spot, perhaps because the song was only played after hours, but sold relatively well. His solo effort marked a departure from the sun-shiny, teen pop image he had when he was one-half of the UK pop duo, Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in an effort to give him a much more adult and mature sound and image. As a solo artist, his musical repertoire would include more R&B, funk, rockabilly, jazz and even country.
"Faith" would stay in the top spot for four weeks and other hits off the album would include, "Father Figure", "One More Try", "Monkey"; all number smashes as well and "Kissing a Fool", would become a top five smash. Years of solo success would also haunt the superstar would would wrestle, then be open about his homosexuality and his tireless efforts to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. He would also fight very hard against the bubblegum image he felt was expected of him from his record company, Sony.
Sadly in 2016, at the age of 53, Michael would pass away on Christmas Day of myocarditis. Like many music icons we lost in 2016, he was much loved and many tributes poured in. His solo career began with this smash which evokes the sound of rockabilly made famous by Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Bill Haley.
Rounding out the rest of the Billboard top 5: The UK metal band lead by David Coverdale, Whitesnake, scored their second top 10 (their last one) with the power ballad: "Is This Love", a song allegedly written for Tina Turner. The late Whitney Houston would hold at number 3 with the dancey pop hit: "So Emotional" which would go to number one in 1988. Then-teen pop queen Debbie Gibson had her second top 10 hit with "Shake Your Love" and the late former Beatle George Harrison had a comeback hit with "Got My Mind Set on You".
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