I’ll admit I’d mostly forgotten him-and I’d forgotten how much I once loved him. Or more likely he never came to mind when thinking of who might be next because Michael was just too far off my radar these days? He hadn’t remained as present in my mind as other icons of the 1980s and 90s. Maybe this was because Michael was slightly younger than the rest, still in his early fifties? At 53, he was much too young to die. But privately that didn’t stop me from wondering who else might be in death’s sights: Madonna? Morrissey? Stevie Wonder? Bob Dylan? Neil Young? As we all know, it ended up taking Leonard Cohen, and then, on Christmas morning, George Michael.īut, to be honest, George Michael never even came to mind in my thoughts of who might be next. I remember, after Prince died, telling a friend that whatever musician death took next-if it dared to take another in 2016-couldn’t possibly be as personally devastating as the two it had already taken. There is only so much sand in an hourglass. We can pray for time, but inevitably it runs out. Prince and David Bowie are my two favorite musicians, so by April, 2016 already seemed crueler than usual, even just in terms of rock star deaths. David Bowie applauding the incoming angel. I don’t believe in Heaven, but if I did, that video gives a glimpse of what I’d imagine the pearly gates would have looked like this Christmas. There’s a video going around on social media in the wake of George Michael’s death on Christmas day of the singer rehearsing with the living members of Queen, beautifully belting their hit “Somebody to Love,” as David Bowie looks on, smiling, applauding. In 2016, we have to take pleasure in whatever small victories we get. For example, five years ago I would have never dreamed I’d be texting with philosopher Simon Critchley about George Michael. But even in what seems like end times, there are still some small pleasures to be had, some minor miracles in all of our lives that keep us “choosing life” (as we are implored to do by the Katharine Hamnett shirt that Michael famously wore in Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video). I can think of few people other than a real-estate-mogul-turned-reality-tv-star-turned-demagogue who would call 2016 a successful year. The world’s astounding woundedness does seem, at least to me, more apparent now than ever. 1, at the time of its release, “Michael offers the healing passage of time as the only balm for physical and emotional hunger, poverty, hypocrisy, and hatred.” He summed up the song as “a distraught look at the world’s astounding woundedness.” James Hunter wrote of “Praying for Time” in his Rolling Stone review of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. They show Michael diving deeper than he had on his earlier material with Wham! and from his first solo album, Faith-exploring existential dreads, navigating the prickly problems of identity, love, and time, in the casing of what had long been thought of as the most disposable of art forms: pop music. “The song,” according to its creator, “was just my idea of trying to figure out why it’s so hard for people to be good to each other.” Many of the songs on Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 “means more now than ever.” It’s not difficult to see what Corden means when you listen to the lyrics: “It’s hard to love, there’s so much to hate / Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of / And the wounded skies above say it’s much too late / Well maybe we should all be praying for time.” Late night talk show host James Corden tweeted out on Christmas that the message in George Michael’s “Praying for Time” from his 1990 masterpiece Listen Without Prejudice Vol. We live amongst our mistakes, and we count their bones. 1 hits in the United States: " When I Think of You" (1986), and " Miss You Much" (1989).Ĭharts 1981 Kim Carnes went to number one in United States with for nine non-consecutive weeks with " Bette Davis Eyes", t he lead single from her sixth studio album, " Mistaken Identity".ġ983 Michael Jackson reached number one in Spain with " Billie Jean", the second single from his sixth studio album, Thriller.ġ987 Irish band U2 started a three-week run at #1 in the United States with " With Or Without You", the first single from their fifth studio album, " The Joshua Tree".And the Wounded Skies Above Say It’s Much Too Late In 1985, they topped the singles chart in the United States both with " Broken Wings", and " Kyrie".ġ966 American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer Janet Jackson was born. He is best known as the lead singer and bassist of the band Mr. This Day In 80’s Music Birthday 1953 American musician Richard Page was born. Search Search 1980s Music Videos 1980s Music Videos Wham!
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