George Michael Didn’t Have The Career He Wanted

George Michael’s “Faith” album tour was filmed in 1988. On November 6th, this live film will be released in cinemas.


December 25th will mark ten years since George Michael passed away at only 53 years old. He left behind four albums with Wham! and five solo albums, the last one dating back to 2004. He was working on a new album that will forever remain unfinished.

Two months before this sad anniversary, the release of a live album dedicated to the 1988 Faith tour has been announced. Comprised of previously unreleased recordings that had remained hidden away for 38 years, it will be released on November 6th, accompanied by a filmed version to be seen in cinemas. Because George Michael, while a highly talented songwriter, was also an exceptional showman, confirms Rudy Leonet, the former head of Pure FM, now with Nostalgie, who welcomes him to La Tribu every Wednesday at 5 pm and via his podcast. It’s always 5 am somewhere. He remembers the recording of the legendary Unplugged session in London in 1996, which he attended.

“There, you could tell he was in his element because he could show he was a great performer who didn’t need any gimmicks. I remember he stayed on his stool; that was the show’s protocol ,” the radio host explained. “At the end, he came back apologizing because in the control room, they’d told him a song had to be redone. When it was finished, he jumped off his stool and said, ‘Thank you for your patience. I know it was a pain, for us too. We’re going to do two more songs, but just for us. And then we’ll turn off the cameras.’ He stayed standing then. They redid two of the more upbeat tracks. He started dancing in the middle of the audience. It’s a great memory.“

Faith, George Michael’s first solo tour

Rudy Leonet also attended the concert, which is being shown in cinemas this Wednesday. The Faith tour was George Michael’s first solo tour. Unfortunately, it did not include a stop in Belgium.

It was in Paris, in May 1988, that the presenter saw the singer on stage at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. Two evenings filmed in 35mm by 14 cameras. “I was there for the first night. He came running onto the stage, dressed like on his album cover. He was supposed to turn his back and strike a pose like on the cover, with his jacket. But he slipped and fell. We heard a thud because he had his microphone. He got up, made a couple of movements, and he was off again. I imagine that for his entrance, they must have used footage from the second night, when he didn’t fall.”

Rudy reveals that it was Paula Abdul, another acquaintance from the 80s, who directed this tour. “She was a former cheerleader who was spotted by the Jacksons. She directed the tour where they all got together and which Michael was asked to participate in. You can see that very clearly in the biopic. George Michael didn’t have dancers, only musicians and backing singers. For his movements, for his stage presence, he called on Paula Abdul. He was a great showman, but I think he needed someone to loosen him up. Just like he needed Andrew Ridgeley, the other half of Wham !, at one point, because he was completely paralyzed at the thought of talking to people”

“He had no confidence in himself.”

“I was a huge George Michael fan ,” confesses Rudy Leonet. “ I had met him six months earlier for the release of Faith , it was in Amsterdam. There was a lot of irony, it was very funny. I’ve always admired him. He’s a guy who wrote ‘Last Christmas’ when he was 16. He was given a gift from God to do things like that. And at 19, he was an English pop star.”

On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, a previously unreleased live recording of George Michael’s Faith tour in 1988 will be released in theaters. The album of this concert is expected on Friday, November 6, 2026. ©DR

Yet, he remembers some surprising things from this encounter. “The first thing that struck me when I met him was that he didn’t look anything like his photos. He looked much younger and less muscular. He was frail. He was a tall teenager, not that kind of biker type you saw on the album cover. And as the conversation progressed, he came across as someone filled with insecurity. He had no self-confidence. The album hadn’t been released yet, and I’d had the chance to listen to it for the interview. He kept asking me, ‘What did you think of the album? Do you like yourself? Be critical, don’t answer just to flatter me,’ even though I was nothing special. He was really incredibly worried and anxious. I was very surprised.”

One obsession: “to deconstruct the superficial pop star persona he was”

“He told me, ‘Do you know the difference between Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and me? Madonna thinks she really is Madonna. Prince thinks he really is Prince. And Michael Jackson really believes he is Michael Jackson. But I know very well that I am not George Michael.’ The guy, his solo album wasn’t even out yet, and he was already on this trip where my image isn’t me. He went very fast and very high with that tour and that album, which sold 20 million copies. After that, he had only one obsession : to deconstruct the superficial pop star persona he was in order to establish himself as what he wanted to be, namely a singer-songwriter.”

“I met him a second time for the album Listen Without Prejudice (1990) ,” explains Rudy Leonet. “ ‘Listen Without Prejudice’ is a crazy album title! Sony was tearing their hair out because George Michael didn’t want to put his face on the cover. It was incomprehensible at the time. When you’re a pop star, you put your face in close-up on the cover. He didn’t want to. He was already deconstructing… You could tell the guy had gone beyond the stage of being amazed by ‘people like me, I’m known, I’m famous.’ All of that had already become a problem.”

According to Rudy Leonet, George Michael didn’t have the career he deserved. “At least, he didn’t have the career he wanted,” he explains. “We mustn’t forget that he was in court with Sony. A high-profile case because if he had won, it would have set a precedent. He wanted artists to be able to change labels with each album, just as a director can change studios for each film, depending on the needs of the project. The record industry was resolutely opposed to this, and all the other artists were waiting for the verdict to jump on the bandwagon. But he lost, and it still damaged him somewhat.”

“We are only now beginning to realize that he was on par with the icons of the 80s and 90s, like Michael Jackson and Prince. For a long time, he was the target of a great backlash against the 80s, of which he was an important marker, especially with the Wham! era. His songwriting is only now beginning to be recognized.“