Older: Definitive Biography of George Michael Book

Along with Prince, Michael Jackson, and Madonna, George Michael secured his place as a global rock superstar in the 1980s and needs little introduction. After breaking up teen-band Wham! at the peak of their success, Michael emerged as a mature solo artist aged just 24 with the album Faith and built on his status as a serious singer/songwriter with Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1" in 1990 and Older (1997). Add two decades of tabloid gossip and Michael's life should make for a fascinating biography. Journalists-turned-authors Nicholas and Tim Wapshott duly deliver a detailed portrait of a complex man, who craves fame and fortune but abhors the trappings that accompany them. However, the authors' obvious indifference to the subject give the impression that Older has been written purely for financial reasons and this cannot be hidden by the occasional positive adjective. Yes, this enhances objectivity and biographers should never blindly worship, but a natural love of music and the man himself would surely have enlivened the lacklustre text. Furthermore, the book's unauthorised status means that the material must be approached with caution as events tend to be coloured by way of artistic licence and various sources are listed as "anonymous by request" (strangely the Wapshott brothers show less concern for Michael's privacy). So why read this instead of George Michael's autobiography Bare? Well, aside from the fact that this book lifts a number of the more interesting quotes from the aforementioned autobiography anyway, Older takes us through the years beyond Bare, namely, 1990-9. These cover the lengthy legal wrangles with his former record company Sony and the "toilet incident" of April 1998, which resulted in Michael's "outing" as a gay man. With hindsight, Bare was hardly brutally honest and provided a not altogether balanced view of his life, a criticism that cannot be levelled at Older. Thankfully, Michael's sexuality and relationship with Anselmo Feleppa are sensitively handled, as are the deaths of both his mother and Felappa. In contrast, Michael's arrest for "lewd conduct in a public place" and feud with Boy George are recounted, as they only can be, with tongue firmly in cheek. Remarkably, for a biography of an established songwriter there's a distinct lack of musical criticism with little more than a couple of sentences of analysis about each song. Music aside, such an intensely private individual has led to a lack of quality information on the enigma that is George Michael, making Older a recommended choice out of necessity rather than of merit. --Robert BrookesRead More