W
hen George Michael told
his best friend and col-
laborator David Austin
that he wanted to make a
film, Austin sensed what
was coming. “George
made this film the way he made every-
thing,” he says fondly. “He took com-
plete control.”
George Michael Freedom Uncut is the
singer’s final work. It is an intensely
personal account of fame, love and
grief. He was editing it a few days
before he died suddenly, on Christmas
Day 2016, aged 53, of heart and liver
disease. The shadow of his absence
hangs over the documentary, which has
taken six years to finish without him.
Austin, a friend since childhood,
calls it “Michael’s story as he wanted it
to be told” — which is to say meticu-
lously. The singer once admitted he
was a control freak. “It’s not because I
want to be,” he said. “I’m not at all into
the power play that’s involved in it. I’m
a perfectionist. It’s a big pain in the ass
and it takes a lot of my time, but I have
to do my own things.”
In the film Michael lays out his
credo, speaking articulately about the
conflict he felt between wanting to
make pop music that endured and the
public scrutiny that came with that.
The boy from north London became
a high-profile victim of celebrity culture:
the lines between his professional and
private life blurred. The world pored
over his sexuality and his repeated acts
of self-sabotage, such as crashing his car
after taking drugs. When he was 22 he
was advised not to walk down the street
in America because of the risk he would
be injured by fans trying to touch him.
Austin insists his friend was “capa-
ble” of dealing with attention, but in the
film Michael says the hysteria around
him was overwhelming; he never
wanted to be different, but at the same
time realised “maybe I am different
after all... all I wanted was success”.
Elton John says that Michael’s pain
translated into his songs. “He was com-
pletely authentic as an artist — people
felt for him, they felt his struggles.”
John is interviewed in the film, with
many other stars, from Stevie Wonder
to James Corden (Michael was his first
guest on Carpool Karaoke), Tracey Emin
and Kate Moss. Ricky Gervais recalls
how game Michael was to send himself
up in the television show Extras with
sketches about cruising on Hampstead
Heath and community service.
The last person to be interviewed for
the documentary was Nile Rodgers,FILM
who recalls visiting Michael’s house in
Hampstead, north London. “The big-
gest, weird thing about being at
George’s house was the paparazzi sta-
tioned all down the street. I thought,
‘How can a person live like this? It is so
invasive.’” Rodgers had just recorded a
remix of Michael’s 1987 song Fantasy
and was nervous about the singer’s
reaction, wanting his blessing before it
was released. “It was a drastic remake,”
he says. “I flew home to the States after
recording and kept my phone next to
me, checking it every five minutes to
see if George had messaged to say whathe thought about the mix. Then instead
I got this message saying he was found
dead. It was unbelievable.”
Rodgers didn’t want to release Fan-
tasy without Michael’s approval so he
left it untouched for four months, not
even listening to it. “Then I got a call
from David Austin. He told me, ‘George
chose you because he wanted you to
change it, because of what you did with
The Reflex by Duran Duran.’ Still, it was
heartbreaking to make the decision
without him.” It came out in September- Rodgers said it was appropriate
that people had mixed feelings. “No
SUSANNAH
BUTTER
CONTROL
FREAK TO
THE
VERY END
The film George Michael
was making when he died
is finally out — Elton John,
Kate Moss and Nile
Rodgers remember him
(^10) GEORGE MICHAEL’S TOP
10
A
Different
Corner 1986
Written and
recorded in a
day, Michael’s
second solo
single came out
months before
Wham!’s last
hurrah. Lyrically
straight from the
heart, it heralded
his later, more
contemplative
work.
9
Last Christmas 1984
Wham!’s festive favourite
only reached No 2, but at
least it was beaten to the top
by Band Aid’s Do They Know
It’s Christmas?, rather than
a terrible
seasonal
song. Oh,
wait.
8
Outside 1998
Michael’s
fabulously louche
and provocative
disco-driven
response to
his arrest in a
scandalous LAPD
public-lavatory
honey trap,
Outside is
brazenly and
laudably
unapologetic
and defiant.
7
Careless
Whisper
1984
Michael’s
No 1 single
boasts an
imperishable
sax riff and a
lyric — “I’m
never gonna
dance again/
Guilty feet have
got no rhythm”
— that is both
spot-on and
slightly absurd.
6
Round Here
2004
A trip down
memory lane, all
the way back to
his parents’
courtship and
his first day at
school, this track
is Michael at his
breezy best: a
lilting croon of
a vocal, lyrics
thrumming with
loss, affection
and regret.
BY DAN
CAIRNS
4 5 June 2022