George Michael was a British singer, songwriter and record producer.
George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963 in East Finchley, London to Kyriacos Panayiotou and Lesley Angold Panayiotou.
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George Michael rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham! and later embarked on a solo career. George Michael formed Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. Wham’s! first two albums, Fantastic (1983) and Make It Big (1984), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200.
George Michael’s first solo single, “Careless Whisper”, reached number one in over 20 countries, including the UK and US.
A 1991 duet with Elton John, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, was also a transatlantic number one.
George Michael went on to release two more multimillion-selling albums, Older (1996) and Patience (2004).
George Michael is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 120 million records worldwide.
Sadly, in the early hours of 25 December 2016, George Michael died in bed at his home in Goring-on-Thames, at the age of 53.
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Who inherited George Michael’s fortune?
George Michael left behind a substantial fortune, worth approximately $120 to $200 million, which became the source of many legal and personal conflicts between the star’s family and his romantic partners.
George Michael’s will focused mostly on his family.
George Michael’s two sisters, Melanie and Yioda received equal shares of the majority of his assets, including two London homes.
George Michael’s father Kyriacos Panayiotou (aka, Jack Panos), received the racing horse farm where George Michael was staying.
George Michael left the remaining estate to other family members and seven friends, including bandmate, Shirlie Kemp, and record producer, David Austin.
When George Michael’s long term partner Kenny Goss found out that he wasn’t mentioned in the will, Goss filed a suit against Michael’s estate requesting monthly payments of $21,000 under the Inheritance (Provisions for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.
The court battle between George Michael’s estate and Kenny Goss dragged on for years.
In May 2021, Kenny Goss and George Michael’s estate settled out of court, but the details of the agreement were not made public.
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