George Michael's sister dies on Xmas three years to the day he died

OP, it's not like that money is now going to go to Fadi. It will go to her heirs.

How many sisters he had?

He liked 'em butch, so not many.

She stole from Fadi.

Did she kill herself?

He has one sister left.

What the hell happened? Melanie was only 55.

That is fucking bizarre!

Is the dad still alive?

Had she ever been harassed by Kevin Spacey?

Seems like Jesus took the wheel . AGAIN

The dad is still alive and the elder sister is alive, but George was closest to this sister.

How horrible! And eerie. I doubt that family will celebrate Christmas again, if they were even still doing it.

Last Christmas. Again and again.

God this is awful

Follow the money

That is terrible. It seems like with all the fame there is a price. The family seems to be falling apart.

The sister wasn't famous, though.

A sign of heart issues in the family. George has drug issues - but his weak ticker was ultimately the cause of death. Runs in the family,

Weird world

Freaky coinsidence

Was George not a suicide?

Thinning of the herd continues.

The fact that it's 3 years to the date of George's death makes me think it's NOT a coincidence at all - plus she was young

She died almost the same day her brother died. Weird. The good thing is that none of them have children so the curse is contained.

I don’t know how I know this (probably Datalounge), but I think George was the youngest child, so Melanie was older than 55. I think the mother’s birthday was Christmas, too, for more weirdness.

Melanie was 55 according to Wikipedia. Yioda is 57. I hope she keeps a bodyguard and a medic nearby.

R22 You almost could think there is a curse at this point. I feel for George's dad who has now lost two of his children on Christmas. It's awful.

How is this even news? Was she in any way famous? Had she ever achieved anything of note?

There are no such things as curses.

Covfefe, R27.

She was 59. She was 3 years older than her brother.

So sad.

[quote]Melanie Panayiotou, the younger sister of late “Careless Whisper” singer George Michael, died on Christmas Day — exactly three years after Michael’s death. She was 55. Panayiotou was found dead by her older sister, Yioda, on Christmas evening. According to The Guardian, the Metropolitan police said they were called by the London Ambulance Service shortly after 7:30 p.m. about the sudden death of a woman. Her death is not considered suspicious.

A mythological read on this (which I know is laughable to many) is that George came and got her just as their mum came for him.

George got the looks in that family.

Has she gone to Whamhalla?

I am surprised the American media mentioned her passing. This is the most publicity the family has gotten in a long time. It is sad all around. R27 you are really naive and there is a thing called curses. When mysterious circumstances happen in a family like diseases, deaths and illness people start discussing the unfortunate events in a superstitious way.

R26 She did her brother’s hair at the height of his fame.

Didn't Melanie, Yioda and George's mum sew some of his clothes back in the WHAM days? Just something I think I remember reading about.

Yioda lives still.

Was Melanie married? Is Yioda?

Like The Little Match Girl, R31

Suicide or drugs I guess.

Someone failed to wake her up before she went went.

What about Baby Yioda?

[quote] What about Baby Yioda?

Cute he is.

George was the baby in the family. Media never gets the facts correct. If FF hangs around long enough he just might get a dollar or two. Neither sister ever got married.

‘Found dead’ is the modern code for ‘suicide’. What a shame.

Good thing is if Yioda dies she will just become a Force ghost and can still control the money.

R44 Thank you for this info. I thought George was the youngest out of the three. I didn't know neither sister ever married. My guess would have been they both had families of their own with a couple of kids each. It seems grandchildren just weren't meant to be in this family. It's probably an additional regret by the father since he has now has to bury his second child who died on Christmas. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. I have to wonder if grief over George played a significant part in Melanie's death. I hope the cause when determined will be made public.

I wonder if there was stress dealing with George's estate. Dealing with fans, contracts, Fadi, royalties, etc.

The movie Last Christmas didn't get good reviews and I think there was pressure to get the song of Last Christmas to number one for its 35th anniversary.

R48 I would think the stress level on multiple issues must have been very high. I just truly hope the cause of death will be public knowledge because that's what will tell the bulk of this story. We don't know if she was a seriously ill person, or if it was stress induced in large measure. As a side note, I've always wondered why George's "December Song" didn't get the attention that "Last Christmas" always has. I like the latter but not nearly as much as "December Song."

That sucky movie about her brother's song's what did her in I's tells ya.

[quote] Seems like Jesus took the wheel . AGAIN

He must have had too much eggnog.

Sad news.

I now wonder if FF was telling the truth when he tweeted about the abuse of GM's sisters.

The curse of Fadi.

55 is not young, in fact 45 - 65 are your dangerous heart attack years, where men and women can simply die at a moment's notice.

R52. Fadi the piece of shot can be right once in a while. It seems like there is abuse in the family, with the deaths, suicide , addiction and no generational children. I knew Fad I was spilling some secret teas.

Why do different publications keep using different photos of his sister. So anyone have an actual photo of her recently. What did she look like. I don't think it is her in that picture since she looks a lot like her brother.

Is Fadi also a child of abuse?

R57. Damaged people date or seek out eachother.

Looks like the idiots in this thread aren't aware of the fact that the whole Michael family is Greek Orthodox and they celebrate Christmas in January, not on December 25th.

But families aren't just the father's side...

Just give Fadi all the money and be done with it.

Why oh why didn't he marry Geri Halliwell!?!

George’s sisters were very private people. They guarded their privacy. They definitely benefited from perks of their brother’s career but I would be willing to bet they would have been happier being another unknown ordinary Greek family. A few media outlets have come out and stated she was 59 and was found dead after a brief illness.

A brief illness... is that a code term, like "he never married"?

Fadi wants what Fadi wants.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas". The George Michael troll gets to have another thread.

Will Alpha and George, Jr. attend auntie's funeral?

What are the odds!?

Their mother was English and the kids were born and raised in England. They may have celebrated Greek orthodox holidays because of their father's Greek heritage, but they most certainly also celebrated regular Christian holidays.

GM was the youngest of the three siblings and he would be 56 if he were still alive, which means Melanie would have been at least 57. Not sure why the press are reporting her age as 55.

R69 Thank you for that. The whole of George's family was not all Greek as you've clarified for another poster. George himself talked of what it was like having the two different influences of culture in his parents.

GEORGE Michael’s family believe his sister Melanie died of a broken heart because she never got over his death. She was found dead aged 59 on Christmas Day. Supposedly she lived her final years in turmoil and as a semi-recluse. Rarely appeared in public and struggled with George’s death. Dealing with legal issues regarding FF highly stressed her out. Fame and money in one’s family certainly doesn’t guarantee peace and happiness.

R71 I don't doubt there is truth in this especially in regards to the stress over Fadi, but where is it online stating the family believes Melanie died of a broken heart?

I believe that both George and Melanie died on December 24th which is their Mother's birthday. Their bodies were not found until Christmas Day.

There's something that doesn't make sense to me. George was "found" in the afternoon and The Ambulance Service who then called the Police were called at 7:35pm for Melanie. It's Christmas Day. No Christmas together? No phone calls? No looking after each other?

I really believe that abuse runs in this family as there's been generational suicides which will now stop as there's no future generation as GM's sisters never produced any progeny. Can it be that Fadi Fawaz was right when he spewed that GM's sisters had been abused by Jack and his friends? Is it possible that Fadi could be right about anything? If that is true I cannot imagine how Melanie would have felt about that info becoming public by shifty Fadi. Pretty unbearable I would think.

Sad, sad story. In many ways, I wish this story would be fully told. It would show how silly the public can be to believe in images that are created for sales.

R73 You raise some interesting questions. I always thought medical examiners could determine time of death down to a precise degree based on how advanced the rigor mortis symptoms present. In my view regardless of whether both George & Melanie died on Christmas Day or on the Eve it's relation to their mum's birthday is highly significant. I believe George was thinking about his mum a lot on her birthday and as such you could argue it made it easier for him to slip away. Melanie was probably thinking of both her brother and mother.

I don't know what to say about the abuse issue. I don't believe anything out of Fadi's mouth. Everything he says is clearly designed to inflict maximum pain on George's memory and the family. Has anyone else ever said Jack was abusive? It's a terrible thing to put out there if not true. All I've ever heard is he was working almost non-stop and was strict with the kids which doesn't make him an abuser. I posted this on an old thread that it's going to take a period of years before someone writes an accurate bio on George that isn't a pop star type publication. Maybe no one ever will. I just know with famous people it takes time before a full picture emerges as to who they really were. It takes years of dedicated research.

You're right this is a very sad story of lost life and talent. George's type talent was rare and a positive force for the world. I've had the feeling ever since he passed that somehow the public might have been able to stop or at least slow the train wreck. It's probably silly on my part because even though Elton got bashed for it he was right when he said you can't help someone who doesn't want it.

Success has made a failure of their home.

R74. come on it doesn't take a rocket science to figure out there was some form of abuse going on in his family. I don't need fadi to mention it. Especially the suicide, depression and addiction history in that family. You choose not to believe it and it is your right to be indenial. The version of what he wanted the public to know was that his father worked a lot and he was barely around. So you think he would state that there was also abuse going on. Are you that naive.

Maybe George suffered from depression and substance abuse problems because oh, I dunno, he grew up when there was virtually unchecked bigotry against gays and lesbians and he internalized some of that hatred into painful self-loathing? Also: sensitive + artistically inclined boy = target for endless bullying.

And what about the sisters?

R56, they stayed out of the public eye on purpose and I don't think anyone has a recent photo of her, nor did the family want to provide one. The "last photo" of Melanie which was supposedly taken after George's funeral is actually of her sister, as you pointed out, and was probably used because it was mislabeled three years ago.

It seems like the REAL most recent photo is from 2005 when she attended a screening of a documentary about George. She's with Pepsi Demacque in the photos and they look like they were taken behind a building with bicycles and trash bags, not taken on the red carpet like a lot of other photos were that night (especially photos with George himself), so she was probably trying to avoid the cameras even then.

Oh. The sister was a lesbian.

R80. She might not have been a lesbian. Obviously she was big boned and they tend to dress kind of lesbianish. I hope she did not get bigger over the years.

R76 You're misunderstanding what I was trying to say. I'm not a great writer so I may have worded my post poorly so will try again. I'm not saying I don't believe there could have been abuse. What I'm saying is I need a reason to believe something with credible information to support it. Fadi's ramblings mean nothing to me so I am not going to automatically say there was abuse when there are other explanations for what has happened. If George's uncle suffered from schizophrenia plus being a closeted gay that alone is enough to explain his suicide. I don't know what the grandfather's story was so can't comment on what may have caused him to do the same.

I'm open to any possibility in this sad family story even abuse. I know this is something families keep hidden. I can tell you what I do find odd is that both sisters never married and even in this there are many possible explanations.

[Quote] even in this there are many possible explanations.

Let's go through some.

R83 Well, they could have both never wanted children. If that was the case then marriage was not so much an issue. They could have just had bad luck and never met the right man. Maybe they were lesbians although once again there is nothing to support that as far as I"m aware of. Just because George was gay doesn't make it automatic that his sisters were too. Maybe they just liked their independence and wanted to keep it that way. Perhaps they didn't like what they saw as their mother's living her life more for what Jack wanted instead of perusing her own interests over the years. Again that doesn't mean it was abuse just a common enough situation among women of his mother's era. Luckily in today's world women have choices and not getting married is one of them.

What about close personal relationships?

R85 Maybe the sisters had long term boyfriends that the public never knew about.

R84. That is a lot of maybes. My theory was there was some form of trauma in that family that caused a lot of sadness.

R87 It is a lot of maybes because we just don't know all the facts and likely never will. I agree about trauma in the family and think the two suicides on the mother's side account for if not all then at least a huge amount. George was just a different kind of person. He was one of those rare highly sensitive, deep feeling people who we don't have enough of anymore. Usually with people I've studied a definite cruel streak in the personality presents itself. Hemingway is a good example. He liked to shoot pigeons just to watch them suffer and die. It's as a breath of fresh air to come to someone who was by all accounts just very kind and did what he could to help people. It's so predictable of the human condition that the person who can help others just can't seem to help himself.

I have no idea if this true. However, in older threads it did state quite a few times that Melanie was gay. The older sister was in a relationship with a man years ago. There were pictures of her with her boyfriend and his family out there on the internet somewhere. Really what difference does it make. In the beginning of George’s career his family traveled and went to his concerts all over the world. Melanie did his hair and makeup and Yioda handled costumes, backstage and such. Jack’s occupation was in the restaurant industry. Evidently his business was supposedly successful. Therefore, there is no way he could have spent much time at home or with his family.

The 80’s were not the ideal time to be gay and famous. In his teens George frequented the gay clubs and obviously not with Andrew. Let’s face it George’s sexuality issues definitely messed with his head. He didn’t help his situation out by the stage image he created of himself. There was a time when he was mighty fine looking. There were as many boys as girls that wanted in his pants. I think when he went solo the pressure started to catch up with him. After all he didn’t have Andrew or Shirlie by his side. They knew all his secrets. Once they were removed he couldn’t let his guard down. Artists today have no idea what he had to deal with. Sam Smith can’t say enough positive things about George and how grateful he is to him breaking the barrier. Everyone always says things hit the fan for George when Anselmo and his mother died. Personally I think it started when he went after Sony and lost. George was always before his time. Around the same time I don’t think his sister’s enjoyed George being famous and them no longer having their privacy. The media was always on George’s case and his behavior and addictions didn’t help. His sisters probably hated his public life and what they lost in the process. Sure they had lots of perks and access to money but they say that can’t buy happiness. Fans used to ask Melanie for clippings of George’s hair when she cut it. Her response was it goes in the bin with everyone else’s hair.

Throw me a wake, before I go-go

[Quote] He was one of those rare highly sensitive, deep feeling people

Could you dial down the fangurl?

I was about to state the same r91. R89 is a lovelie.

R89 I think back in the WHAM days Andrew was the more confident and well adjusted between the two. George sort of tapped into that which helped him during those years. Alone he lost that element which had an impact and then you're right George Michael was a creation by his own admission. I know he said he felt like a fraud during his early career while he was hiding who he really was.

Didn't the Sony battle happen after his mother passed? It's my recollection of the time line. I've always seen it as the next thing on the list after the two deaths which took him down. A big thing that had a negative impact was how from the time of the "loo incident" to the end of his life I don't think there was a single interview where George didn't have to talk about this over and over and over again. It really didn't merit that much attention so that years after the event it's all the press was interested in. It's a shame about the tabloids. Diana got the worst of it then they've been after Harry & Meghan ever since those two married. Freddie Mercury was pretty much trapped in his house with reporters camped outside essentially waiting for the corpse to be carried out. Such is the world we live in I guess, and George was his own worst enemy in this area too.

George's mother passed in 1997. By then George was with the now-defunct Dreamworks Records.

She died. His mother died.

Let’s all pray Elton doesn’t rework Candle🕯in the Wind 💨

George left this ungrateful hoe 50m and she still topped herself at Christmas and devastated her father and sister.

Please tell me it ain’t so ... Fadi actually had to be told he wasn’t welcomed to attend Melanie’s service.

Considering the things he said about George shortly before Melanie's death I don't know how he could think he would be welcome. The whole thing is just sad.

It's on news today that all the money Melanie inherited from George will now go to various charities.

This is a very secretive family. No cause of death cited for Melanie and no toxicology results released for George.

Both were huge druggies and died of the usual - opiates plus benzos plus alcohol.

R101 It's not the family being secretive, Melanie's cause of death won't be announced/confirmed until after her inquest (which usually takes a few months).

The coroner also decides what information is relevant and released to the public. In George's case drugs were clearly not the primary cause of death as they were not cited in the statement by the coroner (they didn't hold in inquest).

[quote] Why oh why didn't he marry Geri Halliwell!?!

Because she’s a disabled lesbian!

I'm a charity!

R102 In all the articles I have read over the years I have never seen anything to indicate Melanie was a druggy. It surprises me that anyone that had a sibling such as George Michael with his history would indulge in the same vices as he did. I assumed she stayed out of the limelight as she got older because she was still in the closet.

Addiction often runs in families.

What happened between Geri and George?

This about covers it.

This about covers it.

'In all the articles I have read over the years I have never seen anything to indicate Melanie was a druggy'

She went on tour with him and of course she had her fair share of uppers and downers. Probably tried to withdraw from Xanax and became suicidal, as many do.

Does anyone know if Melanie was type 1 diabetic like George Michael? It´s genetic and apparently low blood sugar levels can be fatal.

R112, sure she just happened to fall into a diabetic coma on Christmas Day. It was an attention seeking copycat suicide.

George Michael was a Type 1 diabetic? Since when?

Since Last Christmas

Yes, he was, don´t know since when, it was several years that I know of for sure, my friend works at the pharmacy who handled his prescription for insulin. I don´t think Mel was though, she would probably have used the same pharmacy and she wasn´t.

Your friend is a complete asshole for telling you that.

Does your friend still work and that pharmacy?

R116. Is probably lying.

R116. Types like the Swedish troll that used to lurk in this site especially any GM related threads. We know it is you spreading rumors again. I guess the lovechild rumor did not sell so you latch onto this. Be gone psycho. Your handwriting style is very familiar. I will advice most of you to ignore this nut job who likes making up bullshit.

I was told many years ago that there is a HUGE price to pay for fame and fortune and boy! This family have paid it.

Everyone is lying or a troll, right? Not this time. Yes, it was wrong of her to tell anyone, but she did. She also told me that apparently, too low blood sugar is lethal and that both insulin and alcohol lowers the blood sugar, George Michael had a few drinks and insulin is naturally found in the body. It's a valid question to ask if anyone knows if Melanie had it too, nothing more.

The Diabetes troll is a Lovelie who is just trying to whitewash Junkie George's drug related death. No way would a diabetic be on such huge quantities of opiates, cocaine, benzos and alcohol. It would have been an easy out for the coroner and the family if Junkie George died a diabetes related death, but that was never mentioned.

R120 Yep I picked up on that!! Clearly given up on Alpha shit. In the know in Sweden and now London too.

R120 You know not everyone in this forum is a troll from Sweden right? Getting a bit tiring reading your tirade about it.

Alpha is obviously what's in your head and scaring the crap out of you because deep down you know its true. Cool down, what I asked has nothing to do with Alpha or Sweden, except that she ought to know, why don't you take your obsession with her, ask her and let us know the facts instead of your crap. You only backtalking someone who you don´t know anything about, who hasn´t said a word herself, how do you fit that together? The only thing that would be very interesting would be if she would say something herself.

What exactly is it that YOU know for real?

Are you talking this much mean crap about someone you don´t even know or know anything about? Except for the lies you read, about a stranger in the UK tabloids, papers who are known to be completely untrustworthy, but you believe them?

Only a lovely of the seriously disturbed kind would ever believe anything like that. Like you have admitted to believing what Fadi says, without questioning or proof and you´re not talking any mean crap behind his back like you do with Alpha. Conclusion, you can deal with a man being fucked by George Michael, but not a woman that´s not you, jealousy drives you to make a fool out of yourself, at your age, you realise that? It must be exhausting to spend your life guarding, a GAY forum, from anyone who has FACTS that doesn´t fit into your fantasy about George Michael.

The information I gave you about Georges diabetes is true, it is information straight from the very person who handeled his prescriptions! Just drop it. Deny it all you want, it doesn't change facts, obsessed with Alpha you should know this by now.

Get your head on straight and stop repeating obvious lies, even if you wish they were true, it says more about you then it does about Alpha.

What I wrote was a simple question, if Melanie had diabetes too? I take it as you don't know. You obviously don't know much about George Michael, I don't know much about it, but if you drink you compensate the lowered blood sugar. When it comes to his diabetes, look at him 2011, he was very thin, always with something to drink, dry in his mouth, all signs of a unattended diabetes, later he changed rapidly and was in better shape for a while like he started to take care of it, and this is the time from when I have confirmed information and know of his diabetes, this is a FACT, even if you don´t like it. It is possible it caused his or Melanie's death, I don´t say it did, they did several toxicology tests on George Michael, and insulin is hard to detect because its naturally in the body. It doesn't have to be as gory as you like it to be, sometimes it's just what it is, no matter what you want it to be. Learn to deal with it.

Don't be that scared and small-minded, and you might get to know something true about George Michael, but you rather stay in your fantasy, right? To you, it's not about George Michael, its all about yourself and filling out your failured life. I have a fair idea what caused both George Michael and Melanie´s demise way too young, obsessed lovelies like you, who has damaged everything and been an embarrassment to George Michael and his entire family, I feel sorry for them.

Do I need to say you're all wrong about me too, I'm not a lovely or obsessed with it, only an ordinary person somewhere in the world, writing in an anonymous GAY forum, don´t obsess about me, I'm not any bit interesting, just like you.

The dumbass illiterate Diabetes Troll is back.

What I noticed most about George's appearance change over the years were the deep rings around his neck. They didn't look black to me which is what one symptom of diabetes is. Your assertions that he diabetes will never be known for sure. The man was obviously not well which is where everyone who abuses drink, drugs and smokes will end up. He had reduced usage in his lungs from the pneumonia bout so add that to the mix as well. Once you get through the physical list then you've got the emotional and psychological issues the man had which were numerous and as harmful as all the drugs.

^ Plus he threw himself out of a car and hit his head at 70 miles an hour. We never saw George again in public. Andrew said he was unwell since that incident. Many TBIs commit suicide.

I've never understood how anyone could have survived falling out of a car at high speed and somehow survived it. The moment he hit the pavement that should have killed him. I'm glad it didn't but just am amazed by that particular incident. I still don't get the upset over Elton's comment that George didn't want to be here anymore. Isn't it obvious that was the truth? I just feel bad that Melanie was upset by the comment. She strikes me as being overly concerned about her brother's image. RIP to both of them.

[Quote] I still don't get the upset over Elton's comment that George didn't want to be here anymore.

Because people who don't want to be here are "selfish."

I thought she was more upset by Elton saying George wasn't proud of being gay. I think George was more humiliated coming out, not because of the bathroom but because he kept up his sexy hetero image to keep his female audience. It was fraudulent and George always wanted to be considered as having integrity instead of lying for the money grab. I think he was ashamed of that. He really was hard on himself. He could have looked at it instead like an actor playing a part and had fun with it. He didn't seem to have a lot of fun.

I think you're offbase. He wouldn't have made "Outside" if you were correct.

R131 I think George died feeling he was more of a joke and not taken seriously as an artist. He said himself that he felt like a fraud in the early years. I don't think he was embarrassed about being gay but was deeply humiliated at having to talk and joke about masturbating on TV shows. He was a different artist and person after Anselmo died, yet all anyone wanted to talk about was what happened in the loo. Over the years I think he was quite beaten down by it.

He leaned into more sexual imagery in the aftermath.

He wouldn't have worn this outfit pre-arrest.

Circuit queen.

I'd say he was more beaten down by his slide into irrelevance as a contemporary artist.

That whole incident in the car was such a bad omen and perhaps was the turning point. You just knew George would never be the same and really he wasn't. Like r129 said it's amazing that he even survived. We didn't see him or a long time.

I can't disagree with Elton's comments. Maybe they seemed too harsh but... what lies did he tell? And I always felt George felt conflicted about his sexuality after coming out. He was basically forced out of the closet because of a humiliating experience. He was able to poke fun of it in the Outside video but I think he was still conflicted. He was a deeply unhappy person which is a shame because he was so talented and seemed like such a kind one, too.

I think the single thing that points to how conflicted George was about virtually everything was when he said he had been trying to destroy his career for 20 years. Why would he want to do that? If he really wanted to all he had to do was just walk away and don't record a single further song or ever do another concert. Sometimes I think the mishaps with drug related car crashes was his twisted way of trying to make the public reject him for behaving like such a jerk. He said himself no matter how he screws up it never effected his career and he resented it.

In my view George's music just kept getting better as he aged. I don't want to listen to teeny bop songs or the other trash that got to be popular. George's music was beautiful and meaningful to the end.

His music became very beige after the LADIES & GENTLEMEN Greatest Hits. He tried and failed to be edgy with "Shoot the Dog." "Freeek" has a big expensive video but I can't remember how the song goes. Then there were pointless, "tasteful" covers... did he sing "True Faith"? Something like that... The duet with Mutya Buena, "This Is Not Real Love"... another forgettable one. He still sang beautifully, though.

Sampling "Absolutely Flawless" so soon after the original hit didn't do much for the staying power of the song to which he added the sample.

I did like his cover of "As," with Mary J. Blige.

I guess it is an individual thing where a song one person loves the next person hates. I love all the covers he did and couldn't care less about the idea of artists always having to be edgy or constantly following whatever the latest trend is. The last song and video George released was "Let Her Down Easy" which to me is a work of art. I like "As," "True Faith," "This is Not Real Love" and all the rest. I think his cover of "Roxanne" is better than Stings.

It was already a work of art when Terence Trent D'Arby wrote and recorded it. George sounded lovely on his cover but he didn't bring anything different to it.

R144 With respect I disagree that George brought nothing new to "Let Her Down Easy." The first thing I did after watching the video was to go to D'Arby's version for a comparison. I found the two artists to be quite different and each brought their own talent to the song.

I know it's not a fan favourite but I love Songs from the Last Century. They used to play it all the time in the coffee shop I worked at in the early 2000s and I was indifferent to it. Then I heard it years later and fell in love with it. He was a great vocalist. And even if he suffered from writer's block later in his career, he was fine covering songs. And he obviously loved covering them with the Cover II Cover tour and Songs from the Last Century.

R146 I love "Songs of the Last Century" too. I play it a lot on the weekends and just mellow out to the beauty of it. I can think of so many more songs I wish George had done covers of. Some of the Gershwin tunes always come to mind first up. I wish he had done Patti LaBelle's "If Only You Knew" which would have been beautiful as well. Many people are good singers, but it takes that upper level of talent to sound like you are living the lyrics. George had it in spades.

So true, r147.

And George was one of the very few white singers who could cover classics by black singers. His covers of As and They Won't Go When I Go are brilliant. Not everybody can cover Stevie Wonder and do it well.

And of course, his covers of Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me and Somebody to Love are much beloved.

George could even do Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" and pull it off.

R125. You are blocked psycho.

[quote]I still don't get the upset over Elton's comment that George didn't want to be here anymore. Isn't it obvious that was the truth? I just feel bad that Melanie was upset by the comment. She strikes me as being overly concerned about her brother's image.

It's not about his image, it's that it's such a personal thing to say, based entirely on Elton's own opinion. He wasn't quoting something George said, he was jabbering to Sharon Osborne on a talk show about what he thought was going on. At the same time, he was saying things like "Well I tried to tell him to do something else for his own happiness but he just didn't get it." All that was followed by Elton going me-me-me and saying HE made the choice to live and have a great career and George didn't.

It was self-aggrandizing and gossipy, which Elton has always been, mind you, so no one is really surprised by it, but it was tacky and hurtful and more about Elton than it was about George.

It was just nasty. Elton needs to shut his damn trap sometimes, he internalizes everything to a pathological degree and makes everything about him in a way that is often offensive.

R151 I think Elton was on the mark in everything he said about George, but I concede since it upset Melanie it would have been better left unsaid. Nothing can change the fact that George is six feet under the sod when he should still be here writing and singing. I will always give Elton credit for trying something/anything to try and get George to see the light. It's not his fault it failed. Guess I just see Elton in a bit better light than others do.

R125 This thread almost got away without bringing up Alpha. I have no problem with your comment about diabetes. We are entitled to our opinions and it makes perfect sense that George could have been diabetic. It is obvious from photographs that his father is not a picture of perfect health and hasn’t been for years. George’s appearance wasn’t had been very important to him. It is obvious he had a struggle with his weight. It appears that obesity could run in the family from family photos. If so, that brings on additional health issues on top of depression, alcohol and drug abuse. In some ways George was a ticking time bomb.

As far as Elton is concerned he tried and apparently that is more than most did. An addict only changes their ways when they want too. Wanting to and having the strength to do so are two separate issues. George seemed to be head strong from the beginning of his career. The older he got I believe he got that much harder to reach. He became super paranoid on top of all his other issues (real or made up in his head). How could he not when he had so called friends like Andros.

The bottom line to me is he was extremely talented, on the intellectual side and had a voice that is hard to describe. You have to listen to his catalog of music to completely understand the gift of music he was born with. A curse more than a blessing. I appreciate the Wham! songs. It is amazing how they have stood the test of time considering most thought they were here today and gone tomorrow. As his voice matured so did his desire to sing many classics. That is where Songs of the Century and Symphonic come into the picture. It always pissed him off when the crowd did not show respect and actually listen to him performing. Something they did do in later years.

It is tragic that his sister passed on Christmas Day especially for her surviving relatives. Also, very strange that there is no one left to carry on their name. They may as well skip the month of December. All the money and fame in the world certainly didn’t bring George’s family much more than one big headache. After his Faith tour he didn’t want to tour only write and record music. Write songs for other performers.

With the likes of Michael Jackson and his demons and Prince wasn’t demon free either. George’s demons have been headlines for years. People need to get over it and remember the man, his music and his philanthropic ways.

I do not like the use of the word "passed."

R 153 I enjoyed reading your post and agree with your comments. I have a question. Did George ever make any public remark about feeling disrespected by the audience? I know on some of the YT videos there are concerts where (in my opinion) there is too much screaming and general chatter in the crowd when George is trying to be serious. I can't image what that would feel like to be singing "Jesus to a Child" and have people not paying full attention. You should have been able to hear a pin drop during some of his presentations.

You mentioned Prince at the last. I'll give my two cents which is that both Prince and Elvis died of the same thing. It was a complete spiritual starvation with these two men. I'll be laughed out of the room by many on this, but I stand by it. Just as an interesting coincidence Elvis lived 19 years after Gladys died. Prince lived 19 years after the baby died then George lived 19 years after his mom died. It seems to run about a 20 year cycle with these folks who self destruct the slow way.

R153 It´s nice to see there are some normal fans left in DL.

George Michael´s type 1 diabetes is a stone cold fact, I wish it wasn´t, but it doesn´t matter what anyone wishes, it won't change the facts. And why else would he be getting prescriptions of insulin? I agree that George Michael likely got it from his father. I read some about it and there is a major difference in the risk of a parents passing it on to their children, fathers are very much more likely to pass it on to his children then mothers are, the sons get it much more often than daughters, the by far greatest risk is for a father to pass it on to his son. At the time the ambulances went to George Michael´s home and stayed for a couple of hours and then took him to hospital for tests, it might very well, even likely, have been caused by this. His team wouldn't comment at the time because "it was of a private nature".

You´re right, it´s obvious the family is struggling with their weights, George Michael´s father is dangerously big, that is hereditary as well. From a medical perspective, astonishingly, he is still alive, belly fat is very dangerous, and he has a lot. If the family had any hereditary heart weakness it´s highly unlikely he would have survived the last 20 years in that condition. He is a clogged vessel waiting to happen. If he doesn't have diabetes, I don't know who does.

George Michael was an absolute pro at keeping family and private parts of his life secret, we don´t know very much what really went on in his life, we only know what he told us, and it doesn't say very much but we have enough info to be able to assume his childhood wasn´t "Little house on the prairie" like he said, I think it was worse then he let on, it´s no coincide that all children in a family end up struggle their entire life with psychological damages, possibly to a very much worse degree then we know of, to be honest, who hasn´t asked themselves if both George Michael and Melanie took their own lives, we will probably never know all of it, but I know the wrong ones are in the ground and suspect the possible cause is still in this world.

If anyone will go insane about these facts, like with every fact you don't like, just don't, I didn't give George Michael diabetes, and it is very common and not that big of a thing.

R156. You are right you are not a lovelie in the mentally stable sense. You are much worst, you are a mental case. You are nothing but a troll and a very familiar one with your writing style.

What I have wondered is how the family dynamic was altered due to the suicides of both his grandfather & uncle both being on his mom's side. Since the uncle was thought to have been gay (in addition to mental illness) it was a natural concern by his parents, especially his mom, if he might suffer the same fate. George made a comment that has stuck with me which was that he feared his father's judgement of his mother if his parents knew he was gay. This under current of concern must have had an effect over the years. One was I think George was very protective of his mom and didn't want her to suffer anymore pain. It's why he didn't become full blown drug addict while she was alive and why he didn't put himself in a situation so risky he was caught with his dick in the wind then arrested. All this was to come after his mom died. It's like having that element of protecting her being removed from his psyche had a very dramatic impact on top of the pain.

R157 glad you see what I see, I don't want to point out the obvious though because it's good that their posts stand out because of their 'style.'. How ironic that R156 is calling R153 a normal fan and R156 is R153!

R157 It is quite worrying to think that R156 would pretend to be different people and reply to themselves. I know it goes on a lot on boards like this, but, well, pathetic really.

If George Michael was a diabetic from birth he would have said so. If he got it later in life it would have been lifestyle and not passed on by his father. An ambulance doesn't stay at your house for four hours and then take you to hospital where you stay for weeks because of diabetes.

R159 and r160. R156 is also replying to him or herself. You guys are right. He or she is mentally unstable and the vicious spreader of the alpha theory on most GM related posts. Ignore this mental individual who falsely claims to know a lot but is just a delusional individual. This person suppose to be in a psych ward not posting comments on DL. If he or she continues we should flag the deranged lunatic comments.

"I think the single thing that points to how conflicted George was about virtually everything was when he said he had been trying to destroy his career for 20 years. Why would he want to do that?"

Well, he didn't like it very much when he succeeded, didn't he.

That's what happens when you act on conflicted feelings, as anyone with sense knows.

"Elton needs to shut his damn trap sometimes, he internalizes everything to a pathological degree and makes everything about him in a way that is often offensive. "

Well that doesn't make him wrong, does it!

But that also doesn't mean it was a good idea for Elton to open his trap, then or now. It's unkind to comment on someone else's unhappiness on a goddamn talk show, and it was probably unkind then. Hell, if a narcissistic cunt says he tried to get someone off drugs back then, he probably means he once told the person that they're a druggy whore and they should be more like him. He really is a narcissist and a cunt.

George threw himself out of a car that was travelling on a motorway... And some people are getting up in arms about Elton's comments? The fan mentality is very strange. It's not like ol' Reg made those comments in the immediate aftermath of George's death.

"I can't image what that would feel like to be singing "Jesus to a Child" and have people not paying full attention. You should have been able to hear a pin drop during some of his presentations. "

Anyone who thinks that the fans are to blame for driving someone to drugs, or that any other person is to blame for someone taking drugs, is silly and is at Max Fangurl.

Face it, people take drugs because they like drugs.

R166 You're way off base in interpreting my comments. No where have I said the public is responsible for George's drug taking. That's ridiculous and you know it. All I said was that it must have been disappointing to be singing a serious song and have an audience that is paying no attention and acting rude. George is responsible for doing drugs & drink and no one else.

"All I said was that it must have been disappointing to be singing a serious song and have an audience that is paying no attention and acting rude"

Anyone who can't deal with that should not be in show business.

R165 Agreed. It would seem obvious that anyone who throws themselves out of a moving car really does not want to be here anymore Elton was hardly saying anything shocking and did not say it until years after George passed. Since it did upset his sister I wish he had not said it, but it's not like some big secret was revealed. People can say anything they want, but it's their actions that tell the story. George's actions were that of someone who did not want to live unfortunately.

The diabetes troll is ridiculous and creepy.

R161 Diabetes type 1 may onset at any age, one man was 93 years old. It´s in your genes if you´re gonna get it and it´s very much hereditary. It´s medical facts.

Why would George Michael have told you about it? What other medical issues did he tell you about, except the ones affecting his tours like pneumonia and backpain? You don´t handle information very well, do you?

I was posting to the normal people in here, I thought you'd liked to know. It is a fact that could very well explain some things about George Michael.

-To the posters who resorted to attacking me for sharing this information-, to hide the unfitting truths again, by "namecalling", "troll"accusations and "several poster"accusation, all the same over and over. I should have known not to tell, that your kind was obsessively guarding this gay forum, destroying it like all other forums you have been blocked from, still not realise the error in your ways, my mistake, but the information wasn´t intended for you at all. I'm not the one with bad intentions enjoying hurting others while hiding behind a screen and anonymous. Only wanting what fits your fantasy versions of the truth about him, that is a completely insane behaviour, do you realise that?

R150 Didn´t you say you blocked me? I would prefer if you did, you obviously spend your time guarding the threads, calling everyone to be a troll, verbally assault everyone and mix up all different posters trying to believe they are one and the same, because several people cant have the same opinion that isn't compatible with yours.

I am not a troll, not anyone else and only have one identity, but you have proved to be in no state to handle my posts, as you cant with many other posters too, you embarrass yourself every time with your immediate nasty comments on me as a person, you have an unhealthy interest in me.

R150 / R159 It´s flattering that you´re attempting to make this thread about me, and that you say I have a "style". You, on the other hand, blend perfectly into the other seriously insane fanatics, you have absolutely nothing special. Do you have a thread about you?

R150 / 159 / R160 / R162 To let anybody else know that your posts are ludicrous, block this post, then go to the top menu and choose "ignored", then you will see exactly what posts I have done. I suggest you do the same with those claiming otherwise too, like R150, not too hard to see where they got the idea of letting all their personalities have one poster each. The number of posters I am according to you, lost track of how many, together with all your posters it make you and I more or less the only posters in this thread. Do you really believe that? Yea, you´re neither insane or plain stupid, right.

R159 I appreciate you think I have a "style", I'm not native English, I´m part German part Italian. I do not write the same thing 2 million of likeminded already have written 5 million times before, in the way of writing it like they know, when it's only their own ludicrous opinions and speculations, I deal in hardcore facts only. I like them or not, they are the facts. There are often a major difference between what is in fact true and what you might want to be true. What I told is entirely true, maybe not good, but all true. Do what you like with it, know more about George Michael or put it under the rug with the rest you don´t want to be true, it´s of no importance to me how you choose to deal with reality. This should give me a "style" that stands out in the crowd of the likes of you, I take that as a compliment. Now, let me know about you, or do you stick to offending hiding behind anonomous.

Now you know my decent, I hope you may understand my English, people usually do, I work in London, but I guess if you believe the tabloid information, but not the information from certified personnel dealing with the fact of George Michael´s diabetes, it might be hard to understand something that easy as my writing and result in your comments and the focus of my language instead of the message. I think that would cover just about it, now you might be able to stop your obsession about me and focus in the thread. Try some kindness towards your next, it wont hurt you, but could provide some interesting information and some fun.

While I am at it, if you knew what I do for a living or who my contacts are, you would not dismiss any facts I give you! No matter how deluded you are.

I thought he fell out of the car, not hurl himself out.

R176. You created the last six replies tells me you are mentally unstable with multiple personality disorder. Stop replying to yourself psycho. You are blocked.

Meant r175. The nut job.

The diabetes troll is a spaz

Personally, I think that if he had diabetes, it would have been something that Fadi revealed to show that he knew him more than anyone else.

Overall it doesn't much matter if George had diabetes or not. He was in poor physical condition from years of drugs and smoking. Diabetes would have just been one more health issue on the list.

Yes. I don't understand why diabetes (or not) seems such a trigger. It doesn't fucking matter. Is it just fans wanting to be in the know?

R182. There is a difference between wanting to be than claiming to be in the know. The later are unhinged fans who are mentally unstable. Like the alpha troll with six replies of jargons.

R181 / R182 I completely agree with you, George Michael being a diabetic is not important at all. I almost regret I told about it, but my thought when I got the completely confirmed and real information, appose to a lot of "information" out there, was just that it might be encouraging to other diabetics to know he had it, and perhaps it could have had a part in the deaths of both George Michael and Melanie, unlikely but possible, nothing more. I don't make any difference in any other way.

Except for something I came to think of, it´s a longshot, it came to mind because the highest risk to inherit is between father and son, don´t go insane, but we know a lot is pointing towards George Jr is the son of George Michael, it´s really enough to just look at him, does anyone know if he is diabetic too? What would be the odds if he wasn´t really his son... Interesting thought, unfortunately, I don´t know, and my friend only handled George´s prescriptions. Serious, without all the mean posting, does anyone know? Anyone in here talking to Alpha and could find out? Even if it doesn´t matter, it is an interesting possibility, and I would like to know, I don´t think I am the only one.

Sorry I don't buy that story about George having fathered a love child by a Swiss woman. People come out of the woodwork with these stories. I think after Prince died there were some 400 people claiming he was their father. Just no...I don't buy it.

R185 Does anyone? I think some of us were curious to begin with and others really wanted it to be true, but my God, it's a cruel ludicrous lie. Zero proof and the 'facts,' timescale and photoshopped' photos were laughable at best. The insanity of some people is a scary old thing.

R186 It sort of makes you wonder if this was just another thing that added to Melanie's stress and whatever part that may have played in her death. I haven't seen anything in the news to clarify her cause of death. Maybe there never will be any further info available to the public. She must be laid to rest next to George by now.

It's on news today a wake for Melanie was held at the Highgate home. RIP

Does that mean a cause of death is imminent? British subjects: is cause of death public record?

How bizarre that Yioda had to live through the same scenario of finding a loved one dead in bed on Christmas day.

The family unfortunately seems to be cursed.

I hope his father and yioda lives longer.

Yioda has the rest of George's money now. My advice to Fadi and all the rest wanting to sue the estate is let it go. I expect Yioda will have her will written the same as Melanie apparently did and have the money all go to charity. I doubt the autopsy results will ever be made public so that we'll know why Melanie died.

Has any other member of George Michael's family ever publicly acknowledged/approved of his homosexuality? Not that I know of! His sister Melanie finally did, and a few days later she is found dead. I would have loved her to speak more about her brother in public and end the deafening silence from this weird ("private"-sorry!) Greek clan. Her death is another huge tragedy.

It's hardly weird. "George Michael" is not the same as Georgious Panaytiou (sp?). The latter was her brother, a stranger to most of us but not to her.

George Michael wasn't ever real. George said so himself in an interview. He said it was a mask he puts on for his public persona. It was an image all along. Many get done in when they come to believe the image is who they really are. I don't believe this ever happened to George. He was destroyed by another set of particular demons. It had to be hard for his family to see him go through the arrests and then spend time in jail.

R194. They probably blame his homosexuality for the mess his life became and his death.

R197 I wouldn't doubt there is at least some truth in what you've said. George was so conflicted. I was reading an old interview he gave "Marie Claire" back in '04. At that point he was touting how wonderful it was to be sleeping with strangers at the same time he was in a relationship with Kenny. He also made the comment that the happiest times in his life were when he was practicing monogamy. I don't know when else that could have been except the years he was with Anselmo.

It's a strange thing that occurred in both George and Freddie Mercury. These two became obsessed with sex having no meaning whatsoever. It's like they both had a need to sleep with ever increasing numbers of people to keep proving to themselves they could do it with no emotion ever entering the picture. I get it that people like to sleep around and many are just not cut out for monogamy. It seems to be a common trait in folks with creative minds because their boredom threshold is so low. Freddie really took this to new levels and George was not far behind. Just a very sad end for both men.

Yeah, R198, Mercury took the sluttiness to new levels for a while, but only for a while. In the last years of his life he fell in love and was living with Jim Hutton, instead of visiting sex clubs or holding orgies with strangers. Physically the damage from the Slut Years was done, but it seems that Mercury let real love back into his life once he'd finished breaking all the rules he grew up with.

Some people who want to explore the forbidden and break all the rules want to find their way back to love and trust, but it's not an easy thing to do. I'm under the impression that GM tried to find love in his later years and failed, and settled for a live-in greedy whore. That had to be... joyless.

R199 I've read that Freddie did cheat on Jim but agree he did settle into a life with him towards the end. I think there was something real between them but wonder if it would have happened had Freddie not been diagnosed with AIDS. Freddie's increasing illness pretty much made his partying at the gay bars and picking up men by the dozens no longer physically possible.

George was his own worst enemy at every turn. He wasn't going to find real love having drugged up anonymous sex at every turn. Throw in the gimp mask then you see how depersonalized sex had to be for him. There comes a point where there simply isn't any further one can go in search of new sex thrills. All the person is left with is severe addiction that is leading to the end of the road one way or another.

If it's true what tabloids report, Melanie's funeral took place on January 23rd. This makes it almost one month after she died. Does it always take so long until people are buried in England? It seems an awful long time to me and I don't even want to mention the three months wait until GM's funeral.

R201 I thought the same thing that waiting so long for a funeral can't be normal. All I can think is cause of death wasn't able to be determined without extensive testing just like with George. I don't think we'll ever have an answer for this.

I read Fadi posted a few days ago that George was a big mistake in his life. The saga continues I guess.

She died after falling into a diabetic coma.

Aha now we know why Freddie Mercury's heiress locked up the house and installed security everywhere. These men had angry exes.

All jokes aside, I am surprised their sugar and heart issues were so dire. They probably didn't bother with a Mediterranean diet.

I was surprised this was made public after all this time. Surely it couldn't take this long to determine diabetes but then I'm no expert. At least now we know what her cause of death was. It's a shame. I still miss George and the fact we'll never get any new music.

R201 If you die at Christmas that's a pretty normal timescale as they would have to catch up on all of the funerals from the week before Christmas and during it. If she was being cremated instead you can probably add another week or so in most parts of the Country (big shortage of Crematoria). You also have to remember how early it sunset is here in mid winter, it's 3-4pm, any later than that and the mourners would be falling in the grave in the dark.

If the Coroner is involved (sudden death, not suspicious) that can add up to 5 or 6 weeks before they release the body, then 2 - 3 weeks waiting for the funeral. As a rule there are no funerals on Saturday or Sunday either (all of the costs double if you want one).

Even the people closest to the deceased have usually started to get on with their lives again before the funeral happens.

I forgot to add that most people want late morning funerals so that they can have a 'Wake' at the local pub/club in the afternoon, They always have Caterers and Discos and Professional Singers are not uncommon, I've even been to a few that had entertainers to look after any children there.

It sounds like Melanie had pneumonia as a contributing factor in her death as that's the way it's listed in the findings. She must have been quite ill over all.

Finally some answers

She was George’s personal hairdresser in the beginning years. Supposedly she was a lesbian.

Sad. She had so much to live on, I mean live for!

R24 I'd settle for a well researched biography as more important where George is concerned over any movie version of his life. The books written about him on the market now don't even scratch the surface. Even worse some of the basic info is wrong leaving me to wonder how these books ever got published. My own feeling is his death was a merciful one, which I think if you look at the subject of mythology you'll find this seems to follow a certain pattern with people. It's the opposite case with Freddie, Prince and going all the way back to Elvis. It's just something to wrap your brain around when you study different people. My two cents anyway....