George Michael had ‘no shame’ about this songwriting secret

21 October 2025, 14:36

The ‘Careless Whisper’ singer didn’t shy away from talking about his songwriting inspirations.

George Michael is widely lauded as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation.

From his early career hits with Wham! to his solo successes, George’s music has wowed and inspired for over four decades.

• George Michael's 20 greatest songs ever, ranked
• George Michael’s ‘Father Figure’ reimagined by Taylor Swift – listen here
• Watch George Michael’s haunting ‘Careless Whisper’ performance at historic show

The late-great artist can count impactful stars such as Brian May, Robbie Williams and Taylor Swift amongst his biggest celebrity fans.

Plus, George was good friends with many other legendary performers such as Elton John, Mariah Carey and Madonna.

It’s safe to say George has had and continues to have a huge influence on the music industry, but what’s fascinating is how comfortable the 'Faith' artist was in opening up about his own influences at the beginning of his career.

While some fledgling artists might get cagey when asked how much their music was influenced by other artists, eras or genres, young George was happy to talk inspirations.

In a 1985 interview with No. 1 magazine, George confidently claimed he had “no shame at all” in admitting that most of what he’d written so far had been heavily influenced by other music.

• The influential 80s pop hit George Michael was 'in awe of'
• The unexpected song that got George Michael through difficult five-week hospital stay
• The heartbreaking ballad George Michael wrote for the one true love he lost

“It’s very rare to get the combination of a great song and a totally original idea on the record,” George said.

“Quite often I’ll work towards a specific feel on a track – I’ll want a record to have a swing feel, or a straight-down-the-middle mid-tempo feel.

"There’s not much that I write that doesn’t stem from some other influence,” George shared.

George Michael - Careless Whisper (Official Video)

“For example, Make It Big was a black album, which I was taking from the black sounds of the late 60s and early 70s, whereas on Fantastic all I could handle was what I’d been listening to for the past five years and I didn’t have the guts to go any further back in my influences.”

While George admitted wanting to find and make music with his own ‘sound’ in the future, he revealed he was “in no hurry to do that” in the mid-80s, adding: “I’ve got a whole lot of influences that I have to get rid of first.”

Despite his younger self’s comments, George’s unique sound was present from the beginning in his Wham! compositions.

But the ‘Carless Whisper’ artist developed his sound further after the launch of his solo career in 1987.

Still, in a 2010 interview featured in the Faith: Legacy Edition release, George opened up about how stars like Prince and Michael Jackson influenced his music and how he styled himself – even though he wasn’t so aware of it at the time.

“I absolutely wanted to be in the same stratosphere as them, definitely. I’d gone from, a couple of years before, being perfectly happy with being on Top of the Pops, to thinking, ‘I can do what Michael Jackson can do.’” George shared.

“I wanted to be in that vein but, mostly, I wanted to make music as good as theirs. It didn’t occur to me what I was doing in terms of image,” he added.

When George Michael secretly donated all royalties from 'Jesus to a Child' to ChildLine