Wham! "Freedom"

As a solo artist, George Michael released "Freedom" in 1990. While still performing with Wham!, Michael released an entirely different song with the same title ("Freedom") in 1985. Got it? For those who didn't, Michael's later albums referred to the 1990 version as "Freedom '90".

George Michael "Kissing A Fool"

According to George Michael, he only needed one take to record the vocals to "Kissing A Fool". The song was the fifth single from Michael's uber-successful Faith album. Released in 1987, Faith was  Michael's solo debut and was the first album from a Caucasian to top the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.

Dave Koz & Montell Jordan "Careless Whisper"

The first week in October of 2000 was a big one for Dave Koz and Montell Jordan. The duo's remake of the Wham! classic "Careless Whisper" entered the Adult Contemporary Chart. The following week, their saxophone-heavy tune dropped off the AC Chart and never returned. For Koz, his music would continue to find a home on the Smooth Jazz radio stations while Jordan will always have "This Is How We Do It" on his resume.

Wham! "Everything She Wants"

"I don't know what the hell you want from me."

Wham! - "Careless Whisper"

Equally as important as George Michael providing lead vocals on "Careless Whisper", credit must go to Steve Gregory who plays the saxophone on the dreamy Wham! tune.

George Michael - "One More Try"

The death march known as 2016 continued its relentless attack on musicians by taking George Michael.   Michael died over the Christmas holiday.  He was 53.  During music class in fourth grade was when I first was introduced to Michael after overhearing a couple girls in my class talking about how hot he was.  I mistakenly thought these girls were speaking of George Michael --the host of "George Michel's Sports Machine".  The next time I remember learning about George Michael (the singer) was on Saturday Night Live when Dana Carvey parodied him during an episode of weekend update where he kept telling host Dennis Miller to "look at my butt!".  Michael got his start as a member of the British duo Wham! and later launched an era of dominance as a solo artist.  The ballad, "One More Try", hit #1 in 1988--the song was one of six singles released from Michael's debut solo album, Faith.  In fact, five of the album's six singles became hits while the album itself sold over 25 million copies.  Rest easy, George.