I'd been out to a lot of people since 19. I wish to God it had happened then. I don't think I would have the same career - my ego might not have been satisfied in some areas - but I think I would have been a happier man.
— George Michael
I'd like to say things are bound to get better, but I don't really believe it.
In the years when HIV was a killer, any parent of an openly gay person was terrified. I knew my mother well enough that she would spend every day praying that I didn't come across that virus. She'd have worried like that.
It takes so much strength to say to your ego, 'You know what? You're going to keep me lonely, so I have to ignore you.'
No one wants to look wholesome at 21!
Apart from some of the videos and haircuts, I don't think I've made any wrong moves, ha ha!
If you don't feel you're reaching something new, then don't do it.
I had been obsessed with insects and creepy-crawlies: I used to get up at five o'clock in the morning and go out into this field behind our garden and collect insects before everyone else got up, and suddenly, all I wanted to know about was music. It just seemed a very, very strange thing.
There are so many things and so many aspects to gay life that I've discovered and so many things to write about. I have a new life, and I have a new take on dance music because of that life.
A lot of people like me, who've been around for years and years and years, only really lose it in their forties and fifties.
Anybody who fights for human rights or to make this world a better place. Nurses, doctors, teachers: these are the people who deserve the credit these days.
In the very early days of Wham! the attention felt great, but I do wonder how much freedom I gave away by trying to become something I wasn't.
I had very little fear about it, but basically, my straight friends talked me out of it. I think they thought as I was bisexual, there was no need to. But it's amazing how much more complicated it became because I didn't come out in the early days. I often wonder if my career would have taken a different path if I had.
I still believe that music is one of the greatest gifts that God gave to man.
I do want people to know that the songs that I wrote when I was with women were really about women. And the songs that I've written since have been fairly obvious about men.
I went through a long period where I was afraid of doing things I wanted to do, and you get your courage back, which is what's important.
English people have seen me get through scandals.
When you are trying to express things with metaphors and much more subtlety, that's when you are doing yourself a disservice by making a video.
I'm not stupid enough to think that I can deal with another 10 or 15 years of major exposure. I think that is the ultimate tragedy of fame... People who are simply out of control, who are lost. I've seen so many of them, and I don't want to be another cliche.
The press seemed to take some delight that I previously had a 'straight audience,' and set about trying to destroy that. And I think some men were frustrated that their girlfriends wouldn't let go of the idea that George Michael just hadn't found the 'right girl.'
I realised those things my ego needed - fame and success - were going to make me terribly unhappy. So I wrenched myself away from that. I had to. I had to walk away from America and say goodbye to the biggest part of my career because I knew, otherwise, my demons would get the better of me.
I know that I sound self-satisfied, and I know that I've got an ego, but I don't have an ego problem.
I have no belief in The Bible or religion, but I think Armageddon was a lucky guess. I honestly think it's going to happen.
Deep down, my ego always thought that I would outlast a lot of people that I was competing against.
There are things about my mum that I only realised later, things that make me admire her.
Not many people are really that meticulous with what they do, I suppose, but I'm just a control freak and terribly afraid of failure or regret. I work very hard on these things.
In terms of my work, I've never been reticent in terms of defining my sexuality. I write about my life.
I don't really have any traits that I deplore. I get annoyed with myself sometimes, but that's about it.
You can't have a child just to keep a relationship together, can you?
Because of the media, the way the world is perceived is as a place where resources and time are running out. We're taught that you have to grab what you can before it's gone. It's almost as if there isn't time for compassion.
Even though it's become a really cliched thing to see musicians working for charity, it's still effective and it still has to be done.
I write about my life.
I've always been the porky boy in my head.
I find it too terrifying to go out in L.A.
It's strange. At some point in your career, the situation between yourself and the camera reverses. For a certain number of years, you court it and you need it, but ultimately, it needs you more, and it's a bit like a relationship. The minute that happens, it turns you off... and it does feel like it is taking something from you.
I knew, regardless of anything else, singing in front of an orchestra was going to be inspirational. It would feed me.
For some strange reason, my gay life didn't get easier when I came out. Quite the opposite happened, really.
I used to believe that George Michael was a total actor. It was self-defeating, because it made me also feel fraudulent.
I was brought up when media still kept totally away from violence when it came to children. I don't think it would have made me scared of violence, but I find it repulsive.
I'm 10-12 years into life as an out gay man, and I'm a different person. I think there are things about my journey that might be useful to other people, and coming up with a hit record on its own doesn't seem to be enough anymore.
I never really told my parents that I wanted to be a pop star or anything. They just knew that I was totally obsessed with music. Funnily enough, my father always used to say that he didn't think I could sing.
The first sign of real obsession with music was with an old wind-up gramophone that mum had thrown out into the garage. My parents gave me three old 45s - two Supremes records and one Tom Jones record - and I used to come home from school literally every day, go out to the garage, wind this thing up, and play them.
I try very hard to thank my lucky stars and keep it all in proportion and perspective, but it can be very tiring having a smiley face all day.
I spent the first half of my career being accused of being gay when I hadn't had anything like a gay relationship.
I owe my mother who I am, and my father my drive.
Is my body a temple, or is my life a temple? I'm definitely in the latter category, and I think my life has been better since thinking that way.
The media has affected everybody's consciousness much more than most people will admit.
I am really not interested or excited by repeating former successes.
I know I have a very self-destructive tendency since my mother died, I have got to be honest.
I have the audience I deserve. Or at least I have the audience that represents the kind of people that I like.
