Never Gonna Dance Again: RIP George Michael

Indian musicians talk about George Michael’s music and the impact it had on their lives.

Millions of George Michael fans woke up on Monday to the shocking news of the 53-year-old British popstar’s death. Michael died on December 25, Sunday, at his home in Oxfordshire. It was quite literally the Last Christmas for the iconic singer-songwriter who had given the world hits like Careless Whispers, Last Christmas, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Faith, among many others. As the world mourned his death, Indian musicians and singers remembered how he influenced their music.

Indian musicians talk about George Michael’s music and the impact it had on their lives. (AP)

British singer George Michael died on Sunday at the age of 53. (AP)

Popular VJ and DJ Nikhil Chinapa was watching George Michael music videos when we called him. “I remember watching the pre-Grammy show on Doordarshan and his music video for Wake Me up was aired. I fell in love with it and was one of the reasons why I fell in love with dancing,” he says.

Music composer and guitarist Ehsaan Noorani says, “When I began to listen to pop music, his was the music I would listen to.” Paying an ode to Michael’s songwriting, Amaal Mallik says, “His melody, writing and music arrangement paved the way for a lot of pop artists. He managed to do soul, R & B and always made a simple melody that reached out to everyone.”

Singer-composer Raghu Dixit says he can still never learn to sing Faith. “It’s such a difficult song to sing. I have tried it so many times. I just cannot get that style. He was one of the first musicians I started listening to,” he says. For Shalmali Kholgade, too, Michael was among the first singers she heard. “I used to hear a lot of his music while growing up. Careless Whisper was a big hit, but my favourite was Faith,” she says. Papon adds, “He is one of the pioneers of pop music with a huge global impact.”