Remembering George Michael: Indiscretions of a libidinous genius

How were we to know that December 25, 2016 would be George Michael’s Last Christmas? But to think about it. The great songwriter–singer who wrote Last Christmas died at age 53 on Christmas day at his home in Goring-on-Thames. Alone.
That’s the part that really bothers his fans. Why alone on Christmas day? George had family. His sister loved him to death… literally: she died three years after him.More importantly George was in a serious relationship with photographer Fadi Fawaz at the time of his death. Why wasn’t Fadi with George on Christmas day when they were in a live-in relationship? More mysteriously, Fadi slept in a car a little distance away from the home that he shared with George on the night that George died.
It would not be illogical to presume the couple had a fight on the evening before George Michael passed away.

Did George Michael take his life? We would never know. He lived his later life in a haze of drugs controversies and sex. As an iconic figure his behaviour was inexcusably improper. He would be caught in public places doing the most unacceptable things. In April 1998 he was caught with his pants down in a public restroom. A cop posing as a cruiser trapped George Michael into a compromising position.
It was a nasty below-the-belt blow. But no one, not even his most diehard fan, can claim George Michael was not looking for it. When you are George Michael (millions of records, millions of fans) you have to move in life with a certain spiritual stealth and strength. You can’t let your indulgences get the better of you. You can’t be an open hedonist when you have millions watching you. Which part of this ground-rule for stardom did George Michael not understand?

There was absolutely no problem in Michael being gay. But soliciting random casual sex from strangers... Does that sort of behaviour behove a super-icon? George Michael’s songs are works of genius. Imagine a genius from another walk of life, say a mathematician or a curator, cruising public places for casual sex. Fairly sticky.
It is a known fact that George Michael was a chronic cruiser. Even when he was in a relationship, he couldn’t help himself: he had to get sex from strangers on the streets. George’s uncontrollable sex urges destroyed his life.
How was it that the musician who wrote and sang Careless Whisper allowed himself to be careless in his public conduct? When you are a public figure you can’t be an anonymous thrill-seeker. This dichotomy between what George Michael was and what he wanted, killed him.