I feel so sad about the passing of George Michael today because I will never see him perform live anymore.
Last decade, nagkakandarapa kami ng brother ko humabol sa concert schedule nya (whether in London or Paris) when he was still actively touring, yun lang our schedules never jived and he never traveled this side of Asia - hanggang Japan lang - e alam mo naman nuon, it was so hard to get a Japan visa, unlike now.
In my list of artists I want to see live, he's up there along with Cher and Tina Turner, but with his death today - hanggang live concert DVDs niya na lang. I've bought some of his latest concerts and grabe, this guy has one of the best voices in pop music of any male artist. I would pay him just to hear him sing the alphabet!
He had so many hits but what is unique about him, in my observation, is that all the collaborations he has done with some of music's A-list singers (Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Mary J. Blige), hindi niya sinasapawan ang ka-duet niya, unlike other singers. He allows both of them to shine and bring their best performance to the song. He always complements the other singer.
He was also unique in my book because in 1988, his album Faith, won both the Grammy Album of the year and the Pop/Soul Album award from the American Music Awards.
These two award-giving bodies are polar opposites, especially in the 80s, so for him to please both the snooty Grammy voters and the masa who votes for the AMAs, shows how universally loved his work was - and Faith was an amazing album - cohesive, walang tapon na kanta - and hit-filled as well.
Three of my musical heroes dead in 2016 - Bowie, Prince and George Michael. Hayy, the cycle of life....
Naku, if the women start dying as well, novena na sa simbahan mangyayari!
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