THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

342-George Michael-Outside.

1998-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 1.41. If you’re having your dinner on his kitchen table, give it a wipe first.

George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25th, 1963, in East Finchley, Middlesex, England, he died on December 25th, 2016, at the age of, 53, his death was attributed to dilated cardiomyopathy, with myocarditis, and a fatty liver. It was just prior to his breakthrough success in the early 1980’s with Wham! (see also best songs 991 and 142) that he changed his name legally to George Michael, as he thought it would fit better with his ‘Pop’ profile.

After Wham! split in 1986 George Michael set out on his solo career, which saw the release of six solo studio Albums released between 1987-2014, there have also been two compilation Albums, one live Album, and 48 singles, (including the ‘Five Live’ EP with Queen and Lisa Stansfield) 37 of those singles have reached the UK top 40, with eight of them making the Number 1 spot, including ‘Careless Whisper,’ (1984) and ‘A Different Corner, (1986) which were both released prior to Wham! splitting. In America on Billboard he has achieved 18 top 40 singles, with also eight of those making the Number 1 spot.With sales in excess of 120 million George Michael is one of the worlds all time best selling artists.

‘Outside’ was one of two new songs recorded by George Michael (the other being ‘As’) for his first solo greatest hits compilation Album ‘Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael’ released in 1998, the song was written by George Michael, and co-produced by Michael and Jon Douglas. Earlier in 1998 George Michael had been arrested by an undercover police officer in the public lavatory of the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverley Hills, California, an incident which led him to declare his homosexuality. George Michael wrote this song about that incident in a humorous, and self deprecating manner, which is aided by the tracks memorable official video. The songs self mocking lyrics include ‘I’d service the community, but I already have you see.’ Along with a fine, Michael had been sentenced to 80 hours community service for the offence.

The Album’s title ‘Ladies and Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael’ was also a pun on what had happened in the lavatory, as ‘The Ladies,’ and ‘The Gentlemen’ are a British colloquial term for a gender pacific public toilet. In the UK the Album has sold in excess of 2.7 million copies, and in excess of four million copies worldwide. George Michael who was a large contributor to charities donated all British profits from the Album to the Terence Higgins Trust.’

‘So my angel she says ‘don’t you worry’ about the things they’re saying, yeah. Got no friends in high places, and the game that you gave away wasn’t worth playing.’