George Michael is on track to get a posthumous number one album on Friday (October 27), 10 months after his sudden death.
George passed away on Christmas Day 2016 at the age of 53 from natural causes, the result of an enlarged and inflamed heart and fatty liver.
Following on from the release of documentary George Michael: Freedom, which the former Wham! star was working on just days before his death, Sony has re-released George’s iconic 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, and it’s soared straight to the top of the midweek charts in Britain, outselling Niall Horan’s solo debut, Flicker, by almost 25,000 copies.
The record includes pop classic Freedom! ’90, which broke new ground with its music video when George refused to star in it and instead hired models Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford to front the song.
George’s MTV Unplugged concert also features as bonus material on the remastered album, which was originally intended to be released in 2016.
Song Fantasy with Nile Rodgers made the cut too, and Chic star Nile has thrown his support behind the album getting to the top of the charts.
“@GeorgeMichael set for No.1 next week. Thanks for all your brilliant work and allowing me bring my thing to it,” the funk legend tweeted.
And speaking to Music Week, Nile recalled how much hard work went into George’s documentary and remastering the album.
“I cannot tell you the amount of tears that I shed in that house working on that film and that song,” he sighed.
He also revealed his devastation at hearing his friend had died, after working with him so closely on his final work projects.
“I told George I would speak to him on Christmas Day. Typically, my girl and I go out to a movie on Christmas Day, and we did so, but I kept looking for messages from George because I wanted to talk to him about the record,” he said. “Instead, I get an alert that George Michael was found dead. I couldn’t believe it, it was just devastating.”
