George Michael Remembers the Recording of His Classic LP ‘Faith’
Inside one of Rolling Stone’s greatest albums of all time. Plus: Backstage photos
“I swear to God that when I’m on stage, even though on one level I’m enjoying every moment, on another level I’m constantly keeping up an energy and I’m terrified to let it die because I’m aware that you only have to hit a few bum notes and the atmosphere in the room changes.” – George Michael
Photo: Courtesy of the Sony Archives
“I never actually learned to play an instrument as a child. If I learned, I’m sure my music would have been totally different. I understand music enough to be able to play it and construct it so it sounds like a proper performance, but I can’t do any of that live. I know where middle C is and I can work them out from there I suppose, but I still can’t tell you the six strings on a guitar.”
Photo: Courtesy of the Sony Archives
“‘I Want Your Sex’ was very controversial at the time, but the fact is, I was trying to be funny when I said, ‘Sex is natural, sex is good, not everybody does it but everybody should.’ ” – George Michael
Photo: Courtesy of the Sony Archives
“I was really overwhelmed, so I lived in sunglasses. I couldn’t make eye contact with people, it was bizarre.” – George Michael
Photo: Courtesy of the Sony Archives
“I am incredibly proud of making Faith but I don’t think I ever imagined for a second it would be bigger than Wham!” – George Michael
Photo: Courtesy of the Sony Archives
“‘Father Figure’ started off with a rhythm track with a snare, and when you play it like that it sounds a bit like Prince. But I must have been listening to it without the snare and gone, ‘Oh my God, that totally changes the record!’ It suddenly becomes a gospel record.” – George Michael
Photo: Courtesy of the Sony Archives
“A couple of things in my career have been a complete accident, where I stumble upon the sound. I know when something resonates and one of my saving graces is that I can hear when I stumble upon it.” – George Michael
The album cover for George Michael’s ‘Faith.’
