George Michael was the man in the 80’s. As part of the duo Wham!, Michael had hits all over the decade. But 2016, proving that it still had a little suckiness left in it, took Michael away from us in December. Michael died on Christmas day while suffering from heart condition, dilated cardiomyopathy.
During the time of his death, however, it turns out Michael was working on a new LP and had been collecting unreleased music. Today, we get a glimpse of what a new project might look like. A new version of Michael’s “Fearless,” was premiered today on Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 Show and features Niles Rodgers.
Rodgers work is definitely noticed, as the updated track features his signature choppy guitar lines alongside an updated a modern, pop-house type beat instead of the breakbeat/horn driven 90’s edition. Michael’s voice jumps all over the place (and even gets some distortion and mangling) to create a clean, disco-pop track reminiscent of the band The 1975. The updated track was originally a B-Side in 1990 and was part of a deluxe edition of 2011’s Faith, but Rodgers tweaked the track to include some unreleased vocals.
Fans expressed “mixed feelings,” toward the new track, which prompted this response from Rodgers. You SHOULD have mixed feelings. No one’s heart was dragged through emotional ambiguity more than mine. Tears, uncertainty, happiness & #LOVE.”
Regardless of how you feel, there’s no denying the impact Michael had on pop music then and now. While it remains unclear whether we’ll ever see that unfinished album, fans have one new treat, which you can stream below.
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