Keeping the faith

Yet the 44-year-old star is, in his own way, a pop outlaw. At the very least, he8217;s complicated.

8220;It8217;s almost required with major artists that there8217;s some duality,8221; he says. 8220;And I8217;ve got duality everywhere.8221;

Michael is now on tour for the first time in 17 years with the 8220;Twenty Five Live8221; which he8217;s already taken through Europe.

8220;I8217;ve written a whole body of work that I8217;m incredibly proud of,8221; he said, 8220;I8217;ve achieved what every artist wants, which is that some of their work will outlive them.8221;

8220;There8217;s very little you can do in pop music anymore,8221; he continued, saying that what music he makes next probably will be distributed freely on the Internet. 8220;There are things that I think I see in society 8212; the nature of being gay is that you are forced to challenge the general perception, otherwise you have to accept that something is wrong with you.8221;

This is George Michael now: outspoken, self-assured.

One thing is certain: Michael is sick of having his foibles dissected. After a decade that began with his 1998 arrest for 8220;lewd conduct8221; in a Beverly Hills park and ended with him getting busted for marijuana possession after he was found napping in his SUV, he8217;s mortified at being part of a celebrity culture that distracts from the real news.

8220;In England I8217;ve probably had about 20 or 30 front pages in the last two and a half years,8221; he said. 8220;What interests me is what else happened on those same days. And what the government got away with. It8217;s the perfect cover-up to every major story they don8217;t want us to hear! What did Britney Spears do today? Where did George Michael fall asleep?8221;

As the creative half of the gorgeously coiffed 1980s pop duo Wham!, Michael used to be derided as the anti-punk, a decadent purveyor of meaningless fluff. Yet even as Wham! profited from hedonistic hits such as Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Michael practiced progressive politics: it was the first Western pop group to play in communist China.

This was the beginning of the public expression of a duality that can be traced to his family life. His maternal grandmother was Jewish but married a Gentile and raised her children with no knowledge of their Semitic heritage.

Years later, when Michael finally told his parents he was gay, 8220;that situation and that honesty threw my family into absolute chaos,8221; he said. 8220;because of the idea of truth in the family.8221;

Michael8217;s belief that romance and sex can lead to some kind of enlightenment informs his best songs; it8217;s a quality he shares with Prince, the idol of his youth. His lyrics are full of religious imagery and dramatic builds borrowed from gospel music.

Faith was one of Michael8217;s first hits post-Wham!, as he entered the career phase most strongly marked by an internalized split releasing daring songs about love while keeping his own desires in the closet. Hits like Father Figure and Jesus to a Child tapped into the gay experience of the past two decades, transporting that community8217;s story to the mainstream.

8220;He8217;s still one of the most important gay musicians alive, if not one of the most important musicians alive,8221; said Corey Scholibo, entertainment editor of the Advocate.

Now Michael8217;s lyrics explicitly celebrate his lifestyle.8220;I have this wonderful partner,8221; he said. 8220;We have actually reached a fantastic place. So, recently, I8217;ve had to write about other people8217;s lives when I want to hit that lonely mood. I have to refer to other people8217;s pain.8221;

So happiness is something of a burden, artistically? That8217;s one duality George Michael is now really ready to face.
-Ann PowersLAT-WP