© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
This year could not have been more tragic, especially for the music industry. While people were still recovering from the loss of David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, and Prince — the news of George Michael passing away, that too on Christmas, left them shattered. The queer icon and iconic pop singer, who died leaving an estate worth millions, was known for his soulful music and dance, along with his bold political and social stance. However, as the sad news spread and grieving fans mourned the death of their favourite pop star, British charities praised his behind-the-scenes generosity on numerous occasion and people came out revealing many other acts of kindness by him.
Read | George Michael dies at 53; Twitterati bids tearful goodbyes on his last Christmas
‘Deal Or No Deal’ host Richard Osman took to Twitter to share an extraordinary example of the icon’s generosity. Osman wrote, “A woman on ‘Deal Or No Deal’ told us she needed £15k for IVF treatment. George Michael secretly phoned the next day and gave her the £15k.” Many others followed Osman’s lead and narrated their stories and everyone revealed one common information that the ‘Careless Whisper’ star always wished his action remained discreet.
Journalist and writer Sali Hughes revealed that many years ago she wrote a piece on a celebrity giving a “barmaid £5k because she was a student nurse in debt. Was George Michael.” She also shared how “George Michael also put on free concerts for NHS nurses, when others were falling over themselves for tickets. He was an absolute mensch.”
Among the groups Michael supported were the Terrence Higgins Trust, which helps people with AIDS, Macmillan Cancer Support, and Childline, which offers confidential phone counseling for young people. Childline founder Esther Rantzen said Michael gave royalties from his 1996 hit “Jesus To A Child” to the charity along with many other donations.
Here are few stories people revealed on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/EmilyneMondo/status/813319244242817025
https://twitter.com/salihughes/status/813348024063852544
https://twitter.com/IMAhmad_Khan/status/813305887846793216
https://twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/813393791063359493
Michael had spoken publicly about the pain of losing a partner to AIDS early in the epidemic, but he kept his long history of donations to the trust private.
