Olly Alexander, MNEK, Billy Porter and more to cover George Michael’s hits in celebration of Pride
Olly Alexander, MNEK, Billy Porter, and more stars are joining forces for a George Michael tribute in honour of Pride.Michael’s death shocked the world when he died at home on Christmas Day in 2016 at the age of 53, but his music still very much lives on.Apple Music have now announced a special playlist to coincide with Pride Month, titled George Michael Covered, which will celebrate the Wham!
star’s hits.To honour his legacy, the streaming service asked some of the most exciting and diverse artists in music today to reimagine songs from his iconic catalogue.Each artist was chosen because, as well as being huge Michael fans, they reflect his boundary-pushing work and songwriting excellence.The artists involved are: Years & Years, MNEK, SELF ESTEEM, Jake Shears, Billy Porter, Pale Waves, Calum Scott, Tiana Major9, and Serpentwithfeet.The covers – all available in Spatial Audio – include personal interpretations of tracks including the classics Faith, Careless Whisper, Fastlove, Outside, and more.It’s A Sin star Olly of Years & Years covers Outside as part of the project, sharing that one of the things he loved most about the late musician was ‘his ability to own his narrative.’‘He was a huge, huge star.
I’m sure he struggled with some of the attention and issues that come with worldwide fame, and he still remained so iconic, so true to who he was.
He still had fun with it. He was always trying new things and taking risks and unashamedly himself,’ Olly said.Adding that he personally takes ‘so much inspiration from that,’ the Starstruck singer continued: ‘He got arrested in 1998 — I think the terminology is ‘soliciting a police officer in a public toilet — then goes and writes a song about it.
