George Michael reigns supreme on UK album chart 10 months after his death
By Will Stroude
George Michael has returned to the top of the UK charts 10 months after his untimely death.
The iconic singer, who passed away on Christmas Day 2016 aged just 53 from combined heart and liver problems, has sailed to Number One on the Official UK Albums chart with the posthumously released Listen Without Prejudice/MTV Unplugged.
The record, which was released to coincide with recent Channel 4 documentary Freedom, outsold former One Direction star Niall Horan’s debut album Flicker by over 30,000 copies to become George’s ninth chart-topping album in the UK.
David Austin, Michael’s former manager and long-term said: “For three years George, myself and his loyal team have worked relentlessly alongside our amazing team at Sony and together we have carefully crafted and put together our beautiful Listen Without Prejudice/MTV Unplugged campaign and film Freedom.
“It’s no great secret that George was a perfectionist and it shows – he was over everything from its inception to its finish, and it’s a blessing and rare gift to be guided by such genius.
“That, along with exceptional teamwork and the overwhelming love for George from the public has made everything come together.
“We are all so incredibly proud to have the Number 1 album in the UK.”
Producer Nile Rodgers, who worked with George on the reissue and a recent re-released version 1990’s ‘Fantasy’, told OfficialCharts.com: “I’m eternally grateful to George for choosing me to work on this project.
“His genius will be missed. And I’m equally grateful to David Austin, for convincing me to finish after George had passed.
“I was in a funk for months, and one day David said to me rather matter-of-factly, ‘Yog would love it. That’s why he called you in the first place’.”
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