Darren Hayes brands new George Michael ‘Fastlove’ video ‘a violation’
The Savage Garden star says the late George Michael would be "mortified" by the release of footage from the cutting room floor.
Australian singer Darren Hayes has criticised the posthumous release of new behind-the-scenes footage of George Michael’s ‘Fastlove’ music video, calling the act of sharing the footage a “violation” of the late artist.
The ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ singer took to Twitter over the weekend (16 October) to share his thoughts on Sony’s new release of the ‘outtakes’ version of the ‘Fastlove’ music video.
“I’m positive George Michael would be mortified by the ‘outtakes’ version of the ‘Fastlove’ video Sony just released,” Hayes tweeted.
The 50-year-old singer continued: “He was so particular about his image and especially how he was photographed. It bothers me how corporations stop respecting artist wishes when they pass.”
Michael’s ‘Fastlove’ was released in 1996 as the second single from his third album, Older, and the seventh number-one single in the UK during the late singer’s lifetime.
Sony released the ‘outtakes’ version of the track – ‘George Michael – Fastlove, Pt. 1 (Behind the Scenes)’ – on 6 October which sees Michael behind-the-scenes of the music video from setting up shots to takes from Michael that weren’t used in the final cut.
Formerly one-half of the pop duo Savage Garden, Hayes goes on to state that there would have been a reason as to why this footage would have been “left on a cutting room floor” and why “demos are left unreleased.”
“If an artist didn’t release something in their lifetime it’s safe to assume it was intentional,” Hayes clarifies.
Hayes concludes that he believes it to be a “real violation of the artistic process to dig up unfinished or unreleased material without a living artist’s express consent.”
Hayes recently released music for the first time in a decade, an album entitled Homosexual.
He shared with Attitude that the album name was partly inspired by “the attempted erasure of my true identity from the marketing department of a major record label” as an up-and-coming artist.
“I decided to write a song about their happiness frozen in time in a way they deserved to be remembered,” he continued. “I connected that joyful moment to the LGBTQI musical pioneers who have inspired me, now long passed, and those political activists responsible for the freedoms I enjoy today and I came up with my own way to say thank you with a simple phrase: We’ve Got To Dance to Remember Them.”
He will soon embark on his Do You Remember? tour across the UK which will celebrate 25 years of Savage Garden and Darren’s solo career.
To purchase tickets, visit gigsandtours.com, ticketmaster.co.uk, and darrenhayes.com.