George Michael returns to the Official Charts as fans remember the icon's music

Fans have been paying tribute since the announcement of George Michael's death by revisiting his records.
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Following his untimely death on Christmas Day, fans of George Michael have been paying tribute to the late star by revisiting his records.

Chart icon George Michael achieved 11 Number 1 singles and 9 chart-topping albums across his Wham! and solo career, and this week returns to the Official Charts.

Since the news of his passing on 25 December, fans have flocked to George Michael’s greatest hits collection, Ladies & Gentlemen, which sees a huge 5625% surge in combined sales and streams week on week, re-entering the Top 10 for the first time in 17 years today at Number 8.

The retrospective topped the chart for eight weeks upon its release in 1998, and was announced by the Official Charts Company earlier this year as one of the 60 best-selling albums of all time in the UK, as the Official Albums Chart celebrated its 60th anniversary.

MORE: Look back at George Michael's complete Official UK Chart history

Elsewhere, his last album with Wham!, The Final, is at 40, while 2006’s Twenty Five (47), 1987’s Faith (62), 2014’s Symphonica (73) and 1996’s Older (84) all return to the Official Albums Chart Top 100.

On the Official Singles Chart, four Wham!/George Michael tracks reappear in the Top 100, Wham’s Last Christmas climbs to Number 7, returning to the Top 10 for the first time in 31 years. Last Christmas remains the best-selling single in the UK never to have reached Number 1 – it was released the same week as the phenomenon that was Band Aid, and so was kept off the top spot at Number 2 for five consecutive weeks in December 1984.

MORE: George Michael's Official Top 20 most downloaded songs in the UK

Careless Whisper places just outside the Top 40 at 44, while Faith (64) and Elton John duet Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (91) land inside the Top 100.

The UK’s best-selling vinyl single of the week is an existing re-release of George Michael’s Freedom ’90, which lands at Number 1 on this week’s Official Vinyl Singles Chart. The weekly Official Vinyl Singles and Albums Chart was introduced in April 2015 following a resurgence in sales of vinyl in the UK.

Martin Talbot, Chief Executive of the Official Charts Company, said: "The sudden and terribly sad death of George Michael has naturally prompted his fans to re-explore his rich catalogue again, paying tribute to his incredible talent, both as a solo artist and founder of Wham! Quite appropriately, given the season, it is Last Christmas which makes the biggest impact."

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NN

Nu No

0

More than 3 months have past over his dead. Does the Official Charts have updated sales data for George Michael total single sales combined and Wham! total single sales combined? I'm pretty sure they must have increased a lot.

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Music Lover 2016

4

One week later and I still sorely miss him :-(

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Sunshine Gal

0

on amazon u.s., the 'faith' album is #8 in cd sales and #2 in mp3 album sales ;). i have a very good feeling, esp. the 'faith' album will be making a big splash on the bb catalog albums chart this week or the next week.

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Music Lover 2016

1

Good news! Here in the UK, shops sell no GM's cds, probably still waiting for the CDs to be reprinted.

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Sunshine Gal

0

well, looks like bb hasn't updated their charts for this week yet....my mate piran (who's also a bb addict like me) thinks the charts will fully update 2mor. our mate george should be making a big splash on the catalog albums chart. but same on amazon u.s., his cds are still sold out :). and many stores here are completely sold out...no doubt, since many of his u.s. albums are outdated, they prob. didn't have a large number in stock.

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Tatsujiro Kurogane

0

On his last christmas he gave it his heart
The very next day, they hauled him away.............

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mildredfarts

3

was expecting far more of an impact on the singles chart... streaming! expected one of his albums to be number 1 aswell. not many stores open over the xmas period i guess.

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Music Lover 2016

1

I cannot wait for the re-release of Listen without prejudice in 2017 in March.

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Sunshine Gal

1

and another great thing about all this for those of us that were too young the 1st time around, @ least myself, we have a new appreciation for george's music. i was 9 when wham came to the u.s. and not too familiar with them @ the time and then i'd be 12 when the faith album was big over here. i thought it was good back then, today i think it's an amazing body of work ;).

i strongly recommend esp. to the younger crowd who missed out on the 80s, def. check out wham's past work and esp. george's faith album. it was a huge success here in the states back then! :)

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Music Lover 2016

2

Agreed. Listen without prejudice and Older are also very good. Patience was ok.

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Sunshine Gal

0

see over here in the later years, it seemed like he fizzled out. i can't say i know all the details, but i do know he had problems with sony around that time. but yes, i def. plan on checking out his later work. but his momentum over here in 1987-88 is still amazing! over here, he still has the most top 10 singles off 1 album for any uk act with 6 on the faith album.

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Suzanne Jane McGowan

2

Patience is a great album, under-rated.

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Suzanne Jane McGowan

1

He released an album here in 2012, Symphonica. It was covers and old tracks but with an orchestra.

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Sunshine Gal

0

a lot of uk fans have been telling me all the continued success he still had. so, he was also working on a new album and tour recently? it's too bad things didn't turn out the same here in the states, but his u.s. success is still very impressive! he still has the most top 10 singles off 1 album (faith) for any uk act...no uk group or solo artist has been able to match his feat. and this was 30 yrs ago ;)

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Sunshine Gal

0

i'm def. gonna be getting his later albums :)

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Music Lover 2016

3

What needs to be said is that you can't find his CDs anywhere at the moment! They are all sold out on Amazon! Grrr...

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Sunshine Gal

0

same on amazon u.s. i think the riaa over here may be re-certifying the faith album and his other works.

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Music Lover 2016

3

Once the CDs are being reprinted, I truly hope the albums are climbing back up the charts as George Michael's body of work deserves it.

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Sunshine Gal

0

well, we'll have to see on the main 200 albums chart, but bb also has a 'catalog albums' chart which focuses on older albums..no doubt our mate george will prob. flood that chart ;). mj, whitney, prince, the beastie boys, david bowie practically locked the entire top 10. i'm very confident within the next couple wks george (depending on past xmas albums sales) will do very well on the catalog albums chart.

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Music Lover 2016

3

Don't you just love that Whiney/ George duet! Such an underrated track and so catchy though!

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Sunshine Gal

2

are you kidding me mate? i'm the #1 whitney fan over on bb ;)! been a fan of hers since her debut album. and yes, it's a great track and i know george had a hand in the production.

the u.s. bb charts will update @ least by next tues (due to the holiday) and i'm actually looking forward to checking for any george re-entries esp. on the catalog albums chart. myself and/or my mate piran will def. keep you all updated :)

oh i did some past george chart throwbacks (his past bb feats) on the official charts article 'george michael dies aged 53'...tell me what you think ;). basically taking a look back @ the faith album's chart runs on the billboard 200 albums chart and the hot 100 singles chart...he did exceptionally great back then! the album spent almost 1 full yr in the top 10 over here and went diamond 10x plat. :)

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Sunshine Gal

1

oh and i'll be putting up some past wham u.s. throwbacks on the updated uk singles article in a lil' bit ;). they actually did pretty good over here, be sure to let me know what you think :)

JL

Jonathan Lewis

1

how about the one with him a jody watley!

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Sunshine Gal

0

he did a duet with jody watley?? i never knew that...when was this? she was also a pop star here with a handful of hits.

JL

Jonathan Lewis

1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WSx7odS9Pc

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Sunshine Gal

0

thanks buddy! so this single was avail. outside the u.s. or had a brief u.s. appearance?

JL

Jonathan Lewis

1

this song was never released in the US this was recorded at the very zenith of his and jodys career. i am sure it had something to do with record companies. it would of been and instant number one.

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Sunshine Gal

0

yeah, cuz this is the very first time i've heard of it...how did it do in the uk?

JL

Jonathan Lewis

0

never released at all. i hope you remember this gem...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFBTpRmhIFo

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Sunshine Gal

0

hey mate, hop over to billboard and click 'charts' and then go to the 'catalog albums' chart...tell me what you think ;)