CSPC: Wham! & George Michael Popularity Analysis
UPDATE: Please note all figures have been updated as of May 6, 2017.
November 10 1984. US Billboard Hot 100. David Bowie hit Blue Jean was spending its last week inside the Top 10 at #8. It remains the very last time the British singer visited the top tier as a solo act. Higher on the charts at #3, Prince anthem song Purple Rain was going strong, while the album of the same name was on its 15th – out of 24 – week at #1. Still within’ that Hot 100 Top 10, George Michael in his teen group Wham! werefeaturing at #4 with Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (soon-to-be #1 smash) while the album Make It Big debuted. The year 2016 has really been a brutal end of an era for an entire generation.
An entire generation indeed… as it wasn’t only about 1984. From 1977 to 1989, only 4 solo artists had an album spend 10+ weeks at #1 in the US – Michael Jackson with Thriller, Whitney Houston with both Whitney Houston and Whitney, Prince with Purple Rain and George Michael with Faith. In the last several years all of them passed away with none of them coming even close to turning 60. While fans inevitably mourn the death of George Michael on December 25 – talk about a twisted fate for the singer of Last Christmas – we will make our own tribute as well by going through his classic catalog.
Releasing his first single at only 19, as part of the duet Wham! along with his friend Andrew Ridgeley, the Greek descendant George Michael’s rise to fame was absolutely unstoppable. A mere five years after his first record he had dropped cult hits such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Careless Whisper, Last Christmas and Faith. Let’s not only remember those songs but George’s full catalog.
As usual, I’ll be using the Commensurate Sales to Popularity Concept in order to relevantly gauge his results. The concept will not only bring you sales information for all of George Michael‘s albums, physical and download singles, as well as audio and video streaming, but it will also determine his true popularity. If you are not yet familiar with the CSPC method, the next page explains it with a short video. I fully recommend watching the video before getting into the sales figures. Of course, if you are a regular visitor feel free to skip the video and get into the figures. Let’s go!