A memorial to George Michael is set to be unveiled this month
A memorial to George Michael is set to be unveiled this month.
A blue plaque will go up at Bushey Meads School in Bushey, Hertfordshire, where the singing sensation went to sixth form and made friends with Andrew Ridgeley, who made up the other half of Wham!
On the English Heritage website, it is stated that “at least 20 years must have passed since a candidate’s death,” but it seems that an exception has been made for the late pop star, who died on Christmas Day 2016 at the age of 53.
There is reportedly enough space for 2,000 people to attend the event at midday on April 15 at the school in Hertfordshire.
Ridgeley will be present at the unveiling, along with Sherlie Holliman, one of the backing singers for Wham!
Last week, it was revealed that George struggled with a “secret childhood trauma that left him suicidal,” according to former manager Simon Napier-Bell.
He said the star was keeping a dark secret that sparked his creativity.
The star was frank about struggling with the loss of his mother and his first love, who died from complications from HIV/AIDS.
Napier-Bell, who managed Wham! from 1983, said Michael did not use drugs while in the band.
“I knew there were a lot of drugs about and if somebody is doing drugs at a level which could kill them, I suppose it is semi-suicidal. You’re flirting with it,” he said.
“It’s like somebody who drives at 130mph when they’re drunk. They’re not trying to commit suicide but if they thought logically for a minute they would have to say they don’t really care much for life if they are doing that.”
The former manager continued: “He obviously looked very much inside himself but he never told anybody whatever it was that triggered it.
“He didn’t tell the public and he may not have even told himself, because that’s another thing that happens to people, they feel a huge disquiet and they want to not look at it.”
The singer was arrested for possession of Class A drugs, including crack cocaine, in 2008, and once admitted to smoking 25 joints of marijuana a day.