Credit: Far Out / Alamy

The classic song George Michael wrote as a tribute to Paul McCartney

Fri 1 September 2023 9:00, UK

The former Wham! leader George Michael discussed many acts as inspirations in his time, but the band he loved more than any other was The Beatles. Whilst he admitted to coming to the group later in life, the Fab Four still made a tremendous impact on Michael’s own creative vision.

This was to the extent that in October 2000, Michael spent $2.1 million on late Beatles leader John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ piano at auction. Outbidding Robbie Williams and the Gallagher brothers for the upright Steinway piano, the singer told People following the purchase: “As a songwriter, it’s such an amazing thing to own, and as far as paying the $2.1million, it’s worth every penny.”

Michael was such a fan of The Beatles that in the same discussion, he even described the band as “the strongest force in popular music“, despite the interview coming some 30 long years after The Beatles split. Such was the importance of the Liverpool group; their music transcended time.

Famously, George Michael even wrote one of his finest tracks in the style of The Beatles’ Paul McCartney. The number in question is the contemplative, acoustic-driven love song, ‘Heal the Pain’, taken from his second solo album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. Released in February 1991 as the fourth UK single from the record, ‘Heal the Pain’ is one of his most affecting compositions, despite its laid back feel.

“I was big into Abbey Road and Revolver,” Michael once said when explaining the influences on Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. “I made one record to show how much I loved Lennon [‘Praying for Time’], I made another record to show how much I loved McCartney [‘Heal the Pain’].”

Luckily for Michael, he would later converge with McCartney. This iconic moment occurred at 2005’s Live Aid follow-up, Live 8, with the former Wham! leader dueting with his hero to close out the evening. Notably, the day was full of A-list performances from Madonna, The Who, Annie Lennox, and even the classic lineup of Pink Floyd for a one-off reunion.

While having his name on the bill was more than enough for most fans, McCartney decided to push the boat out. He invited George Michael onto the stage to join him for a rendition of The Beatles’ upbeat Rubber Soul classic, ‘Drive My Car’, which provided a fitting way to bring the curtain down on the event. Unsurprisingly, it ranked amongst the ultimate career highs of Michael, who busked Beatles covers as a teenager.

Weeks after his performance, Michael was asked in an interview what it was like singing with Paul McCartney. “Oh it’s fantastic,” he responded. “You know the man forgot to introduce me, you know. I heard the beginning of ‘Baby You Can Drive My Car’ start up. I was just, ‘Wait a minute, you were supposed to be doing a different song”.

“They cut out a song from the set without telling me and he forgot to introduce me!” he revealed. “So this there’s this bit of film of me going, ‘Nobody told me to ******* go on!’ And then my mate going, ‘Now just run off for the course, run off for the course!'” He added: “So that’s what I did — I just ran on just before I was first to sing the chorus! But otherwise, I nearly didn’t make it to Live 8. Poor Paul must be hysterical.”

The story of George Michael and Paul McCartney wasn’t finished there, however. The power of ‘Heal the Pain’ would bring them back together not long after the success of their Live 8 performance. Later, in 2005, it was announced that Michael would be re-recording a new version of the song with the former Beatles man. The song was eventually released on his 2006 greatest hits compilation, Twenty Five. A portion of the recording process for it was later captured in the 2017 documentary Freedom, where Michael quipped: “I didn’t dream McCartney would ever sing it. And actually, when he sings it, it sounds like a Paul McCartney record!”

Listen to both versions of ‘Heal the Pain’ below.