The album George Michael couldn’t live without: “The best female vocalist I’ve heard in my entire career”
Everything about George Michael felt like a walking contradiction at times. Even though the man made some of the most letter-perfect pop songs of the 1980s and ‘90s, his background in blues-infused material and old-school musical textures tended to clash with the same person that wrote songs like ‘Father Figure’. Despite his status as a pop idol, he still had his ear to the ground until his death.
Throughout his career, Michael thrived on the sound of soulful singers, whether making his version of the soul classic ‘Love Machine’ on WHAM’s first album or bringing in the saxophone for the now-iconic break on ‘Careless Whisper’. As the 2000s were dawning, a newcomer to the oldies scene began to find her voice.
Coming from England, Amy Winehouse had all of the soul of a blues belter of decades past, poring over songs of heartache with a slightly demented edge to her voice. When listening to songs like ‘Me and Mr Jones’ or ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’, it’s easy to see a woman destined to become a musical legend, writing songs about holding all the cards in the relationship and not suffering fools that come across her.
At the same time, Winehouse also knew how to refine her craft like so many belters before her. Although it might have been easy to play up some of the attitude in her songs, ballads like ‘Love is a Losing Game’ gave fans a look at the human behind that booming voice, putting in some genuine emotions that no other vocalist could compete with.
Around the time that her album Back to Black began making waves, Michael was an avid fan, recalling on BBC’s Desert Island Discs, “This is the best female vocalist I’ve heard in my entire career .. and one of the best writers”. Despite her status as a pop superstar and accolades from her peers, it was already apparent that she was treading down a fairly dark path.
As if songs like ‘Rehab’ weren’t already autobiographical, Winehouse’s personal life started getting increasingly out of control. In the same special, Michael tried to warn her about the pitfalls that come with fame, saying, “So all I can say is please, please understand how brilliant you are, and I wish her every, every success in the future, and I know she can get past the media. I don’t know if she can get past other things, but she’s a fantastic talent, and we should support her”.
Though the praise may have been warranted, it ended up coming too little too late for Winehouse. Being unable to take some of the pressure of the fame machine, Winehouse sunk deeper into her vices, eventually drinking herself to death in 2011 and joining members of the so-called ’27 Club’.
While her life may have been cut drastically short, her legacy can still be felt in every song she sang, with artists like Adele and Billie Eilish citing her as a primary influence. There may have been so much more that Winehouse could have offered, but her story is that of a troubled star burning out before the world was ready to let go.
