Profession: Musician
Place/Date of Birth: Finchley, 25 June 1963

George admits drug-driving charge - May 8 2007 Pop star George Michael today pleaded guilty to driving while unfit through drugs. The 43-year-old singer admitted the charge on the first day of his trial at Brent Magistrates' Court. A further charge of being in charge of a vehicle while unfit through drugs on October 1 last year was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service. Michael, whose birth name is George Panayiotou, appeared confused when entering his plea, claiming he was guilty due to "tiredness and prescribed drugs". George, from north London, was arrested in Cricklewood last year after motorists reported a car obstructing the road at traffic lights. The singer's sentencing was adjourned to enable more blood tests to be carried out. George told the court he was "very ashamed" of his drug-driving charge and that he had done something "very stupid". He took the unusual step of speaking directly to the judge in open court today. First he thanked District Judge Katherine Marshall. He said: "I have only been aware for the last 15 minutes that this was a possibility to address you in an open court. "I just want to be as brief as possible. "There are two reasons we are here today. "I did something very stupid and I am very ashamed since doing it. "I'm not used to defending myself in a position where I am ashamed of something. "If I had known the day after the charge was brought the legal option of accepting a punishment without taking responsibility for something I felt I was not guilty to I could have saved everyone here a lot of time and trouble." George adds court date to tour - April 25 2007 George Michael is set to appear in court the day before he performs at Wembley Stadium following a ruling by a district judge. The trial of the 43-year-old former Wham! star has been listed to start on May 8, followed by the dates of May 30, May 31 and June 8, after a preliminary hearing at Brent Magistrates’ Court in north west London. The star, whose birth name is George Panayiotou, will face a charge of driving while unfit through drugs and an allegation of being in charge of a vehicle while unfit through drugs. It was announced last month that the singer will play the first concert at the new Wembley Stadium on June 9, as part of his British and European stadium tour which starts in May. District Judge Katherine Marshall rejected an application for the star to be allowed to be absent throughout the trial. She said she wanted him to be in court on May 8 and she would be willing, if he did not wish to remain at the trial, to bail him to reappear on the final day.... read more [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10     next (4) next

	Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou was born on the 25th June 1963 in Finchley. Obviously the name was a bit cumbersome for a popstar, so upon forming 80s teen sensation Wham! with everyone’s favourite ’where are they now?’ candidate Andrew Ridgley, he changed it to the slightly less tongue twisting George Michael. Michael had hit after hit with Wham! - Club Tropicana, Wham Rap, Wake me Up Before You Go Go all remain classics, featuring on every best of the eighties compilation going. Whilst in Wham! George had solo success with one of his most famous hits, Careless Whisper. When the mighty Wham! split in 1986 Michael found he had to prove himself to music critics who thought he was just another flash in the pan boy band reject. He did it easily with hit after hit, a duet with Aretha Franklin and a blue eyed soul boy image. In the nineties he kept the good work up, duetting with Elton John on Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me and in 1992 was announced to be one of the richest men in the UK thanks to incredible record sales. But in the mid to late nineties things started to turn sour with George’s record label, Sony and despite producing one of the most successful albums of the decade with Older, he left Sony to create his own label - Aegean Records. A year later George hit the headlines after being arrested for committing ’lewd acts’ in a public toilet (you all know that story), forcing the singer to come out publicly. Many thought it would be the end of his career, but the master of reinvention hit back with arguably his finest single to date, Outside. The video for his hit single featured the cheeky Greek dressed as a policeman gyrating about a disco-balled toilet, a great two fingers up to the press and police who had outed him. George has since played up his gayness, recently telling the world about his ’open relationship’ with boyfriend Kenny Goss and his ’Vanilla’ tastes in sex. In between revealing all he has become increasingly political, releasing slated single Freeeek!, an anti Iraq war song and using interviews to champion the causes close to his heart. The ex Wham! star remains a force to be reckoned with even after announcing that he is bowing out of the music business to release his recordings online for free. Good news for skint George Michael fans, not so much for the industry. By Laura Walton May 2007

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