George Michael
5 of 6 portraits of George Michael
© John Swannell / Camera Press
George Michael
by John Swannell
archival digital print, 1985
20 3/8 in. x 14 3/4 in. (518 mm x 376 mm) image size
Given by John Swannell, 2011
Photographs Collection
NPG x134779
On display in Room 28 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
Sitterback to top
- George Michael (Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou) (1963-2016), Singer; member of Wham. Sitter in 6 portraits.
Artistback to top
- John Swannell (1946-), Photographer. Artist or producer of 128 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.
This portraitback to top
In the year of this photograph, Michael toured America and China with Wham!, and appeared at Live Aid.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Tinker, Christopher, Speak its Name! - Quotations by and about Gay Men and Women, 2016, p. 221
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Now and Then: Photographs by John Swannell (19 April 2011 - 2 January 2012)
Events of 1985back to top
Current affairs
55 people die in the Manchester air disaster when a British Airtours Boeing 737 bursts into flames after an aborted takeoff at Manchester International Airport.Art and science
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organise Live Aid, a rock concert in London and Philadelphia, to raise funds for famine relief. The biggest names in popular music, including Paul McCartney, Queen, Status Quo, The Police, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, U2, The Who, and Led Zeppelin, performed to a TV audience of 1.5 billion.The British Antarctic Survey discovers a hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica.
International
Reformer Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power as first secretary of the Soviet Communist party. He calls for 'glasnost' (openness) in Soviet life, and pursues a policy of 'perestroika' (reconstruction).French intelligence operatives sabotage Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace vessel. The ship was leading a protest against French nuclear testing in New Zealand when it was bombed and sunk, killing one of the twelve on board.
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