George Michael (including two in the traditionally-black Soul/R&B category), and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations. George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and philanthropist who rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham! and later embarked on a solo career. He was widely known for his work in the 1980s and 1990s, including hit Wham! singles such as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Last Christmas" and solo albums such as "Faith" (1987) and "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1" (1990). Michael achieved
Georgios as George of Cyprus, and latinized as "Georgius Cyprius"; similarly George Hamartolos (d. 867), George Maniakes (d. 1043), George Palaiologos (d. 1118). In the case of modern Greek individuals, the spelling "Georgios" may be retained, e.g. Georgios Christakis-Zografos (1863–1920), Georgios Stanotas (1888–1965), Georgios Grivas (1897–1974), Georgios Alogoskoufis (b. 1955), Georgios Alexopoulos (b. 1977), etc. The modern Greek short form Γιώργος "Giorgos" is sometimes rendered "Yiorgos" or "Yorgos", as in Yiorgos Theotokas (1906–1966). Georgios Georgios (Γεώργιος ) is a Greek name derived from the word ("georgos", "farmer" lit. "earth-worker"). The word is a compound of ("ge", "earth", "soil") and ("ergon", "task",