Growing Distant
Michael’s early years weren’t particularly traumatic for the singer, but they were marked with a damaging coldness from his family. Born as Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, the future pop star was raised in a small apartment in London by his parents. His mother, Lesley, worked as a dancer and his father, Kyriacos, was a restaurateur who had immigrated from Cyprus in the ’50s.
Photo of George MICHAEL and WHAM!; George Michael Photo by Ian Dickson/Redferns
While it may be some people’s dream to be an only child, Michael said that he wasn’t exactly fawned upon by his parents, nor was his father ever around. “I was never praised, never held,” the singer told People magazine. “So, it wasn’t exactly The Little House On The Prairie.”