George Michael's Lost Trojan Souls Duets Footage Released
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- Andros Georgiou is releasing 90 minutes of unedited video from George Michael's 1992-93 sessions for "Trojan Souls," a duets album conceived as an act of defiance against Sony Records, with intended vocalists including Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson, Sade Adu, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Ferry, and Prince (only David Bowie politely declined)
- George Michael filed a lawsuit against Sony in October 1992 alleging unreasonable restraint of trade, and per Georgiou, the Trojan Souls project was his way of "getting back at Sony any which way he could"; Sony refused the project before Georgiou secured a £1 million deal from Warner
- Anselmo Feleppa's death from AIDS in March 1993 ended the project — of the intended tracks, only "This Kind of Love" with Elton John was completed, and Michael rerecorded it sans Elton shortly before his own death; Georgiou is now seeking Elton's blessing for a duet release
- The footage reveals Michael's previously unfilmed creative process — directing world-class musicians Wendy Melvoin, Chris Cameron, Deon Estus, and Lynn Mabry through take after take; Sathnam Sanghera notes Michael "had these amazing ears" but "would often sing at musicians and say, 'This is what I want it to sound like,'" which musicians found maddening at the time
- Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now was released on Aegean Records in 1998 as one of the first commercially available MP3s; Sanghera argues "This Kind of Love" is "his one great unreleased song" and that Trojan Souls "could have been Listen Without Prejudice Vol 2 if his lover wasn't dying"
- Georgiou and Michael had a bitter falling out in 1998 after Michael's arrest for lewd conduct in a Will Rogers Memorial Park public toilet outed him as gay; they tentatively reconnected in 2016 and planned to meet in the new year before Michael died
Why it matters: For George Michael fans, this is the first unfiltered look at his studio process — the man who built a 48-track studio in his mind directing musicians through take after take. Georgiou's release ends a years-long fight to remove leaked clips from YouTube and TikTok by getting ahead of them, though fans have long viewed him with suspicion for monetizing his proximity to Michael; the 90-minute window into an unfinished masterwork comes at the emotionally charged moment of the 10th anniversary of Michael's death.
