Singles and albums by George Michael have returned to the chart en masse in the wake of the singer’s death.
Michael has six albums on this week’s Top 200 chart, led by 1998 compilation Ladies & Gentlemen, which surges to No.8 (from No.192 last week) on sales of 24,847 (up a massive 5625.63% week-on-week).
Five more albums by Michael return to the Top 100, with Wham!'s 1986 compilation The Final at No.40 (6,282 sales); 2006 compilation Twenty Five - which includes both solo and Wham! recordings – at No.47 (5,739 sales); his 1987 debut solo album Faith at No.62 (4,106 sales); 2014 No.1 live album Symphonica at No.73 (3,262 sales) and 1996 No.1 Older at No.84 (2,879 sales).
On the singles chart, Wham!’s Last Christmas poignantly scores its highest chart position since it reached No.6 in 1985, surging 16-7 on sales of 41,660. A total of 11 tracks by George Michael and Wham! return to the Top 200, but only two others are in the Top 75, namely solo efforts Careless Whisper (No.44, 17,166 sales) and Faith (No.64, 12,931 sales).
Michael died at home in Goring-On-Thames, Oxfordshire, aged 53, on Christmas Day. It was announced today that a post-mortem examination into the cause of death was “inconclusive”, according to police.
You can read the Music Week George Michael obituary here.
