One month on since his untimely passing on Christmas Day, sales of George Michael records have rocketed, with over half a million sales recorded across his Wham! and solo work, according to the Official Charts Company.
In the week following his death, Wham! classic Last Christmas returned to the Top 10 at No. 7 for the first time since its 1984 release.
Across his entire body of work, just over 421,000 singles were sold across physical, digital and streaming equivalent sales, comprised of 153,000 sales and 26.8 million streams. Last Christmas was the most popular track (46,000 combined chart sales), followed by Careless Whisper (33,500).
A previously released re-issue of his 1987 hit Freedom also topped the Official Vinyl Singles Chart, registering two weeks at No.1
Meanwhile, a total of 147,500 solo/Wham! albums have been sold and streamed in the month since Michael's death, 54% of which were physical sales.
The Top 5 tracks since his passing, based on sales and streams are Last Christmas, Careless Whisper, Faith, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me feat. Elton John and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.
The Top 5 albums over the past month are Ladies & Gentlemen – The Best Of, The Final, Twenty Five, Faith and Symphonica.
Michael passed away unexpectedly on Christmas Day, although an exact cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
You can read the Music Week George Michael obituary here.
