George Michael beats Niall Horan and Pink to top UK album chart – ten months after his death
GEORGE Michael has hit the top of the UK album chart ten months after his death - beating brand new efforts by Pink, Niall Horan and Liam Gallagher.
Listen Without Prejudice: Vol 1 has now been at number one for two weeks - 27 years after it first took the top spot in 1990 - and the resurgence of sales follows the release of his posthumous documentary Freedom.
Back in 1990 the album shifted 423,577 copies, whereas this time around it's sold a more modest 56,000 copies.
But thanks to download sales, the album has shoved some of the world's biggest living stars further down the chart.
George's album - which includes the hits Freedom, Cowboys And Angels and Praying For Time - has also been beefed up for its rerelease.
It includes loads of live recordings, B-sides and film footage - and fans still celebrating the life of the star, after his death from natural causes, have gone mad for it.
It's pushed Flicker, the debut album of wildly popular One Direction star Niall Horan, to Number Three, while Pink's new release Beautiful Trauma is in second place.
Meanwhile As You Were, the first ever debut album of Liam Gallagher who features on the new George Michael documentary, is at Number Four and Ed Sheeran's Divide is at Number Five.
Channel 4 debuted George's self-directed music documentary Freedom last week and fans were overwhelmed by the experience of seeing it.
However, some critics were disappointed with the film and its celebrity contributors, saying George should have stuck to music.
Meanwhile fans will get one more chance to say goodbye to the musician George Michael, as his final interview is set to air next week.
Kirsty Young talked to the star just weeks before his death, and the resulting interview is making up a two-part special.
Among the subjects George reflects on is his sexuality and how he felt he put music before his personal life by not coming out for years.
He says: "I had a feeling that I couldn't have both. I felt that I couldn't come out and live a full gay life, and still have my devotion to what I did."
And speaking on his first love Anselmo Feleppa, who died of Aids in 1993, he adds: "I was happier than I'd ever been in my entire life.
"Fame, money... everything else just kind of, paled by comparison to finally at 27 years old, waking up in bed with someone who loves you."
George Michael: The Red Line will be broadcast on Radio 2 on November 1 and 8 at 10pm.
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