It’s been a little over eight months since ’80s pop icon George Michael died in his home on Christmas morning, and his fans all across the world have continued to try and come to grips with the loss. Today, their pain was made a little easier thanks to a brand new posthumous single intended as part of a reissue of the singer’s album Listen Without Prejudice.
Titled “Fantasy,” the fresh track is a update of a classic b-side that was intended to appear on the original Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 back in 1990. The song itself is sleek, fun and funky, getting a sonic facelift thanks to Nile Rodgers who, frankly, makes nearly everything he lends his name to that much better. Still, for as honored as he was to work on this project, Rodgers held some reservations, which he expressed on Twitter.
You SHOULD have mixed feelings. No one's heart was dragged through emotional ambiguity more than mine.Tears, uncertainty, happiness & #LOVE https://t.co/8cX4efAX1o
— Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) September 7, 2017
Thx. I put my heart and soul into doing what @GeorgeMichael would've wanted. #CHOOSEGEORGE @nilerodgers https://t.co/C4Ru7Dkv0V
— Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) September 7, 2017
“‘Fantasy’ was originally meant to be on Listen Without Prejudice and was intended to be one of the singles from the album, but somehow it got lost in the ether,” Michael’s manager David Austin told the BBC. “George phoned up Nile Rodgers, his good pal, in early 2016 because the two of them have always spoken the same musical language, and Nile has reworked the record.”
You can listen to George Michael’s posthumous single “Fantasy” above.
