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Author and BBC radio 2 broadcaster Janey Lee Grace was a backing singer for Wham! on their historic 1995 tour of China, and remained friends with George Michael. She told the Guardian:



“George was always a perfectionist. When we played China, we were the first western band to go there, which was a bizarre experience. They were making a feature film and we had a huge film crew. After the first few scenes were shot, George and Andy looked at the rushes of the film and George was seriously unhappy with his hair, so he flew out his sister Melanie, who was a hairdresser, to sort it.

“He knew exactly how he wanted to look and how he wanted his music to sound. Even though my colleagues and I were the backing singers on all the live gigs and the live videos, he rarely used session singers in the studio, because he was so brilliant he did all his own backing vocals – infuriating for us, but what a star!

“On the first tour, amongst the merchandise were dolls of George and Andy. The guys would have a little competition at each gig to see whose doll sold the most. George used to get quite miffed if Andrew Ridgeley’s sold more!

“Years later I was invited to his Cowboys and Angels birthday party. We had to go in fancy dress. I was eight and a half months pregnant so couldn’t really go as an angel, but managed a cowboy outfit. It was all just after the shenanigans had gone on with George being arrested in the public loos, and the invitations said: ‘Please note, there will be no public conveniences so please go before you come.’ He had a fabulous sense of humour, that’s why he was so beloved.

“I’m not sure he ever got over the death of his mother, Lesley. She was the most lovely woman, so proud of her son, and we had several long discussions about the horror of losing someone to cancer so young.”