Alright buckle up because this one’s wilder than that time my cousin tried to brew kombucha in his bathtub. Didn’t set out to become an armchair expert on George Michael’s feet, swear on my favorite coffee mug.
The Whole Thing Started… Accidentally
Was deep down a YouTube rabbit hole, you know how it goes. Clicked on a Wham! music video for the thousandth time. Saw him dancing barefoot in some fancy pants costume thing. Thought “Huh. Guess the man had opinions about footwear.” Figured that was that.
Nope. Brain wouldn’t let it go. Next morning, while pretending to organize my desk (mostly just shuffled sticky notes), I went digging. Started typing “George Michael barefoot” into the search bar. Felt ridiculous. Found almost nothing useful. Just blurry concert pics and people arguing about socks. Dead ends everywhere.
Digging Like I Was Planting Tomatoes
Got stubborn. Brewed another pot of coffee, the strong kind. Decided to check actual music forums, not just the easy searches. Went old school:
- Read archived interviews – Like, scanned PDFs scanned off actual paper magazines. My eyes hurt. Found one 80s piece where he joked about hating tight shoes backstage. First clue.
- Zoomed into concert footage – Like, embarrassingly close. Saw him kick off shoes mid-song countless times. Realized it wasn’t a one-off thing. He really did seem to prefer playing without shoes whenever possible.
- Scanned gossip rags (for science!) – Found snippets from paparazzi photos from, like, the 90s? Him chilling on a boat, yachting shoes nowhere near his feet. Lounging poolside? Nada.
The Weird Moment It Clicked
There I am, sitting at the kitchen table, laptop covered in cookie crumbs. Staring at maybe a hundred images and quotes collected over days. Hit me:
It wasn’t about feet at all. Not really. It was about freedom and being ridiculously comfortable doing his own thing. All those kicked-off shoes? On stage? That was him ditching the uncomfortable stuff, literally and maybe… figuratively. The guy radiated authenticity. Maybe ditching the fancy shoes was part of that vibe? Like shedding a costume.
Wrapping Up This Bizarre Adventure
So yeah. Did I become an expert on the specifics of George Michael’s feet? God, no. Nobody needs that. But did I stumble headfirst into a weirdly genuine part of who he presented to the world? Absolutely. Found a whole new layer of appreciation for the guy – not just his voice, but his commitment to doing it his way, down to refusing to wear shoes if he didn’t wanna.
Learned more than I ever imagined about paparazzi angles from the 90s too. Weirdest research detour of my life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m ditching my own shoes. They feel weirdly confining after all that.
