George Michael 'You Have Been Loved'

Chart Peak: 2
YouTube

The haunting 'You Have Been Loved' was George's 6th British Top 3 hit from the Older album... In the 15 years he has been making music, George has now achieved over 60 million sales worldwide.

It's slightly less dramatic than what happened to 'Sunchyme', but for the first five days of release 'You Have Been Loved' (nominally a double-A with 'Strangest Thing 97') was comfortably the nation's top-selling single yet by Sunday it was Number 2, way behind the huge first-day sales of his friend Elton John's tribute to his other friend Diana Princess of Wales. Still, six Top 3 singles from a studio album remains unique and we'll never know whether her death truly cost him a chart-topper since the literally mournful song was especially appealing to the record-buying public in early September 1997. It's unlikely he cared much about it under the circumstances.

It is of course pure coincidence that this single arrived only a week after a high-profile death, but it was always intended to pay tribute to somebody even closer to home, Michael's deceased partner Anselmo Feleppa; seemingly narrated from the perspective of his mother, which might account for the song's slightly unidiomatic title. By the time the single came out his own mother had also passed away, which is possibly why the official video is a live performance rather than anything more creative. Although the song is well-structured and clearly heartfelt it feels a bit too personal for the rest of us to get involved now.

Also appearing on: Now 22 [with Elton John], 23, 25 [with Queen], 34, 35, 36, 37, 52, 58
Available on: Ladies And Gentlemen... The Best Of George Michael