‘The greatest album never made’: the untold story of George Michael’s secret, star-packed duets project

Suing his record label and sick of being a sex symbol, the singer spent 1992 working on the Trojan Souls for stars including Aretha Franklin and Bryan Ferry. Now, newly released studio footage shows him in his creative prime Wham! special: read Andrew Ridgeley on their bizarre 1985 trip to China The George Michael album that never was began in defiance and ended in grief. It was 1992. Mired in a toxic dispute with Sony Records, Michael chose to keep busy and declare his independence by making an album of songs to be sung by several of his musical heroes, including Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackso

This story was reported by Culture | The Guardian. EUROPES curates Europe's most relevant coverage — read the full report at the original source.