The Life and Music of George Michael
Fisher Theatre
Detroit, Mich.
Nov. 8, 2025
Gen Xers rejoiced Saturday during the touring George Michael tribute concert, “The Life and Music of George Michael,” whicht made a stop at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre to a packed house. The show featured Michael’s biggest hits, including “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” “Freedom,” “Faith,” “Careless Whisper,” “Father Figure,” sharing information about Michael’s life and career in between songs.
Michael rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of Wham! before launching his solo career in 1987. Michael, who died in 2016, was the winner of two Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, three Brit awards and four MTV Video Music Awards. He sold more than 115 million albums over four decades.
The concert was a lot of fun. It featured two vocalists, Connor Antico and Craig Winberry, who shared the limelight, performing during the show’s first and second acts, respectively. While I can’t comment on how well either of the leads impersonated Michael, both brought fantastic vocals, dance moves and charisma to the stage and kept the biggest fans on their feet (though most of us opted to enjoy the music from our seats for the most part).
One of my favorite moments of the show was the transition between the two lead singers at the close of Act 1. The duo performed “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” with Winberry making a dramatic surprise entrance through the aisle as he sang the Elton John part from his and Michael’s 1991 duet recording of the song.
I also enjoyed their performance of “Last Christmas,” where VIP ticketholders were welcomed to the stage to sing with the band and the rest of us encouraged to sing along from the audience. The people-watching – in addition to the singing – was delightful, with one gentleman in particular radiating his joy of and love for the song (and others) to the audience as he “danced like no one was watching.”
At over 2.5 hours with intermission, the show ran a bit long for my taste, with a bit of a drag in the first part of Act 2 before closing with the biggest hits. I think one 90-minute set that focused on the most popular songs would have been sufficient. At the same time, the show was light on its storytelling aspect, surprising since it billed itself as “chronicling [Michael’s] remarkable musical journey and deep connection with fans.” We got the basics of his career, his origins with Wham!, some dates and numbers for his biggest hits, but nothing terribly enlightening or memorable.
The show closed with “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” and “Careless Whisper” (with Queen’s “Somebody to Love” in between). While I get that “Careless Whisper” was technically the bigger hit of the two, “Wake Me Up” is arguably one of the catchiest, upbeat pop songs of all time – why not leave people on a high? (“I wanna hit that high, yeah, yeah.”)
Nitpicking aside, I had a nice time. As a casual George Michael fan, I liked hearing his music live and learned facts I didn’t know about his life and about songs I liked I hadn’t realized he sang. I also enjoyed seeing the joy of the dancing Gen Xers around me reliving the sounds of their youth. “The Life and Music of George Michael” was a great evening of music and nostalgia and a fun shared experience to enjoy old favorites.
