Entertainment

ABC Airs NYE Bandstand Tribute To George Michael

by Jessicah Lahitou
Jack Taylor/Getty Images News/Getty Images

That 2016 has been a year of disappointments has become all but a tautology. And one of the contributors to 2016 malaise came in the form of what seemed an endless string of celebrity losses. Amongst them was George Michael, the British pop star originally of Wham! fame, who passed away on Christmas day at the all-too-young age of 53. ABC paid special tribute to him on NYE, airing archived footage of the pop group from their U.S. debut on American Bandstand.

The fact that ABC's NYE program still goes by the name "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" added an extra bit of emotion, since it was Clark himself who interviewed Wham! back in 1983. George Michael was only 19 years old for that performance, another reminder of how young the pop icon was when he rocketed to stardom. I dare anyone to watch the footage below and be unimpressed at Michael's dance skills, not to mention extraordinary confidence for a man of his age.

After ABC aired their tribute to George Michael, Mariah Carey weighed in with her own comment about Michael. After host Ryan Seacrest asked her what she thought of her "dear friend," Mariah said, "I love his album Faith. It was very inspirational to me growing up and it will always be an inspiration to me. I did record his song 'One More Try.'" And she's not the only fellow pop star to offer their respect for him.

Earlier in the evening, Coldplay covered "Faith," one of George Michael's biggest hit songs.

And Rob Thomas mentioned another one of George Michael's famous hits.

And actor John Leguizamo gave us all a solid guide on how to say goodbye to 2016:

So thanks goes out to ABC for bringing everyone the vibrancy of a 19-year-old George Michael. He deserves to be remembered that way.