George Michael was "convinced" he would be famous.
George Michael
The 'Faith' singer - who tragically passed away on Christmas Day (25.12.16) at the age of 53 - began his music career as a member of pop duo Wham! alongside his close friend Andrew Ridgeley, and in his final interview recorded just weeks prior to his passing, he admitted he had an "absolute belief" that he would make it as a music star.
He said: "I was convinced that I had a huge amount to give, even though I didn't really know what it was.
"Andrew encouraged this idea of fame, and you know Andrew could just have ... I mean, if he could play football he would've been a footballer. And these days he would've been doing ... he would've been paid, well, not in the time that we were experiencing our success, but a footballer now is a much much more attractive option for most boys than a pop star.
"But I had an absolute belief that my destiny was in music, and it wasn't to be a shrinking violet."
George and Andrew rose to fame in Wham! when they were still teenagers, but the 'Careless Whisper' hitmaker admitted he never felt "overwhelmed" by their success because he had his pal by his side.
He added: "Wham! never overwhelmed me, probably because of Andrew. It's the hardest thing to explain, it's as though there's always been this red line, I see it like a red line, which goes through everything. Like a staircase to whatever you're about to do next. And I could feel that at the final concert. I already had one foot in my solo career during Wham!'s 'The Final'."
And George also insisted he didn't care how inflated his ego became, because he was "enjoying" the feeling it gave him.
Speaking to Kirsty Young in the first part of a two-part interview entitled 'George Michael: The Red Line' - which was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Wednesday (01.11.17) - he said: "I was enjoying my ego. I was truly enjoying my ego at that stage in my life."
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