A star-studded tribute concert is being planned in memory of George Michael.
George Michael
Following the 53-year-old singer's sudden death from heart failure over Christmas, Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen has revealed plans to hold a concert to acknowledge his donations over the years and celebrate Childline's 30th anniversary.
She told the Daily Mirror: "George helped us to reach out to hundreds of thousands of children through his generosity.
"I met him a couple of times, he approached us, rather than us going cap in hand to him, but it was an intensely personal gift.
"He didn't want it to be known or to be part of his image.
"I think it would be wonderful to celebrate him with a tribute concert next year.
"We were able to counsel 300,000 children who needed help last year, through emails, online and phone calls, and George made a palpable difference."
And Esther previously revealed plans for the concert were in place before George's death.
She said: "For years now he has been the most extraordinarily generous philanthropist, giving money to Childline, but he was determined not to make his generosity public so no-one outside the charity knew how much he gave to the nation's most vulnerable children.
"Over the years he gave us millions and we were planning next year, as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations to create, we hoped, a big concert in tribute to him - to his artistry, to his wonderful musicality but also to thank him for the 100s of 1,000s of children he helped through supporting Childline."
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