George Michael’s generosity revealed again as backing singer spills on secret gift: 'He was our guardian angel'

24 March 2025, 12:58

By Hannah Watkin

Wham! star George Michael “hated fame” but loved how it allowed him to help others.

Loading audio...

George Michael’s heartwarming generosity has been revealed once again.

In another story which proves how much the ‘Father Figure’ star cared for others, one of the late singer’s former backing singers Shirley Lewis has opened up about how George once stepped in to help her during a tough spot.

During a difficult time in her and her former husband Bros star Luke Goss’s relationship, Shirley found herself worrying about how she would support herself and her young daughter.

“I was talking to George on the phone and suddenly burst into tears,” Shirley told the Mirror.

When George Michael secretly donated all royalties from 'Jesus to a Child' to ChildLine

“He asked what was wrong and I told him my husband and I were in a really bad place and I’d lost some cash, and he said he was going to give me some money and hung up,” she continued.

“The next day I woke up and he’d deposited £50,000 into my account! I called him and said I couldn’t take it, and he said, ‘look, I just don’t want you to worry.’”

Later that year (2005), Shirley tried to repay George’s kind gift when he invited her to perform with him again on tour.

“I told him ‘I’ll only come if you lower my weekly payment and you take the rest.’”

George Michael performing on stage in 1988 with backing vocalist Shirley Lewis. Picture: Getty

But George was having none of it, and refused to let Shirley get out of being paid in full for her role on the tour. “‘Oh, you are such a pain in my a***,’ he said, and that was the end of it – we never spoke about it again. He was such a generous man,” she reminisced.

Another of the Wham! star's former backing singers, Jo Garland, also told the Mirror about how she was on the receiving end of George’s kindness when she once lost three months' rent in cash.

“To this day I’ve no idea what happened to it, but that money went missing,” she shared.

“I was crying my eyes out in the studio and George walked in and asked what on earth had happened. He went, ‘Oh darling, don’t worry about it.’

George Michael - Careless Whisper (Official Video)

“He went off and came back with his own money. He said, ‘Let’s just hope whoever found your envelope really needed it.’ He was like our guardian angel,” she added.

But George was not just generous with his friends. The star, who reportedly “hated fame”, still made sure to use the benefits which came with it to help strangers and several charities.

The ‘Careless Whisper’ singer is now famous for having given an unfortunate Deal or No Deal contestant the money they were looking for to get IVF treatment, while at the time insisting his gift was kept anonymous.

George also gave thousands of pounds to charities including Childline and the Kenyan-based Omwabini to keep them afloat during difficult times.

And while the generous-spirited George always asked for his acts of kindness to be kept out of the news, after his death in 2016 many came out to reveal how much he had helped them while asking for nothing in return.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by TheGeorgeMichaelSingers (@thegeorgemichaelsingers)

Former George Michael backing singers Shirley, Jo and Jay Henry are heading out on tour along with some of the singer's former band to celebrate the star's music.

For more details, visit: thegeorgemichaelsingers.com