Of all the music he made both with Wham! and as a solo artist, George Michael thought most highly of his 1996 album Older, which he called “the best, most healing piece of music I’ve written in my life,” as well as “my greatest moment.” Now, the album is being reissued as a deluxe limited-edition box set, due out July 8.
The set includes five CDs and three vinyl LPs, comprising the original album Older, and a six-track collection called Upper that was released in 1997, made up of B-sides from the album’s singles. There are also three CDs of dance mixes, radio edits, instrumentals and live versions of previous hits “Freedom” and “One More Try.”
The whole thing comes packaged with a 48-page book, The Story of Older, and three art prints of George.
Upon its release, Older — George’s first album in more than five years — was a massive hit in his native U.K., and also reached the top 10 in the U.S. The singles “Jesus to a Child” and “Fastlove” were both top 10 U.S. hits; in the U.K., Older spun off six top three singles.
After Older, George released one more studio album of original material, 2004’s Patience, as well as an album of covers, a live orchestral album and two best-of collections. He died on Christmas Day, 2016.
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