George Michael at the BBC marks 'bittersweet few weeks for fans'

It’s set to be a bittersweet few weeks for fans of George Michael.

On June 25, they will be marking what would have been the singer-songwriter’s 60th birthday, while July 9 is the 40th anniversary of Wham!’s debut album, Fantastic.

The BBC is making sure these dates are remembered with The Radio 2 Celebrates George Michael and Wham! Collection, a series of specials which is currently available on BBC Sounds and will also be airing on Radio 2.

And tonight, BBC2 turns over much of its schedule to the much-loved pop legend, who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. He was still in his teens when he changed his name after forming the duo Wham! with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley.

Their debut single, Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do), scraped into the charts at a lowly 105 in 1982, but the follow up, Young Guns (Go For It), made it to number three, and the pair were soon fully fledged pop idols.

Despite their string of hits, which included Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and festive favourite Last Christmas, and army of fans, they weren’t taken particularly seriously by critics.

However, when George subsequently went solo, the cynics were finally forced to admit that he was a songwriter to be reckoned with – his debut album, Faith, was a UK and US number one, selling more than 25 million copies worldwide.

He continued to rack up hits into the 1990s, but some observers wondered if his career might be over in 1998 when he was arrested for ‘public lewdness’. They were wrong – his fans stood by him, and George took control of the narrative by satirising the incident in the video for his single Outside.

If you want to know just why he was so beloved, and why his death on December 25, 2016, caused such an outpouring of grief, then tonight’s George Michael at the BBC is a good place to start.

It brings together a collection of performances from BBC programmes ranging from Top of the Pops to Wogan and Parkinson, and lets viewers trace his musical evolution from the Wham! days, and catchy classics such as Club Tropicana and Freedom, to the more mature sound of his incredible solo career.

Then, following a break for Later… with Jools Holland, there’s a chance to see George Michael: Live in London (10.40pm), which features footage from his 2008 Earl’s Court gigs, and songs from across his career as well as a few cover versions.

For night owls, the George Michael celebration then continues on Radio 2 with Wham! The Fan’s Story at 12am, in which a host of celebrity admirers discuss why the duo, who called it a day just three years after releasing their debut album, continue to have such an enduring following.

There are also contributions from George’s bandmate Andrew Ridgeley, and backing singers Shirlie Kemp and Pepsi DeMacque, who reflect on their heyday.