Entertainment

Was George Michael Ever Married?

by Kadeen Griffiths
ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images

In an absolute tragedy, especially considering the holiday season, on Sunday it was revealed that George Michael had passed away at the age of 53. If you weren't already a huge fan of the Wham! singer, then no doubt you're scrambling to catch up on his incredible talent and interested in all aspects of the life that we have, unfortunately, just lost. Like, for example, wondering whether or not George Michael was married. The singer has had a lot of high-profile relationships, from dating Brooke Shields in the '80s to his present boyfriend Fadi Fawaz. But was he ever married? The answer is, legally, no.

Although he's never been married, Michael has had some long-term relationships. Prior to Fawaz, he was dating Texan art dealer Kenny Gross for over 10 years, from 1996 to around 2009. However, it wasn't until 2011 that Michael revealed that he and Gross had split two and a half years earlier. They had intended, as of 2005, to marry in a civil partnership in the U.K., but ended up not going through with it, with Michael stating, "With all the rubbish I've had to put up with in the last six months, we wouldn't get a small private wedding, which is what we want."

Although there were rumors that the singer had secretly tied the knot, and though he stood as a strong proponent of gay marriage in 2008, it's not been confirmed that Michael was ever married. His relationship with Gross was followed by a relationship with Fawaz that began at some point around 2009, which the singer kept so low-key that their outings were described as "rare" and were subject to a lot of press when they happened. They were still dating at the time of Michael's death.

In recent years, Michael tried to keep his relationship fairly under the radar, but, as with anything the singer did, people cared far, far too much about his life for it to truly be successful. But if there's anything to be learned from his romantic history, it's that there was a lot of love in the singer's life for as long as he was able to live it. Fans can't ask for much more than that during these sad times.