''Faith'' is the debut solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the English singer

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

, released on 30 October 1987 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. In addition to playing various instruments on the album, Michael wrote and produced every track on the recording except for one, "Look at Your Hands", which he co-wrote with David Austin. A "

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

" inspired pop- R&B album, ''Faith'''s songs include introspective lyrics, which generated controversies about Michael's personal relationships at that time. ''Faith'' peaked at number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and US ''Billboard'' 200. It stayed for 51 non-consecutive weeks inside the ''Billboard'' 200 top 10, including 12 weeks at number one. It was also the first album by a white solo artist to hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Top Black Albums chart. ''Faith'' spawned four number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: "

Faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

", "

Father Figure A father figure is usually an older man, normally one with power, authority, or strength, with whom one can identify on a deeply psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. Despite the literal term "father ...

", " One More Try", and "

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

", making Michael the only British male solo artist to have four number one hits from one album on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Michael embarked on

The Faith Tour The Faith Tour was the first solo concert tour by English recording artist George Michael, launched in support of his multi-million selling debut solo album ''Faith (George Michael album), Faith''. The tour spanned nine months between February an ...

to promote ''Faith'' in February 1988, opening at

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts ...

arena, before going on to dates in Australia, Europe and North America. ''Faith'' is one of the best-selling albums of all time having sold over 25 million copies worldwide and was certified

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in 1996.Tannenbaum, Rob (January 6, 2017). "George Michael: Why He Turned His Back on Fame, and the 'Faith'-like Songs He Recorded Before His Death". ''billboard.com''. Prometheus Global Media, LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2019. The album won several awards, including

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

at the

31st Grammy Awards The 31st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 22, 1989, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Album of the Year went to George Michael for ''Faith'', and Song of the Year we ...

. Michael won three awards at the 1989 American Music Awards: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album. He was also honoured with the

MTV Video Vanguard Award The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, also known as the Video Vanguard Award or the Lifetime Achievement Award, is a merit given to Musician, recording artists and music video directors at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), a ceremony that wa ...

. Often ranked as one of the best albums of the 1980s, ''Faith'' was ranked number 151 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'''s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020.

Background

By 1986, Michael had spent five years as the lead singer of the popular duo

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

and had grown tired of accusations that the group, which featured his best friend

Andrew Ridgeley Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham!. Early life Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey, England, to parents ...

, was nothing more than a

teenybopper A teenybopper is an early teenage girl who follows adolescent trends in music, fashion, and culture. The term may have been coined by marketing professionals and psychologists, later becoming a subculture of its own. The term was introduced in ...

group despite the serious subject matter that was included on albums such as ''

Fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, characte ...

'' and ''

Make It Big ''Make It Big'' is the second and final studio album from British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984. In comparison to their earlier work, Wham! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley) had more control over the album's production and Michael would a ...

''. After the success of ''Make It Big'', Michael had grown weary of continuing the group, and expressed to Ridgeley the desire that they should split up. A decision was made that the group would dissolve following the end of a tenure at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

for what was titled ''

The Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

''. Following the split, Michael began to work on songs that would eventually make his first solo album, which would be titled ''Faith''. Michael was inspired by his contemporaries

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

: "I absolutely wanted to be in the same stratosphere as ackson and Prince definitely. I’d gone from, a couple of years before, being perfectly happy with being on

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

, to thinking, 'I can do what Michael Jackson can do.' I mean, he’d just done '' Thriller'' for fucks sake! I wouldn’t have the guts now. I wanted to be in that vein but, mostly, I wanted to make music as good as theirs".

Recording

The album took over a year to make. The first songs to be put together for the album were "I Want Your Sex (Part 1)" and "Look At Your Hands" (working title "Betcha Don’t Like It"), recorded in August & September 1986 respectively, at

Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...

in London. However, it wasn't until February 1987—after six months of little activity—that recording had properly started, this time at the PUK Studios facility, located near

Aarhus, Denmark Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

. The lack of press activity there proved it to be a comfortable environment for Michael to work in without harassment. Songs were usually written by Michael bit by bit in the studio, often with the aid of technology such as drum machines to help create basic rhythms; he would then develop ideas further from there. Rather than using a live rhythm section (as was the case on

's ''

''), each instrument was overdubbed in the main studio. Michael would use session musicians to help realise his musical ideas, otherwise he'd try playing a lot (if not, all) of the parts himself, as was the case on "I Want Your Sex (Part 1)", "Hard Day" and "Monkey". The recording sessions at PUK, however, ended in late May shortly after the recording of the title track, "Faith", owing to Michael beginning to suffer from a bout of

cabin fever Cabin fever is the distressing claustrophobic irritability or restlessness experienced when a person, or group, is stuck at an isolated location or in confined quarters for an extended time. A person may be referred to as stir-crazy, derived from ...

, according to engineer Chris Porter. Sessions later resumed at Sarm West, where the latter stages of production would take place. In addition to playing various instruments on the album, he wrote and produced every track on the recording except for one, " Look at Your Hands", which he co-wrote with David Austin. A contemporary "

" pop-R&B album, ''Faith'' showcases Michael's vocals in a new style mode. Its songs are littered with introspective lyrics, which generated controversies about Michael's personal relationships at that time. The album comprises many musical styles including

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

", " One More Try"),

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

("Look at Your Hands", "

", "

Hand to Mouth A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "han ...

"),

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

", "

Hard Day "Hard Day" is a song by English singer George Michael from his debut studio album, ''Faith'' (1987). It was released on 30 October 1987 as the album's third single. The song was written and originally produced by Michael, and was released sole ...

") and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

Kissing a Fool ''Kissing a Fool'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Doug Ellin. It primarily stars David Schwimmer, Jason Lee, Mili Avital, Kari Wührer, and Vanessa Angel. Schwimmer was one of the executive producers. Plot Max (David Schwim ...

"). Some of the material was more graphic than Michael's previous efforts with Wham! One such song was "

I Want Your Sex "I Want Your Sex" is a song by the English singer and songwriter George Michael. Released as a single in late May 1987 (U.S.) and early June 1987 (UK), it was the third hit from the soundtrack to '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' and the first single fro ...

", which had three parts: the first part was titled "Rhythm 1: Lust", which was the version that would eventually be released as a single and featured

electro funk Electro (or electro- funk)Rap meets ...

influences; the second part was titled "Rhythm 2: Brass in Love", which mixed a more instrumentally-based funk live instrumentation with a smoother R&B arrangement during the verses; the third part, which was edited to be the final song on the album, was titled "Rhythm 3: A Last Request", featuring a jazz-influenced quiet storm and R&B sound combined with lyrics telling of Michael drunkenly trying to bring his lover to his bed. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may al ...

began with an organ fanfare that was actually the music to Wham!'s "

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

" played as if in a cathedral. After this, the song featured a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

sound similar to

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

while Michael added his own style with his vocals. "Father Figure" originally was a dance-styled production until Michael removed the snare drums from it and kept it that way because he loved what he heard, making the song a mid-tempo R&B ballad. "One More Try" was a soul song in the tradition of songs by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

; its lyrics tell of a man who pushes his lover away out of fear of repeating past relationships, only to accept the invitation in the end. "Hard Day", much like the first two parts of "I Want Your Sex", was inspired by funk. The social commentary song "Hand to Mouth" had a slight pop and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

approach while a similar social commentary song, "Look at Your Hands", co-written by Michael and David Austin, produced a pop song with rock elements featuring a piano and saxophone. "Monkey" returns to the funk influences of some of the other songs. A remix of the song by

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

brings a

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was mos ...

approach to the original. "Kissing a Fool" is a jazz-influenced ballad with lyrics solemnly describing a breakup. The synthesizers used by Michael on the album include the

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

Roland S-50 The Roland S-50 is a 61-key 12-bit sampler keyboard produced by the Roland Corporation in 1986. It featured a 3.5-inch DSDD floppy disk drive and had external CRT monitor support to facilitate editing of samples. It could hold up to 32 samples. A ...

Roland D-50 The Roland D-50 is a synthesizer produced by Roland and released in April 1987. Its features include subtractive synthesis, on-board effects, a joystick for data manipulation, and an analogue synthesis-styled layout design. The external Roland PG ...

and

Roland Juno-106 The Roland Juno-106 is a synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in February 1984. Features The Juno-106 is a polyphonic synthesizer with six voices. It is an analog synthesizer but with digitally controlled oscillators and chorus effects ...

(used for most synthesized bass parts and strings). Drum machines were a

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, also referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Its high-quality samples, flexibility and affordability made the LinnDrum popular; it sold far mo ...

(Michael's main drum machine on the album - not the

Linn 9000 The Linn 9000 is an electronic musical instrument manufactured by Linn Electronics as the successor to the LinnDrum. It was introduced in 1984 at a list price of $5,000, ($7,000 fully expanded) and about 1100 units were produced. It combined MIDI ...

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patte ...

and a

Yamaha RX-5 The Yamaha RX-5 is a programmable digital sample-based drum machine built by Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shar ...

, while drum parts were played on a

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

drum kit ("Look At Your Hands") and

Roland Octapad Roland Octapad is a range of MIDI electronic drum percussion controllers produced by the Roland Corporation. Roland Pad-8 The first model, introduced in 1985, was the Pad-8. Originally to be called MPC-8 (MIDI Percussion Controller 8), but was ren ...

. Engineer Chris Porter's Greengate DS3 sampler was sometimes used in conjunction the Linn for certain drum sounds, although the Linn's sounds were what Michael preferred. Non-synthesized parts were played by Michael on a

Fender Precision Bass The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrum ...

Release

25 weeks after its release, ''Faith'' reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Its early, and successive, success on the chart was said to be partly sustained—with help from plenty of press appearances and promotions—by its strong single releases. After "I Want Your Sex" helped propel ''Faith'' to its debut atop the chart, the second single "Faith" aided the album's continuing sales dominance. It also reached number one on the

, although it stayed at the top spot for only one week. ''Faith'' stayed for 51 non-consecutive weeks inside the ''Billboard'' 200 top 10, including 12 weeks at number one. It was also the first album by a white solo artist to hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Top Black Albums chart. In a 1988 interview with ''Jet'' magazine, Michael was quoted as saying: "I was much happier with 'Faith''being the No. 1 Black

hart Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) Hart may also refer to: Organizations * Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer * Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer * Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores * Hart's Reptile W ...

album than I was when it became the No. 1 Pop album. There was much more of a sense of achievement. I knew this album would be a shock or a surprise to people in this country. The uptempo side of the new music is more overtly sexual, more black." During 1987 and 1988, ''Faith'' produced a string of hit singles for Michael, including six top-five ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits, four of which ("

", "

", " One More Try", and "

") reached number one, making him the only British male solo artist to have four number one hits from one album on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Faith" was 1988's best-selling single in the United States; with "

Careless Whisper "Careless Whisper" is a song written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Released on the 1984 Wham! album ''Make It Big'', the single release was credited either to ''Wham! featuring George Michael'' (in North America and several other count ...

" having been the best-selling single in 1985, Michael became the first musician to achieve two ''Billboard'' Year-End number one singles chart since

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "Hey Jude" topped the Year-End singles chart in 1968 after "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded on 17 October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment. With advance orders ...

" had done so in 1964. Michael also had both the year's number one album and the number one single, which hadn't happened since 1970, when

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

grabbed both positions with '' Bridge over Troubled Water'' and its

. A video compilation of the same name was released by CMV Enterprises on August 9, 1988, to promote the album. The singer's first solo video compilation, it contained six music videos from the album—"I Want Your Sex", "Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", "Monkey", and "Kissing a Fool". These videos were later released on the 1999 video compilation '' Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael''.

The Faith Tour

Michael embarked on a world tour to promote the album in February 1988, opening at Tokyo's

arena, before going on to dates in Australia, Europe and North America. In Los Angeles, Michael was joined on stage by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

for a duet on "

I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) "I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)" is a song released by American singer Aretha Franklin and English singer George Michael as a duet in 1987. The song was a number one hit in the United States and the United Kingdom. ''Billboard'' listed "I Knew ...

". While on tour, new singles from the album continued to be released. In June, Michael interrupted the tour to sing three songs at Wembley Stadium's

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London, and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. Marking the forthcoming 70th birthday (18 July 1988) of the ...

Critical reception

''Faith'' was met with widespread acclaim from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. Mark Coleman of ''

'' praised Michael for emerging as "one of pop music’s leading artisans, a painstaking craftsman who combines a graceful knack for vocal hooks with an uncanny ability to ransack the past for musical ideas and still sound fresh" and dubbed Michael the "

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

of the 1980s". Coleman also claimed that ''Faith'' is "a concept album of sorts" incorporating "disco groove aryingfrom urban thump to slow tropical heat wave", praising it for being "grounded in a passion and personal commitment". ''Faith'' earned Michael numerous accolades, including

at the

. Michael was awarded three awards at the 1989 American Music Awards: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album for ''Faith''. He was also honoured with the

. ''Faith'' was the best-selling album of 1988 in the United States, and eventually reached

certification by the

. According to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

, current sales of the album stand at 11 million copies, making it the 52nd bestselling album in the United States. ''Faith'' has sold around over 25 million copies worldwide.

Reappraisal

In a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' review, ''Faith'' was considered to have "cemented ichaelas an

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

icon and a global superstar" and shaping the sound of "late-'80s pop as much as any LP of its time." Writing for

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

, Ian Wade praised ''Faith'' for being a "classic of its era" and "one of the more listenable major releases of the 80s." He also regarded the album being responsible for turning Michael into a "proper international superstar, confirming his rightful place at pop's top table." Reviewing the reissue of ''Faith'' for the ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'' in 2011, Arwa Haider claimed: "''Faith'' still bursts with self-belief, designer vanity, classic songs and imagery, right from the opening title track which begins with a funeral church organ rendition of Wham!'s hit, "Freedom", before clicking into jaunty rock 'n' roll. It's easy to hear why ''Faith'' achieved multi-million status, although the masterful ballads ("Father Figure", "One More Try") have stood the test of time better than Michael's funk-pop." Following the 30th anniversary of the release of the single "Faith", Nate Hertweck wrote in a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s review that the song "change everything". In 1989, ''Faith'' was ranked at number 84 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of the Greatest Albums of the 80s. In 2003, the album was ranked at number 480 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of

the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...

, while in 2012, the album ranked eight places higher at number 472 on an updated list by the magazine. In a 2020 revised list, it moved up to 151. ''Faith'' was ranked 79th in a 2005 survey held by British television's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

to determine the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2006, '' Q'' magazine placed the album at number 24 in its list of 40 Best Albums of the '80s. ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' listed the album at number 62 on its list of Best Albums of the 1980s.

2011 remastered release

The 2011 re-release received universal acclaim from

according to

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. A remastered edition of ''Faith'' was released on 31 January 2011 in the UK and on 1 February 2011 in the US. It is available in several formats: ''Limited Edition Collectors Box Set'', ''Two-CD and DVD Special Edition'', ''Two-CD Edition'' and ''

iTunes LP iTunes LP (referred to in pre-launch press by the code name Cocktail) is a format for interactive album artwork introduced by Apple Inc. on September 9, 2009. It is similar to the CMX format being developed by the three major record labels, a ...

''. The box set release features: the remastered album on CD, an additional CD of remastered 12" versions and B-sides; a DVD featuring a TV special from 1987, a hardbound book that includes an exclusive interview with George Michael, sleeve notes, rare photos and memorabilia; a vinyl album replica of the original LP; and a memorabilia envelope that includes five art prints, reproduction poster, tickets and tour pass from the ''Faith'' tour sourced from Michael's personal archive. All this is housed in a 12 x 12 numbered, black and gold-foiled slipcase with original artwork overlay. The first 2,000 copies were also provided with a hand-numbered lithograph attached (taped) outside the box set.

Accolades

Billboard Year-End Number One Awards

, - , 1988 , , ''Faith'' , , Top Pop Albums , ,

Grammy Awards

, - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, , ''Faith''
(performed and produced by George Michael) , ,

, , , - , "Father Figure"
(performed by George Michael) , , Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male, , , -

American Music Awards

, - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="4",

, , rowspan="2", ''Faith'' , , Favorite Soul/R&B Album , , , - , Favorite Pop/Rock Album , , , - , rowspan="2", George Michael , , Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist , , , - , Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist , , , -

MTV Video Music Awards

, - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="3",

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, , "Father Figure"
(Directors:

Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. Vi ...

and George Michael) , , Best Direction in a Video , , , - , "Father Figure"
(Director of Photography: Peter Mackay) , , Best Cinematography in a Video , , , - , "Faith"
(Art Director: Bryan Jones) , , Best Art Direction in a Video , , , - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;",

, , George Michael , , Video Vanguard Award , , , -

Brit Awards

, - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2", 1988
, , ''Faith'' , , Best British Album , , , - , George Michael , , Best British Male Artist , , , -

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

, - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;", 1989 , , ''Faith'' , , International Hit of the Year , , , -

Japan Gold Disc Awards

, - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;", 1988 , , ''Faith'' , , The Best International Pop Solo Album of the Year , , , -

Track listing

All tracks are written and produced by

; "Look at Your Hands" co-written by David Austin.
Note *In the liner notes, "I Want Your Sex" is listed as "I Want Your Sex (Monogamy Mix)", with the parts titled "Rhythm One: Lust" and "Rhythm Two: Brass in Love", respectively. However, on the album, the start of "Rhythm One" is slightly different from how the corresponding section starts on the actual "Monogamy Mix" as featured on the previous single release: on the album, the song starts with a synthesized bass and electronic effects, while the drums and programmed

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

come in some seconds later; on the single, the song starts only with drums and percussion. VHS video compilation # "I Want Your Sex" ( Uncensored version) – music video # "Faith" – music video # "Father Figure" – music video # "One More Try" – music video # "Monkey" – music video # "Kissing A Fool" – music video

2011 remaster

Disc one Track 1–9 of the first disc features the remastered version of the original album. #

"A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Part 3)" – 3:48

Disc two #"Faith" – 3:16 #"

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

" – 5:02 #"Hard Day" – 9:04 #" I Believe When I Fall in Love" (

Yvonne Wright Yvonne Lowrene Wright (October 31, 1951 – January 26, 2016) was an American songwriter and vocalist best known for co-writing with Stevie Wonder in the 1970s. Their songs appear on the albums ''Music of My Mind'', ''Talking Book'', ''Fulfilli ...

) – 7:03 #"Kissing a Fool" – 4:35 #"Love's in Need of Love Today" (Wonder) – 4:43 #"Monkey" – 4:48 #"Monkey" – 7:27 #"Monkey" – 8:10 Note *"I Believe When I Fall in Love" is a live track although it's not mentioned anywhere on the CD. 2011 remaster DVD # George Michael and

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

Have Words (1987) # Music Money Love Faith (February 1988) # "I Want Your Sex" –

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

(re-synched with re-mastered audio) # "I Want Your Sex" (Uncensored version) – music video # "Faith" – music video # "Father Figure" – music video # "One More Try" – music video # "Monkey" – music video # "Kissing a Fool" – music video

Personnel

– vocals, keyboards (2, 3, 5, 6, 8), bass guitar (6), keyboard bass (9), drums (7), programming, percussion, arranger, producer *Robert Ahwai – guitar * J.J. Belle – guitar * Hugh Burns – guitar *Roddy Matthews – guitar on "Monkey" *Chris Cameron – piano, keyboards, organ, backing vocals *

Betsy Cook Betsy Cook is an American-born singer, songwriter and musician. Since the late 1970s, she has worked mainly in the United Kingdom and collaborated with various British artists such as Gerry Rafferty, Ray Jackson, Lindisfarne, George Michael, ...

– keyboards *Danny Schogger – keyboards *

Deon Estus Jeffery Deon Estus (July 4, 1956 – October 11, 2021) was an American musician and singer, best known as the bass player of Wham! and as the bassist on George Michael's first two solo projects. Estus' single "Heaven Help Me", with additional ...

– bass guitar *Ian Thomas – drums *Andy Duncan – percussion *Rick Taylor –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Steve Sidwell – trumpet *Malcolm Griffiths – trombone *

Jamie Talbot James Robert Talbot (born 23 April 1960 in London) is an English jazz alto saxophonist. Talbot played with the London Schools Symphony Orchestra and then with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. He attended the Royal College of Music during 1978� ...

– saxophone *Paul Spong – trumpet * John Altman – saxophone *Mark Chandler – trumpet *Steve Waterman – trumpet *Shirley Lewis – backing vocals ;Technical *Chris Porter – engineer *Paul Gomersall – assistant engineer *Paul Wright – assistant engineer *

Shep Pettibone Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. Career Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...

– remix, additional production *Steve Peck – remix engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Decade-end charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control 1987 debut albums Columbia Records albums Epic Records albums George Michael albums Grammy Award for Album of the Year

Background

Recording

Release

The Faith Tour

Critical reception

Reappraisal

2011 remastered release

Accolades

Billboard Year-End Number One Awards

Grammy Awards

American Music Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

Brit Awards

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

Japan Gold Disc Awards

Track listing

2011 remaster

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Decade-end charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

See also

References