"Star People '97" is a song by British 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 as the fifth single from his third studio album, ''

Older Older is the comparative form of "old". It may also refer to: Music: * ''Older'' (album), the third studio album from George Michael (released in 1996) ** "Older" (George Michael song) * "Older", a song on the 1999 album '' Long Tall Weekend'' ...

'' (1996). It was written and performed by George Michael and was released by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in the United Kingdom and

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...

in the United States. The lyrics make reference to the materialism and frivolity of certain (unspecified) people in show business, suggesting that those behaviours are derived from some insecurity or a bad childhood (parental neglect, being given up for adoption, etc.). The single version is titled "Star People '97", on most issues, because the track was re-recorded for the single release. "Star People '97" was first released in the US on three formats over three weeks in March 1997 and was issued in the UK on 28 April 1997. The song peaked at 2 in the United Kingdom and No. 1 on the US ''

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 ...

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart, becoming Michael's second No. 1 on this chart. Worldwide, the song reached No. 1 in Denmark and Hungary, and reached the top 10 Iceland, Ireland, and Spain.

Critical reception

Matthew Hocter from Albumism noted that the song "spoke to the fakery and greed that consumes many in the entertainment business, making reference to damaging childhoods and insecurity as some of the possible causes." He described it as a song "rooted in a

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 ...

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 ...

sound with splashes of

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' wrote, "After teasing his die-hard club following for months with several rhythmic (but not quite

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

) singles, George Michael has finally unleashed a slamming

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

anthem from his glorious—if underappreciated—opus "''

''".

Jeremy Healy Jeremy Healy (born Jeremiah Healy, 18 January 1962) is an English DJ and singer. He is a former member of 1980s pop group Haysi Fantayzee. Career Healy was born in Woolwich, South London. In the 1980s, with Paul Caplin and Kate Garner, he f ...

, Amos,

Mike Koglin Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

, and Forthright have been tapped to turn the original retro pop/

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 ...

ditty into a dance ditty. Working as a team, Healy, Amos, and Koglin successfully transform the song into an edgy anthem befitting the swagger of Michael's vocal. Meanwhile, Forthright injects a few drops of

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

flavor into the groove, making the single a viable top 40 contender. A sterling 12-inch package that was well worth the wait." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it four out of five, adding, "The restrained ''Older'' track takes on a completely new life in this re-recorded, funked up version which amounts to George's brightest, most uplifting single in a long while." Ed Morales for ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...

'' opined that "the halfhearted condemnation of glitz in "Star People" has a serious

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

beat working."

Track listings

* Asian, Australian, European, UK CD single # "Star People '97" – 5:42 # "

Everything She Wants "Everything She Wants" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released as a single in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, becoming their th ...

" (Live From MTV Unplugged) – 4:37 # "Star People" (Live From MTV Unplugged) – 6:01 * Asian, Australian, European, UK CD maxi-single # "Star People '97" (Galaxy Mix) – 8:05 # "Star People '97" (Forthright Club Mix) – 9:17 # "Star People '97" (Galaxy Dub Mix) – 7:14 # "Star People '97" (Forthright Edit) – 4:28 * European CD single # "Star People '97" – 5:42 # "Everything She Wants" (Live From MTV Unplugged) – 4:37 * UK cassette single # "Star People '97" (Radio Edit) – 4:39 # "Everything She Wants" (Live From MTV Unplugged) – 4:37 # "Star People" (Live From MTV Unplugged) – 6:01 # "Star People '97" (Forthright Edit) – 4:28 * US CD and cassette single # "Star People" (LP Edit) – 4:11 # "Star People" (Live From MTV Unplugged Edit) – 4:31 # "Star People" (Forthright Radio Edit) – 4:28 # "The Strangest Thing" (Live) – 6:01 * US CD and 12-inch maxi-single # "Star People" (Forthright Club Mix) – 9:16 # "Star People" (Forthright Dub Mix) – 7:27 # "Star People" (Galaxy Mix) – 8:08 # "Star People" (Club Dub Mix) – 7:15 # "Star People" (Live From MTV Unplugged Edit) – 4:31 # "The Strangest Thing" (Live From MTV Unplugged) – 6:01

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1996 songs 1997 singles Dance-pop songs DreamWorks Records singles George Michael songs Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Hungary Nu-disco songs Songs written by George Michael Song recordings produced by George Michael Virgin Records singles