Jeffery Deon Estus (July 4, 1956 – October 11, 2021) was an American musician and singer, best known as the bass player of

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 mor ...

and as the bassist on George Michael's first two solo projects. Estus' single "Heaven Help Me", with additional vocals by George Michael, reached No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1989.

Early life

Estus was born in Detroit on July 4, 1956. He went to Northwestern High School. There, he sang second tenor in the choir under the direction of Brazel Dennard. His bass guitar teacher was

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases ...

of Motown's

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Career

Estus joined the R&B band Brainstorm as a teenager, recording two albums with them and scoring a hit with "Popcorn". During the early 1980s, he moved to Europe to join and tour with Marvin Gaye. He lived in Belgium and Ireland, before settling in London. He turned down the chance to play bass on Marvin Gaye's 1982 comeback album, ''

Midnight Love ''Midnight Love'' is the seventeenth studio album by Marvin Gaye and the final album to be released before his death 17 months later. He signed with the label Columbia in March 1982 following his exit from Motown. The disc was certified tr ...

'', because he was so busy recording and he said that he was not aware that it would be the last album released during Gaye's lifetime. After his bass talents were recognized, he was invited to join the UK pop group,

. He went on to tour China with Wham! and later backed Wham! frontman George Michael on his Faith tour. He also participated in the late-1980s collective

Boogie Box High Boogie Box High was a musical project headed by Andros Georgiou in the late 1980s that featured a range of collaborators, including Georgiou's second cousin George Michael, guitarist Nick Heyward (of Haircut One Hundred), keyboardist Mick Talbot ...

, which was spearheaded by George Michael's cousin, Andros Georgiou, and featured George Michael along with other high-profile musicians; Estus appears on the group's only album, ''Outrageous'', released in 1989. Estus later performed with George Michael at

Rock in Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...

and continued to play bass as part of his backing band until George Michael's death in 2016. In 1989, Estus released a solo album entitled '' Spell'', produced by Colin Campsie and George McFarlane, with several tracks produced by George Michael. Released before the album, the single "Me or the Rumours" reached No. 15 on ''Billboards Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1988. In 1989, the album's title track hit No. 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. However, the album's biggest hit was the No. 5 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 single "Heaven Help Me", for which George Michael supplied backing vocals. It also peaked at No. 3 on both the Adult Contemporary and Hot R&B charts. The album itself ultimately reached No. 89 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 44 on the

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Ja ...

chart. Estus also played with

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

, Frank Zappa, George Clinton, Annie Lennox,

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

, and Elton John. In recent years, Estus was the featured bass player for the R&B band,

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

Personal life

Estus was married, in his twenties, to Olga Johnson. This union produced one daughter, Laela Estus and three grandchildren, Shasparay, Aireyon, and James. Divorced in the mid-1980s, he remained single, until his death. Estus died on October 11, 2021, at the age of 65.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Estus, Deon 1956 births 2021 deaths American rock bass guitarists American session musicians Wham! members American rhythm and blues bass guitarists American expatriates in Belgium American expatriates in Ireland American expatriates in England Guitarists from Detroit American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Boogie Box High members Geffen Records artists PolyGram artists Polydor Records artists