A tribute to George Michael at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards pointed toward something fans will soon be able to see for themselves: footage of the singer's first solo tour that has remained unreleased for nearly four decades. George Michael: The Faith Tour is scheduled to reach theaters on December 11, following a live album planned for November. The film was announced earlier this year, but the VMAs brought it back into the spotlight.
The movie draws on two performances filmed in Paris in May 1988, when Michael was 24 and touring behind his debut solo album, Faith. Fourteen cameras captured the shows on 35mm film at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. The footage was never released as a concert film at the time and has now been restored for the big screen. For fans who know the songs but never saw that tour, the film offers a chance to watch Michael at a pivotal point in his career.
The Paris performances are only part of what the project promises. An unheard interview with Michael will provide voiceover narration, while unseen photographs by Herb Ritts and behind-the-scenes material from the "Faith" music video will add context. An original short film by Mary McCartney will introduce the concert footage. The accompanying 18-track album is set to feature previously unreleased live recordings of songs from Michael's solo career and his years with Wham!.
The timing matters because Faith marked Michael's emergence as a solo star after Wham!. Its tour took him through more than 100 shows in 16 countries, with choreography by Paula Abdul. The film returns to that transition while he is onstage, letting audiences see the performances that carried the album around the world.
At the VMAs, a new generation of singers introduced that era to viewers. Sombr opened the tribute with "Faith" and "Father Figure." RAYE performed "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" with Michael's recorded vocals incorporated into the segment, and Teddy Swims sang "Careless Whisper." Adam Lambert closed with "Freedom! '90," joined by MEEK, MNEK and Saint Harison. Orville Peck introduced the performance and drew attention to the forthcoming film and album.
The tribute also raised an intriguing question for the December release: what will it feel like to move from contemporary artists interpreting Michael's songs to seeing him perform during the tour itself? The VMAs presented his influence through other voices. The restored footage will put his own voice, movement and command of the stage at the center.
Michael died in 2016 at 53. He received MTV's Video Vanguard Award in 1989, shortly after the performances captured in Paris. With the live album expected in November and the concert film scheduled for December 11, fans now have two opportunities to revisit the tour that helped establish his solo career-and to encounter recordings and images they have not previously heard or seen.
