‘The greatest album never made’: the untold story of George Michael’s secret, star-packed duets project

Suing his record label and sick of being a sex symbol, the singer spent 1992 working on the Trojan Souls for stars including Aretha Franklin and Bryan Ferry.

Now, newly released studio footage shows him in his creative prime Wham! special: read Andrew Ridgeley on their bizarre 1985 trip to China The George Michael album that never was began in defiance and ended in grief. It was 1992.

Mired in a toxic dispute with Sony Records, Michael chose to keep busy and declare his independence by making an album of songs to be sung by several of his musical heroes, including Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson and Sade Adu, under the alias the Trojan Souls.

Michael worked on the album for months until his Brazilian boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa died of Aids in March 1993 and he lost interest in music. It was never revived.

Tracks from the sessions have since leaked, along with some of the fly-on-the-wall footage filmed by Michael’s close friend and informal adviser Andros Georgiou, who has spent years trying to get unauthorised clips removed from YouTube and TikTok.

Now, months before the 10th anniversary of Michael’s death, he is releasing 90 minutes of unedited video as Trojan Souls – not exactly a

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  ‘The greatest album never made’: the untold story of George Michael’s secret, star-packed duets project