GEORGE MICHAEL NEWS

First of all, a big thank you for this interview and your loyalty to the blog since you had already granted me an interview in August 2011 (To read again here :  www.george-michael-news.com/page-pepsi-shirlie-exclusive-interview-6520807.html)

Frederique - You announced on social medias the release in September of a joint book titled "It's all in black and white: Wham!" life and friendship ” : I really like this title which for me has two connotations: black and white for your two skin colors and black and white for the passage of time ...

Why this title? Explain to us.

Shirlie -The title has a few connotations of course, the black & white simply refers to putting our words into print. Funnily enough in an old interview, Pepsi refers to me as seeing everything in black and white, as I had a very simple view of how I saw things etc or for me it was when I could see things very clearly without issues.

I  like the fact that the title raises the issue of the colour of our skins because sadly this world judges your skin colour and for too long this has caused such terrible suffering and if we can add anything positive to the fact that our skin colour has nothing to do with who we are then thats a  positive message we would like to put out there.

Frederique What does this book mean to you and when did you write it?

Shirlie -Pepsi and I were asked to write a book together after the success of the book Martin & wrote together Its A Love Story.
Pepsi is actually a great writer and has been writing non fiction, so I introduced her to our book editor, who actually said, you two have such a wonderful friendship and have done so much together, how would you like to write a book together.
We were actually both taken aback, as believe it or not the thought hadn’t crossed our minds.
Pepsi & I have always enjoyed books about mental health and positivity, we both said our stories are quite incredible and that was it we were inspired to write about the journey we have shared together.

We are still writing the book and tidying it up in the edit .

Frederique -Was it difficult to remember certain things or certain times?

Shirlie -There are many things that I had forgotten and the same for Pepsi but after lots of zoom calls with each other and looking back at our old photos we encouraged each other with our stories 

Frederique - How does a friendship like yours still hold up despite the years and the distance?

Shirlie -It’s hard to answer why our friendship is still so strong. I know we are very similar in many ways especially our empathy and compassion for others is very strong.

We have such history together which makes our memories quite unique.

Frederique - Tell us about your first meeting and your very last 

Shirlie -The very first time I met Pepsi was in London when I picked her up and drove her to meet George & Andrew. 

The last time I was with Pepsi we were singing at the Stock Aitken & Waterman show in Liverpool which I think was the end of 2016. Which is a long time ago but we chat every week .
 

Frederique -There have been several biographies released lately of collaborators and / or friends of George Michael: why in 2021 for you, almost 5 years after his sad disappearance?

Hi Shirley, thank you for this exclusive interview especially about the CowBoys and Angels concert . First of all, I know that you wanted to make things clear and true about it. Tabloids did write false informations again ... 
I understand that it is not an official event, what can you say about it ?

How and when came the idea of doing this special evening show with George's band ?

I wanted to get together with all the band because we hadn't had any chance to see each other since GM passed away.
So i was going to hire a venue for us and our families to come together for a night to remember our boss and friend. I was just going to hire some instruments incase we felt like playing some of GM's beautiful songs , then a friend of mine who is a booking agent said ' what a lovely idea but why not do it in a bigger music venue and share the evening with GM fans as well. Thats when i contacted GM's sisters to ask if they would mind if I put this show on for the fans. They very kindly are allowing us to go ahead with the show but want to be very clear that the evening is not an official event and is not supported by the estate however, We will be giving 10% of all ticket sales to childlike in GM's name.
 

What can lovelies expect ? Can you give a few (exclusive) details ? :)

Yes , All songs will be performed by , what we have become known as , The GM singers , No guest singers have been invited. We will try to recreate the MTV unplugged type show and will play songs throughout GM's career. George was an incredible songwriter and we want to play his music the way we know he would want us to.  

4- Please share with us one of your precious memories of George

There were so many memories with him but one precious moment was at the Olympics rehearsal when we spent some time talking about our Mothers as my Mum had not long passed away , he had words of comfort and wisdom that helped me a lot. 
 

5- Have you got a message for the Lovelies ?

Yes, I want to thank them for showing their support for the band and we will do our best to make an evening full of memories that we can all treasure. There are a few tickets still available so I hope everyone who wants to come gets their place;-)

Love and thanks
Shirley 

Thank you again Shirley for being part of my blog

And especially for this Listen Without Prejudice special month xx

 

F-Can you reveal a special memory from LWP ?

 

F-Which song of the album is your favorite ? Why ?

 

F-Did you have the chance to sing it live ?

 

F-Freedom 90 was in the medley at the end of the Symphonica Shows.

Very symbolic.

What were the feelings when singing it all together with George ?

 

F-Have you got a message for the fans Shirley ? ​