David Austin (born David Mortimer) is a British singer and songwriter, who released the single " Turn to Gold", co-written with

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

in 1984. It reached No. 68 in the UK Singles Chart. The single featured

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

from Michael, who called Austin his best friend in the

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, '' A Different Story''.

Early life and career

Austin was born to Irish parents. His father manufactured trumpets and other instruments for the British music company

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British Music publisher (sheet music), music publisher, purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass instrument, brass, string instru ...

. By the age of six, Austin had learned to use a Revox recording machine and recorded several songs with Michael, including " Crocodile Rock" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, " Wig-Wam Bam" by

the Sweet Sweet (known as the Sweet until the early 1970s) are a British glam rock band who rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer ...

—Michael's favorite band—and their first co-written original, "The Music Maker of the World". Austin's debut single, " Turn to Gold", was released in May 1984, and featured Michael on backing vocals. His follow-up single, "This Boy Loves the Sun", was released in the late summer of 1984, but did not chart. A third single, "Love While You Can" was released only in Japan. This also featured uncredited vocals by Michael. Formerly

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

partners, Austin and Michael's joint work included the download-only single " John and Elvis Are Dead", " You Have Been Loved" and "Look at Your Hands" from Michael's debut studio album, ''

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

''. Co-written by Austin, " December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas)" was a Christmas single released by Michael on 14 December 2009. Along with Michael, Austin directed the documentary film ''George Michael: Freedom'', detailing Michael's early solo career and his court case with his record label,

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. An edited version of the film was aired in October 2017 on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

; the original cut premiered in theatres worldwide on 22 June 2022, under the title ''Freedom Uncut''. He appears as a guitarist in

Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...

's video for the song " The Edge of Heaven".

References

Sources

* British record producers British pop singers British male singers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Boogie Box High members British male songwriters {{Songwriter-stub