"Star People '97" is a song by British singer-songwriter

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 ...

, released as the fifth single from his third studio album, ''

Older Older is the comparative form of " old". It may refer to: Music * ''Older'' (George Michael album), 1996 ** "Older" (George Michael song), 1996 * ''Older'' (Lizzy McAlpine album), 2024 ** "Older" (Lizzy McAlpine song), 2024 * "Older" (5 Seco ...

'' (1996). It was written and performed by George Michael and released by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

in the United Kingdom and

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label opera ...

in the United States. The lyrics make reference to the materialism and frivolity of certain (unspecified) people in show business, suggesting that those behaviours are derived from some insecurity or a bad childhood. The single version is titled "Star People '97", on most issues, because the track was re-recorded for the single release. "Star People '97" was first released in the US on three formats over three weeks in March 1997 and was issued in the UK on 28 April 1997. The song peaked at 2 in the United Kingdom and No. 1 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart, becoming Michael's second No. 1 on this chart. Worldwide, the song reached No. 1 in Denmark and Hungary, and reached the top 10 in Iceland, Ireland, and Spain.

Critical reception

Retrospectively, Matthew Hocter from Albumism noted that the song "spoke to the fakery and greed that consumes many in the entertainment business, making reference to damaging childhoods and insecurity as some of the possible causes." He described it as a song "rooted in a

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

sound with splashes of

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

". Upon the release,

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

'' wrote, "After teasing his die-hard club following for months with several rhythmic (but not quite

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

) singles, George Michael has finally unleashed a slamming

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

anthem from his glorious—if underappreciated—opus ''

''.

Jeremy Healy Jeremy Healy (born Jeremiah Healy, 18 January 1962) is an English DJ and singer. He is a former member of 1980s pop group Haysi Fantayzee. Career Healy was born in Woolwich, South London. In the 1980s, with Paul Caplin and Kate Garner, h ...

, Amos,

Mike Koglin Mike Koglin is a German DJ and producer. Biography In 1998, Koglin had success with the single "The Silence", a remake of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence", which reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart. He has since written and produ ...

, and Forthright have been tapped to turn the original retro

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

ditty into a dance ditty. Working as a team, Healy, Amos, and Koglin successfully transform the song into an edgy anthem befitting the swagger of Michael's vocal. Meanwhile, Forthright injects a few drops of

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

flavor into the groove, making the single a viable top 40 contender. A sterling

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

package that was well worth the wait."

Paul Lester Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, Hertfordshire. Career He began his career as a freelance journalist, for ''Melody Maker'' in the early 1990s, as well as ''City Limits'', '' 20/20'', '' Sky Maga ...

from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' described the song as "uptempo", noting that it "has a go at celebrity attention-seekers". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave "Star People '97" four out of five, adding, "The restrained ''Older'' track takes on a completely new life in this re-recorded, funked up version which amounts to George's brightest, most uplifting single in a long while." Ed Morales for ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' opined that "the halfhearted condemnation of glitz in "Star People" has a serious

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

beat working."

Track listings

* UK and Australian CD1, Japanese CD single # "Star People '97" – 5:42 # "

Everything She Wants "Everything She Wants" is a single by the British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984 under Epic Records. The song was part of a double A-side release with " Last Christmas". Written and produced by George Michael, a member of the duo, "Everything ...

" (live from ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'') – 4:37 # "Star People" (live from ''MTV Unplugged'') – 6:01 * UK and Australian CD2 # "Star People '97" (Galaxy mix) – 8:05 # "Star People '97" (Forthright club mix) – 9:17 # "Star People '97" (Galaxy dub mix) – 7:14 # "Star People '97" (Forthright edit) – 4:28 * UK cassette single # "Star People '97" (radio edit) – 4:39 # "Everything She Wants" (live from ''MTV Unplugged'') – 4:37 # "Star People" (live from ''MTV Unplugged'') – 6:01 # "Star People '97" (Forthright edit) – 4:28 * European CD single # "Star People '97" – 5:42 # "Everything She Wants" (live from ''MTV Unplugged'') – 4:37 * US CD and cassette single # "Star People" (LP edit) – 4:11 # "Star People" (live from ''MTV Unplugged'' edit) – 4:31 # "Star People" (Forthright radio edit) – 4:28 # "The Strangest Thing" (live at the

BBC Radio Theatre The BBC Radio Theatre (originally named The Concert Hall) is a theatre situated within the BBC's Broadcasting House complex. It is used for live broadcast and audio recordings. History Originally named The Concert Hall, the theatre was desig ...

) – 6:01 * US maxi-CD and 12-inch single # "Star People" (Forthright club mix) – 9:16 # "Star People" (Forthright dub mix) – 7:27 # "Star People" (Galaxy mix) – 8:08 # "Star People" (club dub mix) – 7:15 # "Star People" (live from ''MTV Unplugged'' edit) – 4:31 # "The Strangest Thing" (live at the BBC Radio Theatre) – 6:01

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1996 songs 1997 singles British disco songs British funk songs British soul songs DreamWorks Records singles George Michael songs Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Hungary Nu-disco songs Song recordings produced by George Michael Songs about fame Songs written by George Michael Virgin Records singles