George

PLANS for a musical based on the songs of late chart superstar George Michael have been confirmed.

His lifelong best friend David Austin has told The Sun that preparations are in motion for the stage show to help keep George’s legacy alive.

Those involved have set their sights on Broadway — with a West End run almost certain to follow if the project proves ­popular enough.

George shot to fame in 1980s pop duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley and became one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.

Speaking at the world premiere of concert film George Michael: The Faith Tour at the BFI IMAX in London, David said: “There is talk about Broadway. We’ve got our fingers in a lot of pies.”

The confirmation comes six months after The Sun first told the world of the secret plans.

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KEEPING THE FAITH

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In April, we revealed that George’s sister Yioda Panayiotou, 64, had held confidential talks with producers.

A source said at the time: “As things stand, it’s all in the very early development stage, but the plan is to tell the story of George’s life and career with some of his hits mixed in.

“Right now it’s not a Mamma Mia! situation where his songs soundtrack a new story — this is about his life.”

The production is already being workshopped in New York, with seven-time Olivier Award nominee Maria Friedman in talks to direct.

George, died aged 53 on Christmas Day 2016 at home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

GEORGE Ezra has given fans a glimpse into life away from the spotlight — revealing the recording studio he has built in his hometown.

The Shotgun singer has been quietly working behind the scenes on Hotel Québec in his hometown of Hertford, opening its doors to other musicians.

While his own social media accounts have been silent since July 2024, George has been pouring his energy into creating a space where artists can write, record and rehearse.

Originally created for his own musical projects, the studio has since become a business welcoming other performers and producers.

In a message on its website, George described his venture as a “truly special place” and shared his excitement about welcoming fellow musicians.

He said: “I look forward to hearing what you create here at Hotel Québec.”

EZ IT OVER?

George Ezra’s new music venture revealed after star turned back on spotlight

GEORGE’S JOY

George Ezra becomes a dad for first time as he’s spotted carrying new arrival

Set inside a restored 18th-century listed building near the River Lea, the studio features a huge live room, control room and lounge.

There is even a roof terrace where musicians can relax between sessions.

And visiting artists can get their hands on George’s personal guitar collection, alongside an array of keyboards and recording equipment.

The studio marks a new chapter for the singer, who became a household name with breakthrough hit Budapest.

The track reached No3 in the UK, while his debut album Wanted On Voyage topped the charts in 2014 and went on to sell more than a million copies here.

He followed it with Staying At Tamara’s in 2018, scoring another No1 album and spawning hits including Paradise and Shotgun.

The latter became his first UK No1 single, cementing his status as one of Britain’s biggest pop stars.

His success was recognised at the 2019 Brit Awards, where he was crowned British Male Solo Artist.

The dad of one completed a hat trick of chart-topping albums with Gold Rush Kid in 2022, which featured the hit singles Anyone For You and Green Green Grass.

George previously had to postpone gigs in London and Leeds in March 2023 after being diagnosed with acute vertigo.

His official website currently lists no upcoming live shows.

GEORGE EZRA has been quiet since dropping his third album, Gold Rush Kid, four years ago.

But it turns out he’s busy behind the scenes helping other artists make music.

I’m told that after disappearing from public life following his last gig in 2023, the Green Green Grass singer is in no rush to jump back into the spotlight just yet.

Instead, he has started renting out his own recording studio so that it is not sitting empty.

I can reveal George, who has also stopped posting on social media, has set up a business at Hotel Quebec studios in Hertford.

He is advertising for artists and writers to come and work on their own music at the facility.

GEORGE’S JOY

George Ezra becomes a dad for first time as he’s spotted carrying new arrival

headline act

George Ezra returns to the stage for ‘electric’ gig after acute vertigo battle

In an advert, he says: “Hello, my name is George Ezra and I would like to introduce you to my personal recording studio, Hotel Quebec, a state-of-the-art recording facility in Hertford, just outside of London, that was designed and built for me — my musical projects, my writing and my recording.

“It gives me great pleasure to tell you that the studio is now available for you to book and for you to record in, whether it’s for a day, a week, a month: if you are looking for a uniquely beautiful and creatively safe environment to work in, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

“On behalf of myself and the small but dedicated team here at Hotel Quebec, we hope you are well and we look forward to hearing from you.”

Those close to George said he had been quietly beavering away on his own projects in the studio, but added: “He wants to share what he’s created and it’s a clever side hustle.

“George has no confirmed plans or dates for a return yet, but he has been using the studio for his own projects.

“By renting the studio out, George can help other artists — and he’d much rather have that than the place being empty when he’s not using it.”

I told at the end of 2024 how George had quietly become a father for the first time, so I’m sure a few extra quid from the venture will be welcome.

The Brit Award winner has had three No1 albums and topped the singles chart in 2018 with Shotgun.

However, on his 2023 tour, he was forced to cancel some live ­performances due to acute vertigo, and he has always made it clear he’s not particularly keen on fame.

With that in mind, I can’t blame him for wanting some time away from the spotlight.

But I’ll be gutted if we don’t get any more music from George soon.

So I’m keeping my fingers crossed he doesn’t wait too much longer before treating us again.

MADGE IS CRAZY FUR ROCCO’S ART

ROCCO RITCHIE has found his biggest fan – in his mum Madonna.

She has shared a load of snaps from the budding artist’s most recent exhibition, which includes a self-portrait in which Rocco is cos-playing the Incredible Hulk.

Madge slipped into a fur coat and silky shorts for the event and told her Instagram followers: “Everyone knows I love art.

“Can you imagine how much more I love it when it’s my son, Rocco’s?

“It’s been so exciting watching him grow as an artist, finding his groove, his style, struggling with the loneliness of being a painter, locking himself in his studio. Watching him turn nothing into something.

“I love that he is moving into sculpture now.”

LEDS NIGHT FOR PAUL

THERE was a meeting of legendary musical minds over the weekend as Sir Paul McCartney headed out on a double date with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

Beatles maestro Paul was spotted arriving at the trendy West London restaurant Dorian with his wife Nancy Shevell, before being joined by Jimmy and his missus, poet Scarlett Sabet.

The foursome were snapped during the course of their dinner, with one onlooker telling me: “They talked music non-stop. People were doing double takes when they saw Paul and Jimmy together.”

As Paul was heading home he was overheard telling the waiting photographers to make sure they took pictures of his “good side”.

It all looks good from where I’m sitting.

A RAYE OF HOPE

RAYE is considering legal action against an unnamed artist after they seemingly released a song written by her grandad without any credit or money for him.

The Where Is My Husband! singer, who clearly has music in her veins, revealed grandpa Michael wrote and recorded a track when he was younger and sent it to a record label who, without his knowledge, gave it to an artist, who she hasn’t named.

Raye, who won the Mercury Prize on Thursday, said: “He [Michael] was burnt by the industry. He wanted to make it as a songwriter, so he would write songs on the piano, score them and record it.

“Then he’d put them in boxes and post them to record labels in London, hoping that someone would play his tapes, like it, contact him and bring him down to London to live his dream. Unfortunately – and it was the case back in the day – so many songwriters were just absolutely done so dirty.

“He sent one song, and it was released two years later with no credit, no contact, and it completely broke his heart.

“There was nothing he could do about it – he had no money.

“He couldn’t afford a lawyer so no one cared.”

On whether she might pursue the case now she is a big star herself, Raye told the And The Writer Is… podcast: “I have looked into it.

“It’s just, financially, I just don’t know if the evidence is substantial enough because the evidence was sent off.

“All he has is a songwriting book with things jotted down, and yeah, it would be a giant thing.”

I’d love to see justice done.

DRAKE’S BOYBAND BIRTHDAY

DRAKE got a huge 40th birthday surprise when Backstreet Boys helped him celebrate the milestone.

The Hotline Bling rapper got up on stage in New York to sing with the group at Casa Cipriani, where they performed I Want It That Way.

I revealed last month that the American lads were poised to announce a run of shows at London’s O2 Arena in the coming weeks, with the concerts scheduled to take place next year.

Backstreet Boys will return to the Sphere in Las Vegas in December and January as part of their Into The Millennium residency.

After a nice break in the early new year, coming back to the UK will be the perfect way to kick-start 2027.

KASABIAN front- man Serge Pizzorno was the secret guest at the 20th anniversary celebrations of This Feeling in London.

The club, which has helped launch some of the biggest names in indie, put on a huge night of performances on Saturday.

Little Bit Of Love singer Tom Grennan was also on hand to perform a set as revellers partied until 2am.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

@ Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre

★★★★☆

YOU’D be foolish to walk into a stage ­musical based on a Disney kids’ movie and expect an edgy take on youth culture.

But that’s exactly why the new stage ­version of High School Musical delivers – it doesn’t try to be anything it’s not.

Having opened in Manchester, clever staging at its new home in London takes you courtside as the East High gang juggle basketball, science class and drama club.

And you’re immediately made one of them as the cheer squad lead you in ­routines ahead of the Wildcats’ big game.

McFly’s Harry Judd stars as Coach Bolton while Tobias Turley and ­Leonor Correia play young lovers Troy and Gabriella, who meet on holiday then find themselves at the same school. But it’s Luke Bayer and Caitlin TIpping, as siblings Ryan and Sharpay, who steal the show.

The writers wisely reprise the banger, Bop To The Top, and the show ends with a frenetic all-cast montage. It’s unlikely to win any awards or challenge minds, but this extra helping of cheese went down a treat.

By Felicity Cross

A political advertisement released this summer claimed former L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón “almost destroyed Los Angeles” and warned that, if elected as L.A.’s next city attorney, Marissa Roy will “do the same.”

Earlier this month, a seemingly out-of-nowhere rumor spread through City Hall and among rank-and-file cops that City Councilwoman Nithya Raman plans to name Gascón the city’s next police chief if she ousts Karen Bass in the mayoral contest.

Gascón told The Times last week he has no interest in the job and hasn’t spoken to Raman or her team. Raman has dismissed the rumor as a politically motivated lie started by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the police union that supports Bass.

A spokesperson for the union said Raman’s allegation was “untrue”; Bass’ campaign also said it had nothing to do with the Gascón rumor.

Nevertheless, the claim has been amplified in a number of arenas in recent days. An article in the California Post raised the issue last week, but only cited the panic of anonymous police officers. The LAPD’s former top cop, Bill Bratton, signal boosted the issue in a tweet praising LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, whose future could be in jeopardy if Raman wins.

Gascón declined to comment for this article, other than to shoot down the rumor that he could become LAPD chief.

After suffering a crushing defeat in his bid for reelection in 2024, Gascón all but disappeared from public life. He routinely declines interview requests and has receded from the leading role he once held in the nationwide progressive prosecutor movement.

But in the homestretch of the two most important contests on most Angelenos’ ballots this year, Gascón has been conjured as a bogeyman by opponents of progressive candidates. With polls showing Roy and Raman favored to win their respective races, political observers say the attempt to make Gascón relevant again may be a sign of panic from their opponents.

“At one point in time, Gascón clearly was box office poison and he may still be,” said Roy Behr, a Democratic consultant who isn’t involved in either race. “But this feels a lot like [President] Trump and the Republicans invoking Joe Biden’s name whenever they’re in trouble. In both cases, they’re clearly signs of desperation and not invoking any particular realistic possibilities.”

On Tuesday, billionaire developer and onetime mayoral candidate Rick Caruso said if Raman hired Gascón it would “take the city into a very dark place.”

“If you’re going to fire [Chief McDonnell], who are you going to appoint? Is it going to look like somebody like a Gascón?” Caruso asked. “Because I don’t think we need LAPD being a lab experiment for the [Democratic Socialists of L.A.] It’s going to take L.A. in the wrong direction.”

Caruso, who lost to Bass by nearly 10 points in the 2022 mayoral contest, has yet to offer an endorsement in this year’s race. But he has been publicly critical of Raman and invoked the Gascón police chief rumor at an event launching a new L.A. Department of Water and Power initiative. Bass was standing right next to him.

Gascón surged into office in 2020 amid nationwide demands for criminal justice reform after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. The former San Francisco district attorney and assistant LAPD chief promised to reduce mass incarceration and hold police accountable while also reducing crime. But his lone term in office was beset by turmoil.

Gascón instituted a number of unilateral policies on his first day in office — barring prosecutors from trying juveniles as adults, seeking the death penalty or charging certain misdemeanors — that left him at war with his own staff. A raft of lawsuits soon followed, as well as a battery of made-for-TV-news crimes that served as red meat to critics who wanted to blame Gascón’s reforms for violence. Crime went up early in his term, and although a Times analysis cast serious doubt on links between the spike and the district attorney’s policies, Gascón’s name became shorthand for labeling a politician as soft on crime.

Two attempts to recall Gascón from office failed. But after a bruising four years in office, current Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman routed Gascón in 2024, effectively ending his political career.

In the city attorney’s race, L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney has tried to draw a straight line between Gascón and Roy, insisting in one advertisement that she won’t prosecute misdemeanor crimes, including trespassing, theft and drug possession. The claim echoes Gascón’s blanket ban on prosecuting loitering, public intoxication and other minor drug offenses he believed played a role in criminalizing homelessness.

During the primary, text messages sent out in support of McKinney’s campaign also referred to City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, a moderate, as a “Gascón-style” Democrat. Feldstein Soto never supported Gascón and endorsed one of his challengers in the 2024 primary.

Roy’s campaign declined to comment. She prefers using diversion programs to handle defendants suffering from mental illness or addiction issues, according to her campaign website, but hasn’t specifically said she’d ban deputy city attorneys from filing any particular case. She supported Gascón’s 2024 reelection bid and attended some of his rallies.

McKinney, whose shift from trial prosecutor to politician began when he became an outspoken critic of Gascón, also favors diversion for mentally ill and addicted defendants for nonviolent offenses and has referred to his platform as one of “compassionate accountability” toward unhoused defendants.

But, he stands by the comparison between Roy and Gascón.

“I think that when she talks about not prosecuting certain misdemeanors, it’s a blanket policy,” he said. “That’s very reminiscent of George Gascón.”

The invocation of the former district attorney in the mayor’s race is more complicated.

Bass and Gascón were known to have a frosty relationship. She didn’t support efforts to recall him in 2022, but she didn’t endorse her fellow Democrat’s reelection bid in 2024 either.

Raman never endorsed Gascón and the pair had “no relationship” while in office, according to two people with direct knowledge of their thinking who requested anonymity to discuss the matter candidly. In a tweet last week, she called the rumor about naming Gascón police chief a “bizarre lie.”

“This rumor was created by the Police Union Super PAC, which is spending millions of dollars to re-elect Mayor Bass,” Raman wrote.

In a statement, Raman said she would seek to remove McDonnell before his term ends in 2030, but did not mention any potential candidates for his replacement. She is seeking to remove McDonnell, in part, over the LAPD’s heavily criticized response to protests against the Trump administration’s immigration raids in L.A. last year, which saw officers trample people on horseback and deploy tear gas on citizens for the first time in decades. McDonnell, she says, has lost the trust of immigrant communities.

Tom Saggau, a spokesman for the police union, said the organization had nothing to do with the Gascón rumor. While the union is no friend to Roy, Raman or Gascón and has spent millions against all three candidates, Saggau said he first heard about the potential new police chief from a California Post reporter. None of the union’s members or directors had raised the issue beforehand, he said.

Still, in Saggau’s mind, perception trumps reality. He said there’s a reason people might believe Raman would pick a police chief who is considered persona non grata in law enforcement circles.

“Certainly they share some similar values when it comes to policing, especially on the prosecutorial side. Gascón was, I think it’s fair to say, lenient with some of his prosecutorial decisions,” Saggau said. “I think it’s her bouncing around on public safety items that has fed this rumor. … I think she’s just got a credibility issue when it comes to public safety.”

Times staff writers Itzel Luna and David Zahniser contributed to this report.

Neil Bush says that he will vote for Democrat James Talarico due to reservations about Republican candidate Ken Paxton.

Neil Bush, brother of former Republican President George W Bush, has said that he voted for the Democratic candidate James Talarico in a crucial race for the United States Senate.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Bush said he voted for Talarico due to concerns about the Republican candidate, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Talarico and Paxton are in a tight race for Texas’s open Senate seat. Democrats are hoping to seize control of the 100-member Senate in the November 3 midterm elections, when 35 seats will be on the ballot.

Bush’s endorsement of Talarico is the latest sign of division among Texas Republicans.

Bush comes from a prominent Republican family: not only was his brother a president, but his father, the late George HW Bush, was too.

“My concerns about his judgment and conduct are hardly mine alone,” Bush wrote. “He was impeached by the Republican-controlled Texas House, although subsequently acquitted by the Texas Senate.”

To explain his decision, Bush pointed to Paxton’s divisive track record, including efforts to support President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election.

“I have been deeply troubled by Paxton’s conduct as Texas Attorney General, particularly his decision to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election in other states in an effort to help Donald Trump remain in power,” Bush said.

“I believe that effort was an affront to our democratic institutions and the peaceful transfer of power.”

His brother, the former president, has largely receded from political life and has declined to endorse candidates in recent elections. Before serving in the White House from 2001 to 2009, George W Bush was governor of Texas.

But George W Bush’s daughter Barbara Bush has also shown her support for Talarico by donating to a political action committee backing his campaign.

Texas has long been considered a Republican stronghold, and Democrats have not won a Senate race in the state since 1988.

But polls show Talarico locked in a close race with Paxton, who defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the Republican Party’s primary run-off on May 26.

Paxton had secured an endorsement from Trump on May 19, days before the run-off.

In a statement, Trump criticised Cornyn as “not supportive of [him] when times were tough”, while praising Paxton as a “MAGA Warrior”.

Some Republicans have expressed frustration over Trump’s intervention on Paxton’s behalf, given the vulnerabilities posed by his state impeachment and other scandals.

A Marist poll released on October 14 found Talarico winning 47 percent of the vote compared to 45 percent for Paxton.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won an incident-packed sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix after Mercedes driver George Russell crashed out of the lead.

Russell was leading in tricky conditions, with half the track dry and half wet, when he got a little too wide at the final corner at the end of the first lap.

He lost control of his Mercedes, which spun across the track into the inside wall, before bouncing back again to the outside, the rest of the field somehow avoiding him.

A final-lap collision between the McLarens as Lando Norris tried to pass Oscar Piastri at Turn Five promoted Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli to fourth place.

In combination with Russell’s retirement, that extends the Italian’s championship lead to 89 points.

More to follow

Verstappen’s pole lap appeared to be further confirmation of Red Bull’s resurgence after his dominant win in Malaysia but he faces an investigation for overtaking under yellow flags shown before the first session was stopped for the Perez incident.

The four-time champion said he had not believed pole was possible before qualifying.

“We have some difficulties with the car in ride, as we know,” he said, “but at least when we went to the soft tyres (in the final session), it made the car a bit more stable in places where before you were a bit unsure.

“I did not expect this but you take it, I’m happy for sure. Qualifying tomorrow is still the main goal and for us the start is always a critical point but at least a positive end to our day.”

Russell’s performance compared with that of Antonelli raises further doubts about the efficacy of the Mercedes upgrade introduced in Malaysia.

It was their biggest car update since the Canadian Grand Prix in May but team boss Toto Wolff said at Sepang that it had appeared to take them backwards rather than forwards.

Mercedes split the car spec here in Singapore in an attempt to better understand its performance but Antonelli ended the session 0.573secs behind Russell.

The Briton said: “As a team there is still nothing telling us it isn’t working but it’s all driven by the stopwatch and, yeah, the stopwatch hasn’t been great for the upgrade yet. Maybe tomorrow’s a different day.”

Antonelli, who leads the championship by 84 points going into the weekend, said: “Already FP1 I was struggling and there is still a lot to understand about this package. Really the car is very difficult, very unpredictable, very difficult to put a lap together. It’s a shame. I was coming with high hopes but so far it has been very difficult.

“It’s going to be a difficult weekend unless we can pull something out tomorrow. Other than that it is going very tricky. I don’t really see where we can find 0.7secs but you never know.”

Wolff said before sprint qualifying: “The new car seems to be a little more tricky to drive. Not saying it’s necessarily slower, because there will be goodness in it, but maybe we haven’t just found a way of putting it all together and tuning it. The older car is a bit more stable, grippy, but that is really just one data point.”

Leclerc was 0.243secs off pole, and ruing what he said was Ferrari “losing a little bit of our raw performance” in the past three or four races.

However, he added: “Still I feel there is potential in the car and maybe tomorrow we can be there or thereabouts in fighting for pole.”

Hamilton said: “We did a slightly different run plan to the others. It was my choice, but I think we got that wrong. But ultimately, the car was very oversteery on that lap. If the rears [tyres] are not ready or they are overheating, it’s difficult to say. But it was very snappy and oversteery in the lap overall.”

After composing the score for the BBC’s Trials of Life in 1990, Fenton went on to create the music for what became known as David Attenborough’s Earth Trilogy: The Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet.

Fenton’s music perfectly complemented the stunning visuals of the ocean’s depths and the polar ice caps, adding an emotional weight to the narrative, using the full might of the orchestra to evoke everything from wonder and awe to tension and suspense.

Following the success of the documentaries, Fenton created a show – The Blue Planet in Concert – which has been performed by leading orchestras in venues around the world.

Among his other well-known soundtracks were The Long Walk Home, You’ve Got Mail, Sweet Home Alabama, The Lady In The Van and Mrs Henderson Presents.

Fenton also scored more films for British director Ken Loach than any other composer.

Their 18 collaborations included Ladybird, Ladybird; I, Daniel Blake and The Wind That Shakes the Barley, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

He also founded the Association of Professional Composers, which later merged with The Ivors Academy; and he is one of only a handful of musicians to receive the Academy’s fellowship, alongside Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Elton John, Kate Bush, Bruce Springsteen and George Michael.

In addition, Fenton was a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music and the University of Nottingham. He was made a CBE for services to music in 2023.

The composer often said that his musical career had been an accident, but nothing gave him greater joy than seeing his work come to life.

On his episode of Desert Island Discs, Fenton chose one of his own compositions – Reunion, from the soundtrack to the movie Accidental Hero – as it reminded him of watching pianist John Lowe play the melody in the studio.

“If I was sitting on a desert island and thinking about what a good time I’d had writing music, which I have, I want just one thing to remind me about the best part – which is the fact that you write something and then you’re so surprised and thrilled at the way it’s played,” he told Sue Lawley.

“For a composer, that’s the biggest kick you can get.”

Whitesides was the first chief executive of Virgin Galactic, which employed hundreds of people in Antelope Valley. Previously, he worked on President Obama’s 2008 transition team and was chief of staff for NASA in the Obama administration. Whitesides co-founded nonprofit organization Megafire Action to advocate for policy solutions to prevent massive wildfires and served as a member of the Antelope Valley Economic Development and Growth Enterprise board of directors.

He was elected to Congress in 2024 and is running for reelection to continue creating jobs and expanding opportunity in California’s 27th District.

Gibbs was elected to Santa Clarita City Council in 2020 and chosen by his fellow council members to serve as mayor in 2023. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Cal Poly and, according to his campaign website, worked on the the Delta II, Delta IV and Atlas V rocket launch systems in the local aerospace industry. Gibbs has served on the board of the Boys and Girls Club, the Valley Industry Assn. and the Salvation Army, according to his website.

He is running for Congress because he feels Washington is broken and believes in “common sense, accountability, and putting our community ahead of politics,” he says on his website.

BOY George has claimed he was uninvited to a friend’s memorial while paying tribute to them in a touching social media post. 

The Culture Club, 65, singer took to social media to remember his friend and fashion designer Pam Hogg, who died in November last year aged 74. 

Today George shared an image of Pam – who dressed the likes of Kate Moss, Beyonce, Debbie Harry and Princess Eugenie – and wrote: “Remembering my friend Pam Hogg who is being celebrated today by friends.

“I was uninvited but I am there in spirit. God Bless you Pam.”

George and Pam were friends for decades, having first met in the eighties at Covent Garden’s Blitz club where he worked the cloakroom before finding fame with Culture Club. 

They were present for huge milestones in each other’s lives, with George sitting front row at many of her fashion shows and Pam attending events including his 50th birthday party. 

DROP OUT

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DROP OUT

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Fans were quick to comment on George’s post, with one writing: “It’s always sad when politics divide friends. Stay strong George, you don’t need to be invited to a party in order to remember your friend.”

Another said: “That’s low to uninvite you, I hope you can celebrate her on your own or with other good friends.”

And a third added: “That is sad on so many levels. I’m sorry for the loss of your friend.”

At the time of Pam’s death last year, George shared his sadness and spoke of the designer’s legacy.

He said: “I’m sad to learn of the death of Pam Hogg who was a true original and who knew absolutely everyone on the London fashion and art scene.

“It’s quite shocking how many true originals are leaving us of late.”