SINATRA’S OPEN LETTER TO GEORGE MICHAEL
By Mahnuel Muñoz
In tribute to George Michael, I share an open letter that Frank Sinatra wrote to him following an article published on September 9, 1990 in which George complained about the pressures of fame. A wonderful speech about courage and gratitude.
“Dear friends
When I saw your Calendar cover today about George Michael, “Pop Star Despite Himself,” my first reaction was that he should thank God every morning when he gets up for having everything he has, and then we’ll both be the ones to give. Thank God every morning for everything we have.
I don’t understand a guy who lives “hoping to reduce the strain of his celebrity status.” Here we have a boy who “wanted to be a pop star since he was 7 years old.” And now that he is a successful performer and composer at 27, he wants to stop doing what tons of talented young people would shoot his grandmother for: a chance to see what he is complaining about.
Come on George, relax. Enjoy, buddy. Dust off those tulle wings and fly to the moon of your choice, and be thankful for carrying the luggage we have to carry from those hard nights sleeping on buses and helping the driver unload the instruments.
And don’t talk anymore about “the tragedy of fame.” The tragedy of fame is when no one is going to see you and you’re singing for the cleaning lady in some empty joint that hasn’t had a paying customer since Saint Saituno’s Day. And you’re not even close to that. You are a leader at the top rung of a long ladder called Stardom, which in Christian means “thanks to the fans who were there when you were alone.”
Talent should not be wasted. Those who have it – and you have it, obviously, or today’s Calendar cover story would have been about Rudy Vallee – those who have talent must embrace it, nurture it and share it so that it is not taken from you as quickly as it has been given to you. .
Trust me. I’ve been there.”
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