George Michael was an era-defining musician, a maverick, and an all-around legend. But he was also just a man, sometimes a randy man, and this is something we can all completely understand.
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Even legends sometimes need a day off to go to the park and cruise, which is exactly what George Michael did one sunny day in 1997, at the Will Rogers state park in LA.
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Like any self-respecting rock star, George Michael has a love for cruising that goes back decades, and has landed him in trouble with the (homophobic) law several times. In 1998, Michael was arrested for seeking out some action in cottaging hotspot Hampstead Heath. That same year, he was also taken into custody by an undercover officer in a Beverly Hills park. A UK documentary from last year—George Michael: Outed—goes into these arrests in further detail, explaining how the paparazzi set homophobic traps for Michael when he was still closeted.
But according to Michael in a 2004 interview with Attitude, that may have been part of the appeal. “When I was being furtive and was worried about being found out… God! It was such a turn-on. I can never be that turned-on again. Guilt is a massive turn-on.”
He continued, waxing lyrical on the joys of cruising:
“That’s the wonderful thing about cruising. The vast majority of men were either married or in the closet. So you have a mutual secret and that’s pretty water tight. Especially if you’re cruising outside London. If you’re a suburban cruiser like my good self and you like guys that are really straight-acting, then most of the people you pick up, whether you take them home or do it there and then, are not going to tell your secret because they’ve got one themselves. I mean, f*ck, it worked for years.”
That’s right, George. We salute you for being a cruising connoisseur before your time!
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