📍Kingsbury, London NW9, UK
1963 – 1975“I was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley, the youngest of three and the only son of a Greek Cypriot father, Jack, who had come to London in the fifties with nothing and built up his own restaurants, and an English mother, Lesley, a former dancer. My father worked every hour there was. We lived for a time in Burnt Oak and then in Kingsbury, where I went to Roe Green Junior School and Kingsbury High, a shy, plump boy in big glasses who disappeared into his record collection. When I was twelve or so, my father's success moved us out to Radlett in Hertfordshire, and at Bushey Meads School I met Andrew Ridgeley, a confident, funny boy who loved pop music as much as I did. We formed a ska band, the Executive, then Wham!, writing songs in our bedrooms. Everything I became grew from my parents' hard work and those suburban bedrooms, and I gave generously but quietly all my life.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today