A proper send-off. Mariah Carey paid tribute to the late George Michael during her concert in Dubai on Friday, March 31, singing a cover of his 1988 hit “One More Try.”
The pop icon, who just celebrated her 47th birthday on Monday, stunned in a floor-length black, sequined off-the-shoulder gown with high slits that showed off her figure.
“I always loved it, I always loved him,” she told the audience of the popular ballad, which she dubbed “one of his greatest records.” “He was a really great person.”
Carey then instructed members of the audience to hold up their cell phones like lighters in honor of Michael, who died on Christmas Day of a weakened heart and a damaged liver at the age of 53.
“We’ll make it through this,” she said with a sigh before she began the song. In the two-minute clip she shared to her Facebook page, the Grammy winner called her emotional cover her “heartfelt tribute.”
In December, shortly after news broke of the Wham! singer’s untimely death, Carey took to her website to offer up a touching salute to the music icon.
“George was only 53 at the time of his passing. He left us way too soon,” the “Hero” singer wrote. “He was a genius that gave us classics like ‘Faith’ as well as boundary pushing singles ‘I Want Your Sex’ and ‘Father Figure.’ He also gave us the FIRST modern Christmas classic with ‘Last Christmas.’”
Carey added that Michael’s passing was especially significant to the LGBTQ community, because he had pushed for “greater understanding, acceptance and love for all people.”
“He touched so many lives and inspired us all,” Carey wrote. “George Michael was an original. He changed music and his music changed lives.”
