George Michael’s first solo tour is getting a new life on the big screen. George Michael: The Faith Tour brings rediscovered footage of his 1988 Paris performances to cinemas, capturing the singer during the era that established him as an international solo star.
Directed by David Austin and Andy Morahan, the concert film opened in UK cinemas and IMAX on November 6. Its North American theatrical release is scheduled for December 11.
The project combines restored concert material with an original short film by Mary McCartney, offering both the spectacle of the performance and a closer look at the artist behind it.
Two Paris nights, rediscovered
The footage was recorded at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy during the European leg of the Faith Tour. A 14-camera shoot captured the performances on 35mm film across two nights.
Those recordings have now been assembled, restored and remastered for a cinema presentation running approximately 114 minutes. The format gives audiences the opportunity to experience a concert preserved on film nearly four decades ago.
For longtime listeners, the release revisits a defining period in Michael’s career. For audiences who discovered his music later, it provides a substantial record of his early solo stage performances, with the original artist and concert footage at its centre.
Mary McCartney’s introduction to the Faith years
The feature opens with Finding Faith, a short film directed by photographer and filmmaker Mary McCartney.
Drawing on newly discovered audio and imagery from 1986 to 1988, it explores Michael’s perspective during the period surrounding Faith and his move into solo superstardom.
The introduction places the concert within its moment, looking at the years in which he was developing an identity beyond Wham! and taking greater control of his musical direction.
That combination gives the release two complementary elements: an introduction to Michael’s thinking during the era, followed by the live performance that brought its music to audiences.
The album that defined a solo breakthrough
Released in 1987, Faith was Michael’s debut solo album. Its success followed his rise alongside Andrew Ridgeley in Wham!, while establishing a distinct chapter in his career as a songwriter and performer.
The record produced four US No. 1 singles: Faith, Father Figure, One More Try and Monkey. It went on to win Album of the Year at the 1989 Grammy Awards.
Michael wrote, arranged, produced and performed the album almost entirely himself, bringing soul, R&B and rock influences into its sound. The subsequent tour was his first as a solo artist, spanning 109 concerts across 16 countries.
A live album accompanies the film
The cinema release is accompanied by The Faith Tour, a live album drawn from previously unreleased recordings of the Paris concerts.
The standard edition contains 18 tracks, bringing together solo material, Wham! favourites and cover versions. Alongside songs from Faith are Everything She Wants, I’m Your Man and Careless Whisper.
The recordings also include Michael’s interpretations of Stevie Wonder’s Love’s in Need of Love Today and Labelle’s Lady Marmalade, reflecting the musical influences he brought into his live repertoire.
Mixed by Chris Porter and David Austin and mastered by John Webber, the album is offered in several physical formats, including CD and vinyl editions.
A deluxe box set presents the full concert across three LPs and two CDs, accompanied by a 136-page book of previously unseen tour photographs — extending the rediscovered Paris performances into an audio and visual archive of Michael’s first solo tour.
