A newly restored concert film documenting George Michael’s hugely successful Faith Tour is set to arrive in cinemas later this year, accompanied by a live album featuring a collection of previously unheard recordings from the era that cemented him as one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
George Michael: The Faith Tour will present footage captured at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris during the European leg of the singer’s landmark 1988 Faith Tour, a global run that followed the release of his hugely influential debut solo album Faith.
The film was directed by Andy Morahan and David Austin, longtime collaborators of the singer, and had long been believed to be lost. The project has now been carefully restored and remastered from original material shot on 35mm film, giving audiences a new look at one of the defining tours of Michael’s career.
The concert footage itself comes from an ambitious 14-camera shoot filmed across two nights in Paris, capturing the singer performing during the height of his international fame. At the time, Michael had just transitioned from global pop sensation with Wham! into a solo artist whose success would soon eclipse even the band’s achievements.
The film will open with a new short documentary titled Finding Faith, directed by Mary McCartney, which explores the wider cultural significance of the tour and the impact of the Faith era. The short film will feature Michael’s own words through a previously unheard interview recording used as voiceover narration.
Audiences will also see unseen photographs taken by renowned American photographer Herb Ritts, who famously worked with Michael during the late 1980s, as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the iconic Faith music video. The additional material aims to place the concert film within the wider context of Michael’s artistic evolution during that period.
Released in 1987, Faith marked Michael’s first solo album following the breakup of Wham!, the pop duo he formed with Andrew Ridgeley that dominated the charts in the early 1980s. The record was an enormous global success, producing a string of major hits including Faith, Father Figure, One More Try, Monkey, and I Want Your Sex.
The album went on to sell more than 25 million copies worldwide, winning Album of the Year at the 1989 Grammy Awards and firmly establishing Michael as a solo superstar. Its mix of pop, soul, and R&B influences helped redefine his image from teen idol to serious adult artist.
To support the record, Michael embarked on the Faith Tour, which ran from 1988 to 1989 and included more than 130 shows across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The tour became one of the highest-grossing of its time and drew enormous crowds as Michael performed both his new solo material and earlier hits from his Wham! catalogue.
The concerts were known for their slick production and Michael’s charismatic stage presence, with the singer performing songs such as Careless Whisper, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, and Freedom alongside tracks from Faith. For many fans, the tour represented the moment Michael proved he could command the stage as a solo performer on the same scale as the biggest names in pop music.
Alongside the film, a companion album titled The Faith Tour will also be released. The live collection will feature 18 previously unreleased recordings taken from performances during the world tour, bringing together songs from both his solo catalogue and his earlier work with Wham!.
The release is likely to be welcomed by fans and music historians alike, as relatively little professionally filmed footage from the tour has been widely available over the years.
The restoration of the Paris performances therefore offers a rare opportunity to revisit a pivotal moment in Michael’s career when he was transitioning into one of the defining pop artists of his generation.
George Michael, who died in 2016 at the age of 53, remains one of the most influential British pop musicians of the late 20th century. Across his career he sold more than 120 million records worldwide and produced a long list of hits that continue to resonate with audiences decades later.
