‘I was George Michael’s backing singer and this is what he was like in the studio’

One of George Michael’s former backing singers has opened up on what it was really like to work with the legendary singer in the recording studio.

Jo Garland forst encountered George when she was signed to his record label Aegean and she worked closely with him recording and writing songs. He loved her vocal sound so much, he then asked her to be part of his iconic MTV Unplugged performance and she also recorded on several of his albums.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk she admits that it is still hard to talk about the star, who died on Christmas Day 2016 even though she has nothing but fond recollections of him.

Recalling her time recording with him she said: “He was very particular on vocal sound. There was a particular tone that he liked, which is why myself and Shirley Lewis are the only two vocalists that have ever recorded in the studio with him, because he just – there’s a particular tone that he likes, which compliments his and asically, we sort of we sound like him. We were girly versions of George,” she laughed.

“Sometimes he’d call you at say four o’clock, ‘Hi, darling, Fancy, popping down to the studio today’. You would never say, no. You’d literally drop everything. You’d arrive there, and sometimes, because he’d be so in the zone, in the studio, on his own, he’d come out, and he’d open the door and go, ‘Oh, darling. I forgot, forgot! Oh, can we do it tomorrow?'”

Jo vividly remembers the first tiem she ever backed George in the studio describing it as “scary”. “I think my scariest moment, sort of pressurised, was recording Fast Love, because that was my first ever recording session with him as a backing vocalist.

“Prior to that, we’d been working together, working together on my music, and we’d been in the studio for a good year, working very closely together on my music so I was very comfortable about doing that at that stage.

“But, but this was a whole new baby. I was like, ‘oh my god, I’m actually doing back in vocals for him now’ and funnily enough, the particular part that I did was the Sending You Forget Me Nots sample. That was originally sung by Patrice Rushen and she’s my biggest, biggest idol, and, funnily enough, she was George’s idol as well.

“So there was that responsibility as well on top of it being the first recording studio with George. But he made me feel incredibly comfortable,” she said.

It is clear Jo has many memories of George and now she and two other singers who worked with him are taking their stories on the road for an evening of his music and their recollections of him.

Jo has teamed up with Shirley Lewis and Jay Henry to form The George Michael Singers. They performed a sold out show at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire in December last year and are now taking it on tour. Beginning on March 27 at Southend’s Cliff Pavilion and culminating on April 30 at Guildford’s G Lives.

They will perform renditions of some of George’s biggest hits and share their stories of working with him. “We’ve got so many stories, and to try and condense them into two hours was incredibly difficult and then we decided how unique would it be that if every show we just introduced a new story – because there are so many stories.

“The hardcore fans will love that. They will just love that there’ll be another little nugget that they can take away with them. Another piece of George that they didn’t know, which is really special.

“It’s like a cathartic experience that we’re doing with what we’re trying to achieve. Obviously we miss him so much, all of us, collectively, as a band, singers. So this is just just an incredible way to sort of say thank you to him, really, and celebrate our boss.”

Details of The George Michael Singers tour and tickets are available via the .