George Michael’s estate thanked Taylor Swift for paying tribute to the late star on her new album.
The 35-year-old pop megastar’s new record, “The Life of a Showgirl,” features a track called “Father Figure,” which incorporates part of the melody from the late singer’s track of the same name, and his representatives had “no hesitation” in granting permission for its use.
“We were delighted when Taylor Swift and her team approached us earlier this year about incorporating an interpolation of George Michael‘s classic song ‘Father Figure’ into a brand new song of the same title to be featured on her forthcoming album,” the estate shared in a post on Instagram.
“When we heard the track we had no hesitation in agreeing to this association between two great artists and we know George would have felt the same. George Michael Entertainment wishes Taylor every success with ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ and ‘Father Figure.’”
The post was captioned, “Thank you @taylorswift for including George in such a special moment,” adding a plug for the album’s release.
George’s former partner recently said he believes the late singer would have been proud of Taylor’s upcoming tribute on “The Life of a Showgirl,” which dropped on Friday.
Kenny Goss – who was in a relationship with George from 1996 to 2009 – told that the “Faith” hitmaker would have totally approved of Taylor’s song. And while George never met the “Cruel Summer” singer before his death in 2016, the art dealer is pretty sure he would have been a fan and appreciated someone of her standing taking an interest in his work.
Kenny himself is a big fan of Taylor’s music and though he had no idea she planned to interpolate “Father Figure” on her new album, it was a welcome surprise.