Out singer-songwriter Sam Smith on
Monday paid tribute to George Michael, who died unexpectedly on
Christmas Day.
“@GeorgeMichael. Words can't express
how much you and your music meant and means to me,” he tweeted.
“I would not be the artist I am if it
wasn't for you. @GeorgeMichael,” he said in a separate tweet.
Smith added: “Please play his music
as loud as you can today & celebrate one of the most magical,
talented, bravest & important figures in music & life as I
know it. Your music & message will live on..”
(Related: Adam
Lambert, Elton John, Ellen DeGeneres, George Takei react to George
Michael's death.)
Shortly after winning an Oscar for
Writing's on the Wall, the theme song to the James Bond film
Spectre, Smith announced that he was leaving social media.
Since March he has only sent out one message, a tweet in support of
Orlando, where a lone gunman had opened fire in a gay nightclub,
killing 49 people and wounding dozens more.