Michael also gave a woman in a cafe $42,600 after overhearing her crying over how much debt she had.
Charities in the UK are also sharing their stories, with Childline founder Esther Rantzen saying Michael gave every single cent of his royalties from 1996 hit Jesus To A Child to the charity which assists children in need through a phone counselling service.
2016 will go down as one of the worst years for celebrity deaths, with many incredibly talented and beloved stars gone.
Children were certainly close to his heart, with more stories of his generosity to children's charities being shared on Twitter. Charity advocate Kate Waugh shared a story she was told about Michael's anonymous donations to another children's charity.
Friends say Michael was passionate about charity work but wanted to contribute anonymously, asking recipients to keep his donations a secret. Actress and activist Emilyne Mondo said the singer had asked her not to tell anyone about the time he spent volunteering at a homeless shelter.
The singer also supported HIV and sexual health charities after losing his partner Anselmo Feleppa to HIV. Michael's friends said Feleppa's death 'shattered' the star. Donations to British HIV charity the Terence Higgins Trust followed and he also donated royalties from Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, his 1991 duet with Elton John to the charity.
His mother Lesley Angold Panayiotou died in 1997 from cancer and following her death, George Michael gave a free concert to the NHS nurses who cared for her. He then reportedly gave an AUD $8500 tip to a bartender when he found out she was a nursing student. Both stories were shared by UK journalist Sali Hughes.
Michael also supported causes including striking miners, Palestine and the homeless, reports The Guardian.
George Michael was found dead in bed by his partner, Australian born hairdresser Fadi Fawaz, 'lying peacefully' in bed at home in Goring, Oxfordshire in the UK on Christmas Day.
Michael was a regular visitor to Sydney after performing at the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gra after party in 2010, eventually buying a holiday home, Palm Beach Villa, at Whale Beach in Sydney. He also spent time at Fawaz's home in Queensland.
The singer is being remembered for his incredible talent and generosity at the end of a difficult year of celebrity deaths. Our hearts go out to his family, friends and fans as they adjust to this terrible loss.
We remember George Michael, his incredible talent, his amazing smile.
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Top Comments
This has devastated me much more than any other singer. Wham was the soundtrack to my teenage years, pretty much my favourite band at the time, then he got street cred when he went solo and people really started to respect his talent. Then Freedom and his other solo tracks were the soundtrack to my 20s, as well as a few big romances, because I had two boyfriends who were in as much awe of his talent as I was. Funnily enough even when we all realised he was gay he was still openly adored and respected by those macho guys, because he was just so cool. A few heterosexual guys told me that if they were going to turn for anyone it would be George Michael!
Even though he was cool, he was never pretentious, and unlike many others who seem "profound" he interviewed as an easygoing, kind natured guy he made fun of himself in his Wham days whilst still affirming his pride of his wham work. When interviewers tried to get him to speak down about Andrew Ridgeley who was often unfavourably compared to George Michael, as Michael was known as the "talented" one, George Michael would have none of it, he was obviously very fond of his old band mate and had lots of funny stories to tell of what the two young men got up to when they were in Wham.
I just adored George Michael, and because his music played as the soundtrack to my formative years and some of the most important events of my life, I feel like his death is the death of my youth. The realisation that it truly is now over. So many of his songs I could relate to to the degree they felt like they were written for me, and for what I was experiencing. "Jesus to a child" was a hit when I had a big romance with a very kind, caring man. You could feel the pain of George Michael singing of his lover who died, and years after that romance it too has become a bitter sweet memory to listen to that song, and it's lyrics about how the memory of that lost love will sustain you "on those cold, cold nights". Those lyrics came true for me too.
Other of his songs were just light hearted fluff to dance to (but I adored that music just as much - Wake me up before you go go - had me leaping onto the dance floor). But today a song that I never felt that strongly about, Careless Whispers, came on, and when I heard "I'm never going to dance again" I started to cry when I thought of how George Michael would never dance again.
I feel linked to a man I never knew and now will never know, but to find out he was also the generous soul I always suspected that he was is a small consolation.
Goodbye George Michael and thank you.
Seems like such a lovely man, with a good, kind heart. He had many personal demons but stayed empathetic towards others. Of course, not to mention his immense talent. He will be missed.