GEORGE MICHAEL was neither the first nor the last bubblegum pop star to successfully reimagine—and reinvent—himself as a major adult pop star, but he was as good an example as there is. The formula is simple: Be great at the bubblebum and be even greater at the growing up. Don't lose the spark that made you a pop star in the first place. And believe in yourself, no matter who, no matter what, no matter when. You've probably read thousands and thousands of words in the past few days on the music and life of a pop revolutionary who fought for artistic freedom, sexual freedom and personal freedom at significant risk to his career while touching a generation of fans like few of his peers. We've collected the best in our REDEF MusicSET Remembering George Michael. As major pop careers go, it was short: two and a half studio albums with WHAM! and five solo, the last coming in 2004, when he was 40 years old. More a single than an album, as careers go. But a single that shapeshifted with every verse and every chorus, without ever losing its ecstatic beat. And that offered reasons to celebrate even in the darkest moments. RIP... Not to take away from everything else he was, but his positive influence on LGBT kids was incalculable... Oh, and CARPOOL KARAOKE started with him... He isn't in the ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME. Just sayin'...The year's best obituary writer, in a year that unfortunately needed one, was QUESTLOVE, whose INSTAGRAM feed has served as a deeply personal but also encyclopedic resting place for the souls of the recently departed. Questlove on KASHIF. On COLONEL ABRAMS. And then, on TWITTER, this devastating response to George Michael and to the black hole that is 2016: " I don't have it in me anymore to write about our greats"... CARRIE FISHER, vocalist... RIP also: RICK PARFITT, ALPHONSE MOUZON, MAR BROWN and RICKY HARRIS.