When pop superstar George Michael died on Christmas Day 2016 he left behind a musical legacy most could only dream of. From early success with Wham! alongside Andrew Ridgeley, to solo superstardom, with hits including Faith, Careless Whisper, and Jesus to a Child, he wrote his name in pop music legend.

But if we all loved listening to him, what did he like listening to? Thankfully, in 2007 George appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, in which he revealed the eight songs he could not live without.

The long-running programme invites guests to name the eight songs they would take with them if they were stranded on a desert island.

8. Rufus Wainwright - Going to a Town

George praised the 2007 song for "really laying into the Bush administration", remembering how it reflected his own experiences of prejudice in America. He applauded its "fantastic lyrics" and hailed the Canadian-American singer as "someone people should definitely check out".

7. Kanye West - Gold Digger

The 2005 song - released before the controversial rapper changed his name to Ye - features actor Jamie Foxx and is widely hailed as one of the most important rap releases of the era. Speaking on Desert Island Discs, George said: "There are certain records that I literally can't not move to, and this is one of them."

He added: "The lyric makes me laugh, it's completely brutal, completely sexist - surprise, surprise coming from an American hip hop record - but it's funny, it is funny."

6. Goldfrapp - Paper Bag

The second song from the 2000 debut album by the British electronic duo tells the story of an unrequited obsession. "That first Goldfrapp album, Felt Mountain, is a great, great album," said George.

"It's an amazingly elegant production. I'm a real admirer of her voice."

5. Pet Shop Boys - Being Boring

During his appearance on the Radio 4 show George spoke to host Kirsty Young about his experience of losing his partner Anselmo Feleppa, who died of an Aids-related illness in 1993. And he said this was echoed in this song, which Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant has said he wrote about a friend who had died of Aids.

George said: "Neil Tennant, at a certain point in the 80s, was writing the most beautiful songs. No-one wants to hear frightening, terrifying songs about Aids, but they do if they're gay and they've lost friends, they do want to hear those people referred to and remembered and honoured and I think some of Neil's work did that beautifully."

4. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

The 1991 smash by the US grunge pioneers is often hailed as one of the most important records in rock music history. Hailing it "an absolute classic", George said: "It's a phenomenal record.

"It was a music industry changing record. It changed everything in America overnight."

3. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

The soul duo's 2006 debut was the first single to top the UK Singles Chart based solely on downloads. George said it "stands head and shoulders above everything else."

"An amazing song is an amazing song," he said. "Occasionally something left of field comes through and people see it for what it is, which is one of those old classics, one of those records we used to hear quite often."

2. Roxy Music - Do the Strand

The 1973 song is the first track on the English rock band's second album, For Your Pleasure. It is notable for the way singer Bryan Ferry's vocals start immediately, without any instrumental build-up.

"Bryan Ferry's made some of the sexiest music of the past 30 years," George said. "It's so original and it's so sexy, and it's insistent."

1. Amy Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game

The track from the London singer's 2006 smash hit Back to Black album - also the final single released in her lifetime - was chosen by George as the one song from his selection he would pick above all others. He hailed Amy as "the best female vocalist I've heard in my entire career, and one of the best writers."

George's appearance on Desert Island Discs was recorded in 2007, when Amy was facing a very public struggle with drug abuse. Making a personal plea to the star, George said: "Please, please understand how brilliant you are."

He continued: "I wish her every every success in the future and I know she can get past the media. I don't know if she can get past other things, but she's a fantastic talent and we should support her." Amy died of alcohol poisoning in 2011, aged just 27.

Desert Island Discs debuted in 1942 and has broadcast ever since. In that entire time it has had just five hosts - when the Wham! legend appeared in 2007 it was hosted by Kirsty Young. Kirsty left the show in 2018 and was replaced with Lauren Laverne.

Guests - or castaways - are told they can take a copy of the Bible and the complete works of William Shakespeare with them to the hypothetical desert island, and are also allowed to pick a luxury. Lamenting he could not bring his then-partner Kenny Goss, George - who had very publicly been banned from driving shortly before recording the interview after being caught drug-driving - said he would bring an Aston Martin DB9.

He said: "On a desert island who is going to know I haven't got a driving licence? So I can drive around in a DB9. I'll just drive around and around in my little DB9 because I am obsessed with cars and, you know, for the next two years I'm not allowed to drive one."