George Michael has been named the most popular artist in a poll of radio listeners, while his song Careless Whisper has been crowned the best loved song. The track, written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, topped Smooth Radio’s All Time Top 500, an annual poll of the nation’s favourite songs. Released in 1984, the song reached the number one spot in 25 countries and has topped the poll for the third year in a row as it has found a new audience through TikTok, featuring in more than 210,000 clips. George Michael died in 2016 (Tony Marshall/PA) Michael died on Christmas Day in 2016 at the age of 53.