"Star People '97" is a single by pop singer George Michael

George Michael

George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...

, which was released as the fifth single from his album Older. It was written and performed by George Michael and was released by Virgin Records

Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

 in the UK and Dreamworks Records

DreamWorks Records

DreamWorks Records was an American record label. Founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks SKG, the label operated until 2005 when it was shut down...

 in the U.S. in 1997. "Star People '97" peaked at number 2 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and also number 1 on the U.S. Dance. The song contains elements of The Gap Band's 1980 hit, "Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)

Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)

"Burn Rubber on Me " is a song originally performed by The Gap Band and written by member Charlie Wilson and producer Lonnie Simmons. In 1981, it peaked at number eighty-four on the Hot 100 but it was a number one hit on the R&B charts...

".

"Star People" became George Michael's second of four #1 U.S. Dance single, after "Monkey

Monkey (song)

"Monkey" is a US number-one hit song by George Michael. It was released as a single in 1988 and reached #1 on the US Hot 100 and #13 on the UK Singles Chart. "Monkey" debuted at #42 on 9 July 1988, reaching #1 for two weeks, beginning 27 August 1988....

".

The lyrics make reference to the materialism and frivolity of certain (not specified) people in the show business, suggesting that those behaviors are derived from some insecurity or a bad childhood (parental neglect, being given up for adoption, etc.).

The single version is referred as "Star People '97" instead of "Star People" (the name of the album version) because the single version is a remixed/re-recorded track.

Track listing

UK CD (VSCDG 1641)

1. "Star People '97" (radio edit) – 4:39
2. "Everything That She Wants" (Unplugged)
3. "Star People" (Unplugged)

EU CD The Dance Mixes (VSCDX 1641)

1. "Star People '97" (Galaxy Mix) – 8:07
2. "Star People '97" (Forthright Club Mix) – 9:17
3. "Star People '97" (Galaxy Dub Mix) – 7:12
4. "Star People '97" (Forthright Edit) – 4:27

US CD "Star People" (DRMDS-59005)

1. "Star People" (LP edit) – 4:11
2. "Star People" (MTV Unplugged edit) – 4:31
3. "Star People" (Forthright radio edit) – 4:28
4. "The Strangest Thing" (live) – 6:01
   • "The Strangest Thing" is listed as recorded live at the BBC Radio Theater, 8 October 1996.

Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...	37
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...	21
Dutch Singles Chart Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	24
Finnish Singles Chart	15
German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...	64
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	7
Spanish Singles Chart	4
Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....	37
Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...	28
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	2
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...	1
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs	1

Chart procession and succession