Well, I’m never going to dance again.

In case you weren’t fully convinced of this year’s plunge into the depths of hell, 2016 had yet another horror awaiting us: George Michael’s death. The popular British musician was found dead in his home on Christmas day, a cruel strike of irony even I could not have anticipated.

Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in London, England, the son of a Greek Cypriot restaurateur and an English dancer, Michael developed ambition in the music world by his teens. While attending school, he bonded over mutual interest in music with Andrew Ridgeley, who later became his partner in their musical duoWham!. The duo rose in popularity, with songs like “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Last Christmas” (the latter a popular holiday cover, however to this day no version lives up to the original). Eventually, his talent and charisma led him to a solo career, one he held until his death at fifty-three.

But as is rampant in those thrust into the spotlight, Michael did not live an easy life. He struggled to define himself, first identifying as bisexual and then much later as homosexual. Partially, his reluctance to completely out himself was related to his family’s reception of him, though he himself claimed to have no moral issues with being homosexual. Nonetheless, his uncertainty and fear about his identity led the way to depression and drug abuse, which plagued him for most of his life. He faced several arrests for drug possession, placing him as a glittering headline among various tabloids. His sexuality was only in the public as speculation until 1998, when in a sting operation, an attractive undercover policeman exposed himself to Michael in a public bathroom to give him the wrong impression, and duly arrested Michael for “lewd behavior,” while the incident was entirely set up to tarnish him.

These difficulties and moments did not deter from the good in Michael’s character. Throughout his entire career, even when he was a young member of Wham!, he donated great quantities of his net worth to charity and others. He mostly hid his generosity from public eye, anonymously giving to strangers, children, and homeless, even purchasing the piano John Lennon composed “Imagine” on and later it placing it in the Beatles Museum without breathing a word of his involvement. Only after his death have these deeds become publicized, and more may yet surface as time continues. Michael was also a fierce advocate for LGBT and human rights, and was a critical voice against violence and war, writing songs combating British and American governments.

What makes me sad about Michael’s death is not only that he was relatively young and one of many talented, outspoken humans to die this year, but that how his existence was reduced to gossip by the media. Here was a man coming to terms with his sexuality, only to be outed in the news and painted as predatory and overtly sexual. His mental illness and substance abuse just became words and pictures for any old person to lap up as entertainment. Like many before him (and probably many after him), his real struggles were sensationalized soundbites and headlines to capture attention and money for whatever mode of media they came from. George Michael had his problems and his mistakes, but he did not earn a life of constant penalization for them.

I am glad to see the good he did gaining recognition after his death, however it is a shame he could not have seen that recognition himself. I hope that in the future, we treat others with more respect and honor while they are still alive, instead of making up for it when they are dead. As Anne Frank said, “Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.”

Tell others how you appreciate them. Show them. They may not have eyes or ears where they end up.