The remastered record sold over 56,000 copies to come first in the charts in the largest first-week sales for a re-released album in charts history.
The album was reissued to coincide with a new documentary about the star’s rise to fame.
Its instant appeal matches the success of the original release — Michael’s second solo album after he left the duo Wham! — which also shot straight to number one in September 1990.
It went on to sell more than eight million copies worldwide.
Michael — who was found dead on Christmas Day last year — personally oversaw the remastering of the record prior to his death.
It includes an “MTV Unplugged” set from 1996 and a previously unreleased track, “Fantasy”, featuring Nile Rodgers.
The album was released following the airing earlier this month on British TV of the film “George Michael: Freedom”, which the singer had also been personally guiding before he died.
David Austin, Michael’s manager, long-term collaborator and close friend since childhood, said the team behind the efforts were “incredibly proud” to have immediately topped the charts.
“It’s no great secret that George was a perfectionist and it shows, he was over everything from its inception to its finish and it’s a blessing and rare gift to be guided by such genius,” he added in a statement.
Michael, one of the most successful British artists ever, enjoyed album sales of more than 115 million, alongside Andrew Ridgeley in the band Wham! and then as a solo artist.
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