WHAM!
Encyclopedia
Wham! were a short-lived British
musical duo formed by George Michael
and Andrew Ridgeley
in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band.
Wham! sold 25 million certified records from 1982 to 1986.
, a contract they later sued to be released from. Once that situation was resolved, they signed with CBS
(Columbia Records
in the United States and Canada, and Epic Records
for the rest of the world).
Michael took on the majority of roles and responsibilities within the band—composer, producer, singer, and occasional instrumentalist—but the contribution of Ridgeley as the group's image specialist and spokesman was crucial to the band's initial success. Ridgeley convinced a reluctant George Michael that Wham! needed to change their image and their sound frequently, from the leather-clad moody singers of "Bad Boys" and "Young Guns (Go For It!)" to the more fashionable pop superstars of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."
Still teenagers, they promoted themselves as hedonistic youngsters, proud to live a carefree life without work or commitment. This was reflected in their earliest singles which, part-parody, part-social comment, briefly earned Wham! a reputation as a dance protest group.
The début record to be released by the band was "Wham Rap!" in June 1982. It was one of the first singles by a British group to include rapping, and was a double A-side including the Social Mix and the Anti-Social Mix. The record was not playlisted by BBC Radio 1
in the UK, partly because of the profanity in the Anti-Social Mix. Separate videos were recorded for each set of lyrics. "Wham! Rap" did not chart for the group, but in October 1982 "Young Guns (Go For It!)" was issued. An appeal from one youthful lad to his friend to not throw his life away so early on marriage, it also stalled outside the UK Top 40. But soon, Wham! got lucky when the BBC programme "Top of the Pops
" scheduled them. An important weekly BBC chart show on television, it had to look outside the Top 40 to fill a gap created by an act which had unexpectedly pulled out of the show. Nearest to the 40 mark and still climbing, Wham! was summoned, and a phenomenon immediately began. The "Top of the Pops" performance of "Young Guns" is still considered a watershed moment in the group's history—critical acclaim is given for the 'nightclub' feel of the dance routine by all four of the performers.
and Shirlie Holliman
.
The performance was as much one of acting as it was of singing, with Michael playing the part of the pleading good-time lad, and Ridgeley the guy who had been drawn into commitment. Afterwards, the song shot into the Top 40 at #24 and peaked at #3 in December. The following year (1983), Dee C. Lee began her work with Paul Weller
of The Style Council
, and was replaced by Pepsi Demacque. Holliman and Demacque would later record as Pepsi & Shirlie
.
Wham! followed up "Young Guns (Go For It!)" with the reissue "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)
", a song about the joys of a leisurely life on the dole; "Bad Boys
", about a strained relationship between a rebellious teenage lad and his worried parents; and "Club Tropicana
", a satire of the media's fascination with the elitist London club scene. Each single was accompanied by a memorable music video.
By the end of 1983, Wham! was rivalling Duran Duran
and Culture Club
as Britain's biggest pop act. Notoriety and column inches were duly achieved with their antics of placing shuttlecocks down their shorts during performances on their first tour, The Club Fantastic Tour. Their début LP Fantastic reached #1 at this time as well.
It wasn't long after this that Ridgeley became conscious of legal problems with their initial contract at Innervision. While the legal battle raged (perhaps to raise much-needed funds for the fight), Innervision released a medley of non-single album tracks from Fantastic, entitled "Club Fantastic Megamix
". Wham! publicly denounced the move, and urged fans not to buy it. After all the legal wrangling, Innervision admitted there were royalty discrepancies with Wham!'s contract, the fall-out of which led to the bankruptcy and eventual dissolution of Innervision altogether.
Driven by Ridgeley, the duo changed their image, and Wham! returned in May 1984 with an updated, cutting-edge pop image quickly copied by other pop bands. In a process begun by the video to "Club Tropicana" on the previous album, Ridgeley changed the band's look from "moody in leather jackets" to smiles and fashionable clothing, with a view to promoting themselves more as hedonistic sex symbols than spokesmen for a disaffected generation, as previously done.
Fittingly enough, these changes propelled the next single (a pop standard) to the top of the charts around the world. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", an infectiously catchy song Michael wrote whose inspiration was a note left by Ridgeley to his parents. The note was mistakenly written by Ridgeley as "don't forget to wake me up up before you go go". Since he had accidentally written the word "up" twice, Ridgeley decided to compound the error and write "go" twice, as well. It became their first UK #1 and rose to that position in the USA as well, accompanied by a memorable video of the duo, plus the ubiquitous Pepsi and Shirlie, wearing Katharine Hamnett
T-shirts with the slogans "CHOOSE LIFE" and "GO GO."
The next single "Careless Whisper
" was issued as a George Michael solo piece, yet unlike any Wham! single since "Wham Rap!", it was credited as co-written by Ridgeley. The song, about a remorseful two-timer, had more emotional depth than previous releases, and quickly reached #1, marking a new phase as George Michael tried to somewhat distance himself from Wham!'s playboy image. In the U.S.—so as not to confuse American listeners just being exposed to Wham!—the single was billed as Wham! featuring George Michael. In the autumn of 1984, Wham! returned as a duo with "Freedom
", another UK chart-topper with George Michael presented as a broken-hearted romantic, and the first single for quite some time to reach #1 in the UK without an accompanying video. It has been said that this was because the first video was canned due to its poor quality; a video was subsequently edited together from footage of Wham!'s historic China tour in time for "Freedom's" U.S. single release. They had achieved three number-one singles in a row. In November, they released their second album, Make It Big, which quickly climbed to #1 on the album charts, and the band set off on an arena tour at the end of 1984. At this time, Ridgeley told Smash Hits
magazine that he had just written a song called "Stephen," composed for a friend who was struggling to cope with bereavement.
Michael contributed vocals to the Band Aid
project "Do They Know It's Christmas?
", a song which usurped their own Holiday release "Last Christmas
" b/w "Everything She Wants
", the former featuring a video set in and around a remote Swiss châlet.
"Last Christmas" became the highest-selling single ever to peak at #2 in the UK charts. As such, Wham! donated all their royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal to coincide with the fund-raising intentions of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", the song which kept them out of the top spot. Nevertheless, Band Aid's success meant that Michael had achieved #1 status within three separate entities in 1984 — as a solo artist, as one half of a duo, and as part of a charity ensemble.
Several months after their UK releases, their three U.S. number-one singles in a row (and their only number ones) were "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (closely coinciding with Make It Bigs release), "Careless Whisper
", and "Everything She Wants
". "Freedom
" hit number three. At the end of 1985, the U.S. Billboard charts
listed "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" as the number-three song and "Careless Whisper
" as the number-one song of the year.
(one of their two managers—Jazz Summers being the other). It culminated in a concert at the Workers' Gymnasium in Beijing in front of 10,000 people. Director Lindsay Anderson
documented the tour in his film Foreign Skies.
Sporting a beard, Michael appeared with Ridgeley onstage at Live Aid
(although they did not perform as Wham!). Michael sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with Elton John
while Ridgeley joined Kiki Dee
in the row of backup singers. In September, Wham! released "I'm Your Man
" which went to #1 in the UK charts.
Michael claimed to have begun a relationship with model/makeup artist Kathy Yeung around this time, and Ridgeley began one with Keren Woodward
of Bananarama
. Ridgeley also took up the hobby of rally driving, famously crashing one car before the end of 1985. "Last Christmas" was re-issued for the festive season and again made the UK Top 10, peaking at #6, while Michael took up offers he was starting to receive to add his voice to other artists' songs. He performed backing vocals for David Cassidy
and for Elton John on his successful singles "Nikita
" (a UK #3) and "Wrap Her Up
," (a UK #12) on which he sang co-lead.
on 28 June 1986, called The Final. British pop group Five Star
declined George's invitation to be the supporting act, saying they needed to concentrate on their own career at the time.
The farewell single was "The Edge of Heaven
," which reached #1 in June, 1986. "Where Did Your Heart Go?
" was the group's final single in the United States. The song, originally recorded by art-rock ensemble Was (Not Was)
, was a gloomy and sombre affair that telegraphed the intentions of George Michael for the next decade's work, and would fit musically on any of his solo albums. The duo's last album was a double-LP collection of all the singles to date, including some extended versions, and was also called "The Final" (released in North America as the severely pared-down Music from the Edge of Heaven
with alternate tracks). Wham! then bade goodbye to their fans (73,000 of whom attended the eight-hour event) and each other with an emotional embrace at the end of the show. The band had been together five years, selling close to 20 million albums and 10 to 15 million singles. Foreign Skies, the documentary of their tour of China, received its world premiere as part of the festivities, making it the most highly-attended film première in history.
However, his perspective on the era has softened somewhat in recent years. He still performs "I'm Your Man" and "Everything She Wants," one of the more critically acclaimed songs from the Wham! era, at his solo concerts. He and Ridgeley had a few reunions.
Ridgeley moved to Monaco
after Wham!'s break-up and tried his hand at Formula Three
motor racing. Meeting with little success, Ridgeley moved to Los Angeles to pursue his singing/acting career, the failure of which caused him to return to England in 1990. Regardless, CBS Records, having taken up the option on Wham!'s contract that specified solo albums from Michael and Ridgeley, released a guitar-and-drum-driven solo effort from Ridgeley, Son of Albert
, in 1990. His brother Paul—a frequent percussionist for Bananarama
—played drums on the album. Singles included "Shake" and "Red Dress." CBS declined the option of a second album.
On 21 November 2009, there was a Wham!-themed night on television's The X Factor
. Michael later appeared on the show's final episode, performing a duet of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with finalist and eventual winner Joe McElderry
.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
musical duo formed by 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...
and Andrew Ridgeley
Andrew Ridgeley
Andrew John Ridgeley is an English former pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and environmentalist. Andrew was a member of the 1980s pop music duo Wham!.-Early life:...
in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band.
Wham! sold 25 million certified records from 1982 to 1986.
History
Michael and Ridgeley met at Bushey Meads Comprehensive School in Bushey near the suburb of Watford in Hertfordshire, England, UK. At first they performed in a short-lived ska band called The Executive, alongside three of their former school friends David (Austin) Mortimer, Harry Tadayon and Andrew Leaver. When this group split, Michael and Ridgeley eventually formed Wham!, signing with Innervision RecordsInnervision Records
Innervision Records was an independent record label distributed by CBS Records. The label was established around 1981 by Mark Dean and Shamsi Ahmed which included Wham! on their artist roster, who scored four top-ten hits while signed to Innervision...
, a contract they later sued to be released from. Once that situation was resolved, they signed with CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
(Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in the United States and Canada, and Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
for the rest of the world).
Michael took on the majority of roles and responsibilities within the band—composer, producer, singer, and occasional instrumentalist—but the contribution of Ridgeley as the group's image specialist and spokesman was crucial to the band's initial success. Ridgeley convinced a reluctant George Michael that Wham! needed to change their image and their sound frequently, from the leather-clad moody singers of "Bad Boys" and "Young Guns (Go For It!)" to the more fashionable pop superstars of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."
Still teenagers, they promoted themselves as hedonistic youngsters, proud to live a carefree life without work or commitment. This was reflected in their earliest singles which, part-parody, part-social comment, briefly earned Wham! a reputation as a dance protest group.
The début record to be released by the band was "Wham Rap!" in June 1982. It was one of the first singles by a British group to include rapping, and was a double A-side including the Social Mix and the Anti-Social Mix. The record was not playlisted by BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
in the UK, partly because of the profanity in the Anti-Social Mix. Separate videos were recorded for each set of lyrics. "Wham! Rap" did not chart for the group, but in October 1982 "Young Guns (Go For It!)" was issued. An appeal from one youthful lad to his friend to not throw his life away so early on marriage, it also stalled outside the UK Top 40. But soon, Wham! got lucky when the BBC programme "Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
" scheduled them. An important weekly BBC chart show on television, it had to look outside the Top 40 to fill a gap created by an act which had unexpectedly pulled out of the show. Nearest to the 40 mark and still climbing, Wham! was summoned, and a phenomenon immediately began. The "Top of the Pops" performance of "Young Guns" is still considered a watershed moment in the group's history—critical acclaim is given for the 'nightclub' feel of the dance routine by all four of the performers.
Increasing success
Wham!'s first manager was Bryan Morrison. The effect of Wham! on the public, especially teenage girls, was felt from the moment they finished their début performance of "Young Guns (Go For It!)" on Top of the Pops. Michael wore espadrilles, an open suede jacket, and rolled-up denim jeans. Ridgeley stood behind him, flanked by backing dancers Dee C. LeeDee C. Lee
Dee C. Lee is an English pop singer.-Career:Lee was a backing vocalist for the pop group Wham! in the early 1980s, but she left the group to work as a solo artist and also to join Paul Weller's band, The Style Council...
and Shirlie Holliman
Shirlie Holliman
Shirlie Holliman , is an English former pop singer, who found fame in the 1980s with Wham! and as part of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie....
.
The performance was as much one of acting as it was of singing, with Michael playing the part of the pleading good-time lad, and Ridgeley the guy who had been drawn into commitment. Afterwards, the song shot into the Top 40 at #24 and peaked at #3 in December. The following year (1983), Dee C. Lee began her work with Paul Weller
Paul Weller
Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...
of The Style Council
The Style Council
The Style Council were an English band, formed in 1983 by the ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller, with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn also...
, and was replaced by Pepsi Demacque. Holliman and Demacque would later record as Pepsi & Shirlie
Pepsi & Shirlie
Pepsi & Shirlie were a British pop duo who released two albums, All Right Now in 1987 and Change in 1991.-Career:The act comprised Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque and Shirlie Holliman , who had been Wham! backing vocalists. Holliman's original singing partner, Dee C...
.
Wham! followed up "Young Guns (Go For It!)" with the reissue "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)
Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)
"Wham Rap! "' is a 1982 song by British pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley....
", a song about the joys of a leisurely life on the dole; "Bad Boys
Bad Boys (Wham! song)
"Bad Boys" was a song by British pop duo Wham! which was a hit in 1983. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo, and released on Innervision Records....
", about a strained relationship between a rebellious teenage lad and his worried parents; and "Club Tropicana
Club Tropicana
"Club Tropicana" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1983 on Innervision Records. It was written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley....
", a satire of the media's fascination with the elitist London club scene. Each single was accompanied by a memorable music video.
By the end of 1983, Wham! was rivalling Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
as Britain's biggest pop act. Notoriety and column inches were duly achieved with their antics of placing shuttlecocks down their shorts during performances on their first tour, The Club Fantastic Tour. Their début LP Fantastic reached #1 at this time as well.
It wasn't long after this that Ridgeley became conscious of legal problems with their initial contract at Innervision. While the legal battle raged (perhaps to raise much-needed funds for the fight), Innervision released a medley of non-single album tracks from Fantastic, entitled "Club Fantastic Megamix
Club Fantastic Megamix
"Club Fantastic Megamix" was a single released by Wham! in 1983, and was the last single release for the duo on Innervision Records.The single was released three months after Wham! had begun proceedings to leave the label, and was disapproved of by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley...
". Wham! publicly denounced the move, and urged fans not to buy it. After all the legal wrangling, Innervision admitted there were royalty discrepancies with Wham!'s contract, the fall-out of which led to the bankruptcy and eventual dissolution of Innervision altogether.
Driven by Ridgeley, the duo changed their image, and Wham! returned in May 1984 with an updated, cutting-edge pop image quickly copied by other pop bands. In a process begun by the video to "Club Tropicana" on the previous album, Ridgeley changed the band's look from "moody in leather jackets" to smiles and fashionable clothing, with a view to promoting themselves more as hedonistic sex symbols than spokesmen for a disaffected generation, as previously done.
Fittingly enough, these changes propelled the next single (a pop standard) to the top of the charts around the world. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", an infectiously catchy song Michael wrote whose inspiration was a note left by Ridgeley to his parents. The note was mistakenly written by Ridgeley as "don't forget to wake me up up before you go go". Since he had accidentally written the word "up" twice, Ridgeley decided to compound the error and write "go" twice, as well. It became their first UK #1 and rose to that position in the USA as well, accompanied by a memorable video of the duo, plus the ubiquitous Pepsi and Shirlie, wearing Katharine Hamnett
Katharine Hamnett
Katharine E. Hamnett CBE is an English fashion designer best known for her political t-shirts and her ethical business philosophy. She graduated from the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design....
T-shirts with the slogans "CHOOSE LIFE" and "GO GO."
The next single "Careless Whisper
Careless Whisper
"Careless Whisper" is a 1984 single by George Michael , released by Epic Records in the UK, Japan, and other countries; and by Columbia Records in North America. The song was George Michael's first solo single although he was still performing in Wham! at the time...
" was issued as a George Michael solo piece, yet unlike any Wham! single since "Wham Rap!", it was credited as co-written by Ridgeley. The song, about a remorseful two-timer, had more emotional depth than previous releases, and quickly reached #1, marking a new phase as George Michael tried to somewhat distance himself from Wham!'s playboy image. In the U.S.—so as not to confuse American listeners just being exposed to Wham!—the single was billed as Wham! featuring George Michael. In the autumn of 1984, Wham! returned as a duo with "Freedom
Freedom (Wham! song)
"Freedom" is a song by British pop duo Wham! in 1984, becoming the group's second UK #1 hit. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.-History:...
", another UK chart-topper with George Michael presented as a broken-hearted romantic, and the first single for quite some time to reach #1 in the UK without an accompanying video. It has been said that this was because the first video was canned due to its poor quality; a video was subsequently edited together from footage of Wham!'s historic China tour in time for "Freedom's" U.S. single release. They had achieved three number-one singles in a row. In November, they released their second album, Make It Big, which quickly climbed to #1 on the album charts, and the band set off on an arena tour at the end of 1984. At this time, Ridgeley told Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
magazine that he had just written a song called "Stephen," composed for a friend who was struggling to cope with bereavement.
Michael contributed vocals to the Band Aid
Band Aid (band)
Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. The single...
project "Do They Know It's Christmas?
Do They Know It's Christmas?
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The original version was produced by Midge Ure and released by Band Aid on 29 November 1984....
", a song which usurped their own Holiday release "Last Christmas
Last Christmas
"Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1984, on a double A-side with "Everything She Wants". It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo...
" b/w "Everything She Wants
Everything She Wants
"Everything She Wants" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.- History :...
", the former featuring a video set in and around a remote Swiss châlet.
"Last Christmas" became the highest-selling single ever to peak at #2 in the UK charts. As such, Wham! donated all their royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal to coincide with the fund-raising intentions of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", the song which kept them out of the top spot. Nevertheless, Band Aid's success meant that Michael had achieved #1 status within three separate entities in 1984 — as a solo artist, as one half of a duo, and as part of a charity ensemble.
Several months after their UK releases, their three U.S. number-one singles in a row (and their only number ones) were "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (closely coinciding with Make It Bigs release), "Careless Whisper
Careless Whisper
"Careless Whisper" is a 1984 single by George Michael , released by Epic Records in the UK, Japan, and other countries; and by Columbia Records in North America. The song was George Michael's first solo single although he was still performing in Wham! at the time...
", and "Everything She Wants
Everything She Wants
"Everything She Wants" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.- History :...
". "Freedom
Freedom (Wham! song)
"Freedom" is a song by British pop duo Wham! in 1984, becoming the group's second UK #1 hit. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo.-History:...
" hit number three. At the end of 1985, the U.S. Billboard charts
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1985
Billboard magazine each year releases a Year-End chart of the most popular songs across all genres called the Hot 100 songs of the year.This is the Year-End Hot 100 songs of 1985.-See also:*1985 in music*List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1985...
listed "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" as the number-three song and "Careless Whisper
Careless Whisper
"Careless Whisper" is a 1984 single by George Michael , released by Epic Records in the UK, Japan, and other countries; and by Columbia Records in North America. The song was George Michael's first solo single although he was still performing in Wham! at the time...
" as the number-one song of the year.
China and Live Aid
In April 1985, Wham! took a break from recording to embark on an interminable world tour, including a ground-breaking 10-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group. The China excursion was a masterful publicity scheme devised by Simon Napier-BellSimon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...
(one of their two managers—Jazz Summers being the other). It culminated in a concert at the Workers' Gymnasium in Beijing in front of 10,000 people. Director Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
documented the tour in his film Foreign Skies.
Sporting a beard, Michael appeared with Ridgeley onstage at Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
(although they did not perform as Wham!). Michael sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
while Ridgeley joined Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....
in the row of backup singers. In September, Wham! released "I'm Your Man
I'm Your Man
I'm Your Man is the eighth studio album by Leonard Cohen, released in 1988. The album marked Cohen's further move to a more modern sound, with many songs having a synthpop production....
" which went to #1 in the UK charts.
Michael claimed to have begun a relationship with model/makeup artist Kathy Yeung around this time, and Ridgeley began one with Keren Woodward
Keren Woodward
Keren Woodward is an English pop singer and songwriter of British girl group Bananarama, co-founded by her long time school friend Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey....
of Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
. Ridgeley also took up the hobby of rally driving, famously crashing one car before the end of 1985. "Last Christmas" was re-issued for the festive season and again made the UK Top 10, peaking at #6, while Michael took up offers he was starting to receive to add his voice to other artists' songs. He performed backing vocals for David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
and for Elton John on his successful singles "Nikita
Nikita
Nikita is a French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson; it was released in the United States as La Femme Nikita. The film is about a young criminal who is recruited to work for French intelligence. Nikita was remade into the U.S...
" (a UK #3) and "Wrap Her Up
Wrap Her Up
"Wrap Her Up" is a song on English pop-rock performer Elton John's 1985 album, Ice on Fire. George Michael duets on the song. The song reached number twenty....
," (a UK #12) on which he sang co-lead.
Demise
Michael desired to create music targeted to a more sophisticated audience than the duo's primarily teenage fan-base. Therefore, Michael and Ridgeley officially announced the breakup of Wham! in the spring of 1986, but that a farewell single and album would be forthcoming, along with a historic grand finale concert at Wembley StadiumWembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
on 28 June 1986, called The Final. British pop group Five Star
Five Star
Five Star are a British pop / R&B group, formed in 1983. Comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson, they were known for their flamboyant image, matching costumes and heavily choreographed dance routines...
declined George's invitation to be the supporting act, saying they needed to concentrate on their own career at the time.
The farewell single was "The Edge of Heaven
The Edge of Heaven
"The Edge of Heaven" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single.-History:...
," which reached #1 in June, 1986. "Where Did Your Heart Go?
Where Did Your Heart Go?
"Where Did Your Heart Go?" is a song written by David Was and Don Was and performed by Was . It was featured as the second track on the ensemble's début album Was in 1981.-Wham! version:...
" was the group's final single in the United States. The song, originally recorded by art-rock ensemble Was (Not Was)
Was (Not Was)
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Contributions:* A Christmas Record - "Christmas Time In The Motor City"* That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are"...
, was a gloomy and sombre affair that telegraphed the intentions of George Michael for the next decade's work, and would fit musically on any of his solo albums. The duo's last album was a double-LP collection of all the singles to date, including some extended versions, and was also called "The Final" (released in North America as the severely pared-down Music from the Edge of Heaven
Music from the Edge of Heaven
Music from the Edge of Heaven is the third and final studio album from the British pop duo Wham!, in 1986.The album was only released in Japan and the Americas; other territories got The Final instead...
with alternate tracks). Wham! then bade goodbye to their fans (73,000 of whom attended the eight-hour event) and each other with an emotional embrace at the end of the show. The band had been together five years, selling close to 20 million albums and 10 to 15 million singles. Foreign Skies, the documentary of their tour of China, received its world premiere as part of the festivities, making it the most highly-attended film première in history.
Post-Wham!
For several years after becoming a solo artist, George Michael spoke in public negatively about his time in Wham!, partly because of the intense negativity of media coverage on partner Ridgeley. Michael complained of the constant pressure he felt, and he claimed that the duo had been mistreated financially. He also spoke disparagingly about the Wham! repertoire, especially the songs from the first album.However, his perspective on the era has softened somewhat in recent years. He still performs "I'm Your Man" and "Everything She Wants," one of the more critically acclaimed songs from the Wham! era, at his solo concerts. He and Ridgeley had a few reunions.
Ridgeley moved to Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
after Wham!'s break-up and tried his hand at Formula Three
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
motor racing. Meeting with little success, Ridgeley moved to Los Angeles to pursue his singing/acting career, the failure of which caused him to return to England in 1990. Regardless, CBS Records, having taken up the option on Wham!'s contract that specified solo albums from Michael and Ridgeley, released a guitar-and-drum-driven solo effort from Ridgeley, Son of Albert
Son of Albert
Son of Albert is the debut solo album of Andrew Ridgeley. Originally released in May 1990, Ridgeley's effort was a sharp turn away from his former pop image with Wham! years earlier. Focusing more on guitars and drums, the critics panned Ridgeley’s attempt at a solo record...
, in 1990. His brother Paul—a frequent percussionist for Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
—played drums on the album. Singles included "Shake" and "Red Dress." CBS declined the option of a second album.
On 21 November 2009, there was a Wham!-themed night on television's The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
. Michael later appeared on the show's final episode, performing a duet of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with finalist and eventual winner Joe McElderry
Joe McElderry
Joseph "Joe" McElderry is an English singer and model. He won the sixth series of the ITV show The X Factor in 2009. His first single "The Climb" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Charts. He was also crowned the winner of the second series of Popstar to Operastar, two...
.
External links
- Official website of George Michael
- Wham! at Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...