Wham! facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Wham!
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Wham! in 1985: George Michael (left) and Andrew Ridgeley (right)
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Bushey, Hertfordshire, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 1981–1986 |
| Labels | |
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| Past members | |
Wham! was a super popular English pop group that started in Bushey in 1981. The group was made up of two friends, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They quickly became one of the most successful pop acts of the 1980s. Between 1982 and 1986, they sold over 30 million records around the world!
Wham! was inspired by funk and soul music. Their first album in 1983, Fantastic, talked about problems like unemployment and how teenagers felt about growing up in the United Kingdom. Their second album, Make It Big in 1984, was a huge hit worldwide. It reached number one in both the UK and the United States. Wham! was part of a time when many British bands became popular in the US, known as the Second British Invasion. Songs from Make It Big like "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Everything She Wants", and "Careless Whisper" all became number one hits in the US. In 1985, Wham! made history by being the first Western pop group to visit China. This trip was a big step in helping China and Western countries become friendlier.
In 1986, Wham! decided to break up. George Michael wanted to make music for an older audience, not just teenagers. Before they went their separate ways, they released a last song called "The Edge of Heaven" and a greatest hits album titled The Final. They also held a big farewell concert called The Final.
Contents
The Story of Wham!
George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley first met at Bushey Meads School in Bushey, England. They were in a short-lived band called The Executive with other school friends. After that band split up, George and Andrew decided to form Wham!
Andrew Ridgeley said they chose the name "Wham!" because they wanted something that showed their energy and friendship. He felt "Wham!" was catchy, fun, and lively. A design company called Stylorouge added the exclamation mark to the band's name.
The two friends worked hard to get a record deal. Andrew would often meet Mark Dean from Innervision Records and give him their demo tape. In February 1982, Dean offered them a recording deal.
At first, George and Andrew wrote songs together, like "Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)" and "Club Tropicana". But while they were recording their first album, Fantastic, they agreed that George was the stronger songwriter. So, George took charge of writing most of the songs. Even though they were still teenagers, they presented themselves as carefree young people who enjoyed life without too many worries. Their early songs showed this, sometimes making fun of things and sometimes commenting on society.
Their first song, "Wham Rap!", came out in June 1982. It didn't become a big hit at first.
In October 1982, they released "Young Guns (Go for It)". This song also struggled to become popular until Wham! got a lucky break. They were asked to perform on the TV show Top of the Pops when another act canceled.
Growing Popularity
Wham!'s performance of "Young Guns (Go for It)" on Top of the Pops made a big impression. George Michael wore cool clothes, and Andrew Ridgeley stood behind him with their backing dancers, Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman. After the show, the song quickly jumped into the top 40 and reached number 3 in December. The next year, Dee C. Lee left to work with Paul Weller, and Helen 'Pepsi' DeMacque joined as a backing singer. Shirlie Holliman and Pepsi DeMacque later formed their own group called Pepsi & Shirlie.
Wham! followed up "Young Guns (Go for It)" with new releases of "Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)", "Bad Boys", and "Club Tropicana". By the end of 1983, Wham! was one of Britain's biggest pop groups, competing with other popular bands like Culture Club and Duran Duran. Their first album, Fantastic, was number 1 in the UK for two weeks in 1983.
New Record Deal and More Hits
After some disagreements with their first record company, Innervision, Wham! signed with Epic Records. In the US, they were on Epic's sister label, Columbia Records. In 1984, Wham! came back with a new album and a fresh, updated pop image. These changes helped their next song, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", become a top ten hit in many countries. It was their first number 1 song in both the US and the UK. The music video showed the duo with Pepsi and Shirlie wearing T-shirts that said "CHOOSE LIFE" and "GO GO".
The next song from the Wham! album was "Careless Whisper". This song featured only George Michael in the music video. In some places, it was called "Wham! featuring George Michael", and in others, it was just credited to George Michael as a solo artist. However, Andrew Ridgeley also helped write this song. "Careless Whisper" was a more emotional song about someone who made a mistake in a relationship. It reached number 1 and sold over 1.3 million copies in the UK. This song showed a new side to George Michael's music.
The next song was "Freedom", which was released as a Wham! song. For the US release of "Freedom", Wham! used parts of their tour footage from China in the music video. Their second album, Make It Big, reached number 1 on the album charts, and the band started a big tour at the end of 1984.
The double song "Last Christmas/Everything She Wants" became the best-selling song ever to reach number 2 in the UK charts. It stayed at number 2 for five weeks. Wham! gave all the money they earned from this song to help people affected by the famine in Ethiopia. This was done to support the charity song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid, which was the song that kept Wham! from reaching number 1. In 1984, George Michael had a number 1 hit in the UK in three different ways: as a solo artist, as part of Wham!, and as part of the charity group Band Aid.
At the end of 1985, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" was listed as the number-three song of the year in the US, and "Careless Whisper" was the number-one song of the year.
Historic China Visit (1985)
In March 1985, Wham! took a break from recording to go on a long world tour. This tour included a very special 10-day visit to China. They were the first Western pop group to ever perform there! The China trip was a big publicity idea from their manager, Simon Napier-Bell. They played a concert in Beijing for 12,000 people and another in Canton for 5,000 people. They performed these concerts for free. Wham!'s visit to China got a lot of attention from news outlets all over the world.
A British director named Lindsay Anderson went with Wham! to China to make a documentary film about their visit. The film was later re-edited and released as Wham! in China: Foreign Skies.
Live Aid Performance (1985)
On July 13, 1985, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley appeared at Live Aid, a huge concert to raise money for charity. They didn't perform as Wham! George Michael sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with Elton John. Andrew Ridgeley joined the backing singers with Kiki Dee. In September, Wham! released the song "I'm Your Man", which became number 1 in the UK.
Around this time, Andrew Ridgeley started a relationship with Keren Woodward from the band Bananarama. He also started rally car driving as a hobby. "Last Christmas" was re-released for the holiday season and again reached the UK Top 10. Meanwhile, George Michael started singing backing vocals for other artists, like David Cassidy and Elton John.
The Breakup (1986)
George Michael wanted to make music for an older, more mature audience, rather than just teenagers. So, in the spring of 1986, he and Andrew Ridgeley officially announced that Wham! was breaking up. George Michael said he thought it would be "the most friendly split in pop history."
Before they went their separate ways, they released a farewell song called "The Edge of Heaven", which became number 1 in June 1986. Their last song in the United States was "Where Did Your Heart Go?". The duo's final release was a collection of all their songs, including some longer versions. This was released in North America as Music from the Edge of Heaven.
On June 28, 1986, Wham! said goodbye to their fans at Wembley Stadium in London. 72,000 people attended the eight-hour concert on a very hot day. The duo had been together for five years, selling over 28 million records. The documentary about their China tour, Foreign Skies, was shown for the first time as part of the farewell event.
After Wham!
After Wham! broke up, George Michael became a very successful solo artist. For a while, he didn't talk much about his time with Wham! in a positive way. He felt a lot of pressure and thought they were treated unfairly with money. He also didn't like some of Wham!'s music videos and songs from their first album. However, as he got older, his feelings about Wham! softened. In his solo concerts, he would still perform "I'm Your Man" and "Everything She Wants", which was one of Wham!'s most praised songs.
Andrew Ridgeley moved to Monaco after Wham! broke up and tried Formula Three motor racing. When that didn't work out, he moved to Los Angeles to try singing and acting. He eventually returned to England in 1990. He did release a solo album called Son of Albert in 1990, but it didn't sell well.
On George Michael's 25th birthday in 1988, Andrew Ridgeley surprised him on stage during a concert. Andrew pushed a trolley with a huge birthday cake, and they led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday". Then, Andrew joined George to perform "I'm Your Man".
In January 1991, Andrew Ridgeley joined George Michael on stage for a few songs at a concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2009, there was a Wham!-themed night on the TV show The X Factor in the UK. George Michael later appeared on the show's final episode. In 2012, George Michael said that rumors about a Wham! reunion were not true.
George Michael passed away on Christmas Day 2016 at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He was 53 years old. When Andrew Ridgeley heard the news, he shared his sadness on Twitter, saying he was "Heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog."
Wham! Albums
- Fantastic (1983)
- Make It Big (1984)
Wham! Documentaries
- Wham! in China: Foreign Skies (1986)
Wham! Concert Tours
- Club Fantastic Tour (1983)
- The Big Tour (1984–85)
- Whamamerica! (1985)
- The Final (1986)
See also
In Spanish: Wham! para niños
