Wham!

Wham! charted a course akin to many contemporary British pop acts by embracing vibrant, sugary melodies and robust, lively rhythms during an era when numerous rising U.K. ensembles leaned toward sleek, emotionally distant synth pop. Childhood companions George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, who made up Wham!, paid attention to style—their vibrant imagery suited MTV perfectly—yet they rejected the pretentious and gloomy elements of new wave, drawing instead from American dance and pop traditions while experimenting lightly with rap on their debut release “Wham! Rap (Enjoy What You Do).” Together with “Young Guns (Go for It)” and “Bad Boys,” that track secured the group’s first U.K. Top Ten placements in 1983, though the exuberant “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” propelled them to global fame. Michael quickly emerged as the standout, his fluid and soulful delivery highlighted on the duo’s next chart-topper “Careless Whisper,” sometimes issued under his name alone. Wham! maintained their dominance through 1985, yet the introspective “A Different Corner” in 1986 signaled Michael’s parting from his longtime partner; by year’s end the act had dissolved, positioning Michael for solo superstardom.

The pair first connected as preteens at Bushey Meads School in Hertfordshire, England. Their early bond led them to play together in a ska-revival outfit called the Executive before they struck out independently. Drawing from American dance and R&B influences, they chose the name Wham! to capture their bright, energetic rapport. After inking a deal with Innervision Records, they issued “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)” in June 1982, which attracted little notice at first. Success arrived with “Young Guns (Go for It),” another expression of their youthful outlook; its number-three peak ignited British stardom and prompted a re-release of the earlier single that reached the Top Ten by early 1983. “Bad Boys” and “Club Tropicana” likewise entered the Top Ten that year, placing Wham! alongside Culture Club as the foremost U.K. acts mining American R&B.

Following a contentious departure from Innervision, the duo joined Epic Records—while Columbia handled U.S. duties under the same CBS umbrella—setting the stage for an expansive global campaign behind their sophomore effort Make It Big. The campaign opened with the buoyant “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” whose upbeat video featured the pair and backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie wearing “Choose Life” shirts; the song topped charts worldwide in summer 1984 and launched a blockbuster stretch that included additional leaders such as the lively “Freedom,” the sleek “Everything She Wants,” and the deceptively cheerful “Last Christmas,” which became a lasting holiday instrumental staple. “Careless Whisper,” the sultry ballad co-written in part by Ridgeley, also hit number one; some territories promoted it as a George Michael solo release, while others billed it as “Wham! Featuring George Michael.” Such inconsistent attribution first revealed CBS’s perception of Michael as the group’s central talent.

Despite underlying friction, Wham! remained busy in 1985, becoming the first Western act to tour China early that year. Tour footage later appeared in the American clip for “Freedom,” issued stateside months after its British chart-topping run, and formed the core of the 1986 documentary Wham! In China: Foreign Skies. The energetic “I’m Your Man” reached number one in the U.K. late in the year, yet Michael was already contemplating an exit. He issued the measured, reflective “A Different Corner” as a solo single in March 1986; several months afterward the partners formally disbanded, declaring their next release—the buoyant “The Edge of Heaven”—their finale and accompanying it with a farewell collection titled The Final that mixed earlier hits with newer tracks including “A Different Corner.” American label edits shortened the package to recent material and retitled it Music from the Edge of Heaven.

Shortly after the split, Michael issued Faith, the 1987 album that secured his solo eminence. Ridgeley’s own recording path proved less fruitful: his 1990 debut Son of Albert found few listeners, prompting his withdrawal from music. The two stayed close until Michael’s death on December 25, 2016. Ridgeley later authored the 2019 memoir Wham! George & Me and contributed to the 2023 documentary Wham!