WHAM! broke onto the music scene during the 1980s and soon became one of the world’s most popular bands.
The duo was made up of former schoolmates George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, and their legacy continues to live on.
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What were Wham!’s biggest songs?
Wham! were an 80s pop duo made up school pals George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, though they occasionally performed as a quartet with Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman – who is now married to Martin Kemp.
They formed in 1981 after George and Andrew’s ska band The Executive split up.
The teenage pair quickly signed to a record label and a graphic design studio contributed the exclamation mark to the band name – before gaining a fandom through their first major hit Young Guns (Go For It!) in 1982.
By the end of 1983 Wham! had enjoyed two further chart hits with Bad Boys and Club Tropicana – and had achieved notoriety in the press by performing with shuttlecocks down their shorts during their first UK tour.
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At the end of that same year, Wham! were competing against pop rivals Culture Club and Duran Duran as one of Britain’s biggest pop acts.
Soon after that the band had a legal wrangling with their label Innervision over royalties and eventually broke free of them, joining Epic Records, who helped galvanise their success.
They went on to achieve smash hits with Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Everything She Wants, I’m Your Man, Last Christmas, Careless Whisper and Freedom.
In 1984, Wham!’s festive hit Last Christmas was kept off the Number One spot by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas, which George sung on.
Andrew and George opted to donate their royalties from the single release to the Ethiopian famine appeal.
By the end of 1985, the US 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.
Why did George Michael leave Wham!?
Wham! officially broke up in the spring of 1986 after George decided he wanted to pursue a solo career.
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At the time of the breakup, George said: ”I think it should be the most amicable split in pop history.”
They duo said their goodbyes at an eight-hour concert at Wembley Stadium in the summer after releasing two final singles, The Edge Of Heaven and Where Did Your Heart Go?.
At the event they also premiered their documentary about their tour of China, called Foreign Skies.
What was George Michael’s net worth?
Prior to his tragic death at the age of just 53, George is believed to have amassed a huge fortune worth a reported £105million.
Michael left his money to his sisters, his dad and a string of friends.
George’s dad Kyriacos was left a horseracing stud farm where he has lived for many years.
A source said at the time: “George was devoted to his dad and sisters, they were always going to be looked after.”
When did George Michael die?
In 2016, the news of George Michael’s death left fans across the world devastated.
George was found dead in bed at his Oxfordshire home by his boyfriend Fadi Fawaz on Christmas Day, 2016.
Following the tragic news, fans and famous faces around the world paid tribute to George.
Referring to him by his nickname “Yog” (Yours Only George), Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley said he was “heartbroken” by Michael’s death.
He wrote: “Heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog. Me, his loved ones, his friends, the world of music, the world at large. 4ever loved.”
Elton John also paid tribute to the star, saying: “I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend – the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist”.
In March 2017, Darren Salter, senior coroner for Oxfordshire, confirmed that George had died of natural causes after suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver.
The singer would have celebrated his 60th birthday in June 2023.
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