"Freedom" | ||||
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Single by Wham! | ||||
from the album Make It Big | ||||
B-side |
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Released |
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Studio | Miraval (France) [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | CBS | |||
Songwriter(s) | George Michael | |||
Producer(s) | George Michael | |||
Wham! singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Freedom" on YouTube |
"Freedom" is a 1984 song by English pop duo Wham! from their album Make It Big , released on 1 October 1984. It became the group's second number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and reached number three in America. [3] It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo. [4]
Wham! had already enjoyed a successful 1984 by the time "Freedom" was released in October of the year. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" had given them their first UK number one and had then reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Michael had then gone to number one with a solo single, "Careless Whisper".
"Freedom" was number one in the UK for three weeks, [3] and featured on the album Make It Big , which was issued at the same time. "Freedom" was the 10th biggest-selling single of 1984. [5] This song also reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in September 1985. [6]
The melody of the song's chorus was used by Michael as an introduction to his song, "Faith", played on a church organ. [7]
A reworked version of the song with altered lyrics (but still performed by the duo) was used to promote Maxell's line of audio cassettes in 1984. [8]
When the single was released in the United States, the song was remixed and extended an extra 20 seconds. The remix involved the vocals being given more reverb and the organ sounds being higher up in the mix. The extension involved a new trumpet section and added vocals. The section had first been heard in The Big Tour to close the number.
The music video, coinciding with the 1985 US release, features the band touring around Beijing, China. Their visit to the nation was significant because they were the first Western pop band to play China.
The American remix was later included on The Final and later, the greatest hits compilation album The Best of Wham!: If You Were There... . However, the original version was included on the US release of Make It Big.
Cash Box said that "George Michael's R&B tinged vocals soar with the tune's catchy refrain." [9] Billboard described the song as a "Motown tribute". [10]
All tracks are written by George Michael
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Freedom" | 5:08 |
2. | "Freedom" (instrumental) | 5:10 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Freedom" | 5:20 |
2. | "Heartbeat" | 4:42 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Freedom" (long version) | 7:14 |
2. | "Freedom" (instrumental) | 5:10 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Freedom" (long mix) | 6:16 |
2. | "Heartbeat" | 4:42 |
3. | "Freedom" (instrumental) | 5:10 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Netherlands (NVPI) [41] | Gold | 75,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [42] | Gold | 700,000 [43] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
British country singer Tommy Atkins released a cover version of "Freedom" in 2020. His version featured an "openly gay" lyric edit, swapping in "boy, all I really want is you." The recording reached the top 5 on download charts across the UK, Canada and New Zealand. The recording made history, becoming the first country hit in the UK and Europe to feature overtly gay lyrics. Atkins' version was playlisted by hundreds of major country radio and pop stations. The cultural significance of this was acknowledged in the BBC 6 Music documentary Loud and Proud. [44]
"Time After Time" is a 1983 song by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, co-written with Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals. It was the second single released from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). The track was produced by Rick Chertoff and released as a single in March 1984. The song became Lauper's first number 1 hit in the U.S. The song was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written or recorded. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide magazine, referring to the science fiction film Time After Time (1979).
"Careless Whisper" is a song recorded by British singer-songwriter George Michael. Released as the second single from Wham!'s second studio album Make It Big (1984), it was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, with Michael producing the song. Although the song was released as part of Make it Big, the single release is credited to either Wham! featuring George Michael or solely to George Michael.
"Off the Wall" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, from his fifth album of the same name (1979). It was written by English songwriter Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones, and released by Epic Records as the album's third single on November 17, 1979, in the UK and on February 2, 1980, in the US The song was first offered to Karen Carpenter, while she was working on her first solo album, but she turned it down. Lyrically, the song is about getting over troubles.
"No More Lonely Nights" is a song written and performed by Paul McCartney, first released on 24 September 1984 on the album Give My Regards to Broad Street
"Freedom! '90" is a song written, produced, and performed by English singer-songwriter George Michael, and released on Columbia Records in October 1990. The "'90" added to the end of the title is to prevent confusion with a hit by Michael's former band Wham!, also entitled "Freedom". The song's backing beat is a sample from James Brown's song "Funky Drummer".
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified platinum in the US, which at the time commemorated sales of over two million copies. The music video features Michael and Ridgeley wearing oversized message T-shirts created by Katharine Hamnett, starting a craze covered in the 2002 VH1 series I Love the 80s.
"Everything She Wants" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released as a single in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written and produced by George Michael, a member of the duo, becoming their third consecutive million-selling number-one hit in the United States.
"I'm Your Man" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released in 1985 on Epic Records in the UK and most of the world, and Columbia Records in the US. It was written and produced by George Michael.
"The Edge of Heaven" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single.
"A Different Corner" is a song written and performed by George Michael that was released on Epic Records in 1986.
"Nightshift" is a 1985 song by the Commodores and the title track from their album of the same name. The song was written by lead singer Walter Orange in collaboration with Dennis Lambert and Franne Golde as a tribute to soul/R&B singers Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye, both of whom died in 1984. The song was released as the album's first single in January 1985 by Motown Records. "Nightshift" was recorded in 1984 and became the Commodores' first hit after Lionel Richie's departure from the group.
"The Wild Boys" is the twelfth single by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 26 October 1984 in the United Kingdom.
"Love Is a Battlefield" is a song by American singer Pat Benatar, recorded and released on September 12, 1983, as a single from Benatar's live album Live from Earth (1983), though the song itself was a studio recording. It was written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman. The song was ranked at number 30 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s. "Love Is a Battlefield" went on to sell over a million records.
"We Belong" is a song recorded by American rock singer Pat Benatar, released through Legacy Music Group on October 16, 1984, as the lead single from her sixth studio album, Tropico (1984). The song written by songwriting duo Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro. It matched the success of "Love Is a Battlefield" on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States, peaking at #5. It reached #3 on Billboard's Top Rock Tracks chart and #34 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
"Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)", initially released as "European Queen (No More Love on the Run)", is a 1984 song by Trinidadian-British singer Billy Ocean. Co-written and produced by Keith Diamond, it climbed to number one on both the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Black Singles chart, and number six on the UK Singles Chart. The song won Ocean the 1985 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, making him the first British artist to win in that category.
"Hello" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie. Taken as the third single from his second solo album, Can't Slow Down (1983), the song was released in 1984 and reached number one on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart, the R&B chart, and the Adult Contemporary chart. The song also went to number one on the UK Singles Chart for six weeks.
"Let's Hear It for the Boy" is a song by Deniece Williams that appeared on the soundtrack to the feature film Footloose. The song was released as a single from both the soundtrack and her album of the song's same name on February 14, 1984, by Columbia Records. It was written by Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford and produced by George Duke. The song became Williams' second number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on May 26, 1984, also topping the dance and R&B charts, and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, behind "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and was certified platinum in the US and gold in Canada and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America, Music Canada and the British Phonographic Industry, respectively. The music video was released in mid-April 1984. The song features background vocals from George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who would go on to form the duo Boy Meets Girl.
"Self Control" is a song by Italian singer Raf, released in 1984. It was written by Giancarlo Bigazzi, Steve Piccolo and Raf, and arranged by Celso Valli. The track topped the charts in Italy and Switzerland, and started the explosion and dominance of Italo disco-style recordings in continental European charts during the 1980s.
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was originally recorded by John for his eighth studio album, Caribou (1974), and was released as a single that peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Smooth Operator" is a song by English band Sade from their debut studio album, Diamond Life (1984), and was co-written by Sade and Ray St. John. It was released as the album's third single in the United Kingdom as a 7-inch single with "Spirit" as its B-side, and as a 12-inch maxi single with "Smooth Operator" and "Red Eye" on side A and "Spirit" on side B. Released on 28 August 1984, it reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart.