George Michael was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with his sales estimated at between 100 million to 125 million records worldwide. Michael was known as a creative force in songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. He achieved 10 number-one songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 and 13 number-one songs on the UK singles chart. Michael won numerous music awards, including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. He was listed among Billboard's the "Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time" and Rolling Stone's the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time". The Radio Academy named him the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004. Michael was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.
Boogie Box High was an English pop musical project headed by Andros Georgiou in the late 1980s that featured a range of collaborators, including Georgiou's second cousin George Michael, guitarist Nick Heyward, keyboardist Mick Talbot, guitarist–songwriter David Austin, bassist Deon Estus, and others.
"Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!. Written and produced by George Michael, it was released on 3 December 1984 via CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side via Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in several European countries. The song has been covered by many artists since its original release, including Whigfield, Crazy Frog, Billie Piper, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande.
Andrew John Ridgeley is an English musician, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham! consisting of Ridgeley and George Michael. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, they were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Their singles "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Everything She Wants", and "Careless Whisper" all topped the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2019, Penguin Random House published Ridgeley's memoir Wham! George & Me.
Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, the singles "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Careless Whisper", and "Everything She Wants" all topped the US Billboard Hot 100.
Make It Big is the second studio album by English pop duo Wham!, released in 1984. In comparison to their earlier work, Wham! had more control over the album's production and Michael would also be credited as a producer. The album was a commercial success, hitting number one in both the US and the UK and spawning four singles, all reaching the top three in the US and the UK. Make It Big was certified 4× platinum in the US during the time of its release, and has since been certified 6× platinum in the US. In March 2024, Make It Big was reissued on vinyl for the first time in 30 years.
"Club Tropicana" is a single by English pop duo Wham!, released on 22 July 1983 on Innervision Records. It was written by members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
"Careless Whisper" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter George Michael. Released as the second single from Wham!'s second studio album Make It Big (1984), it was written by 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.
Fantastic is the debut studio album by English pop duo Wham!, released on 1 July 1983. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. It included the previously released singles "Young Guns", "Wham Rap!" and "Bad Boys". "Club Tropicana" was released as a single to coincide with the album's release. Although not on the album, "Club Fantastic Megamix" was released against the band's wishes by Innervision soon after Fantastic, and whilst they were in proceedings to leave the label.
"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 bandmate Andrew Ridgeley wearing oversized message T-shirts created by Katharine Hamnett, starting a craze covered in the 2002 VH1 series I Love the 80s. The song was ranked number 28 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.
"Bad Boys" is a song by English pop duo Wham! released on 6 May 1983. It was written and co-produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, and released on Innervision Records.
"Young Guns (Go for It)" (also listed as "Young Guns (Go for It!)" on some releases) is a song by English pop duo Wham! first released as a single in the UK by Innervision Records on 17 September 1982. Written and co-produced by George Michael, the song became Wham!'s first hit both in the UK and internationally after the BBC music programme Top of the Pops invited the duo onto the show as a last-minute replacement for another act which had pulled out, as the show's then-executive producer Michael Hurll had seen them on another programme, Saturday Superstore.
"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.
The Final is a greatest hits album released in 1986 to summarise the career of English pop duo Wham!. The album was not initially released in North America, where the album Music from the Edge of Heaven was released instead. Six songs from that album appear on this compilation. The compilation album coincided with the farewell concert of the same name on 28 June 1986, at Wembley Stadium.
Jeffery Deon Estus was an American musician and singer, best known as the bass player of Wham! and as the bassist on George Michael's first two solo projects. Estus' single "Heaven Help Me", with additional vocals by Michael, reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1989.
Music from the Edge of Heaven is the third and final studio album by English pop duo Wham! It was released on 27 June 1986 by Columbia Records.
"Club Fantastic Megamix" is a medley single released by Wham! on 25 November 1983, and was the last single release for the duo on Innervision Records. It was mixed by DMC's Alan Couthard and approved by Mark Dean, the manager of 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. The single, which consisted of a mix of the tracks "A Ray of Sunshine", "Love Machine" and "Come On" from the album Fantastic, reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.
David Austin is a British singer and songwriter, who released the single "Turn to Gold", co-written with George Michael in 1984. It reached No. 68 in the UK Singles Chart. The single featured backing vocals from Michael, who called Austin his best friend in the documentary film, A Different Story.
Wham! is a 2023 documentary film about the English pop duo Wham! consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. The film marks the 40th anniversary of their 1983 debut album Fantastic. Directed by Chris Smith it relies primarily on rare archive footage and audio interviews by the duo, including television appearances, concert footage, private home video, behind-the-scenes outtakes, and family comments all linked together using scrapbooks created by Ridgeley's mother. The film was co-produced by Ventureland / Passion Pictures, Nemperor Production, and Library Films with Altitude Film and Netflix serving as distributors.
