Wham!: George Michael & Me

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Just a few years later, Bananarama made it into the Guinness Book Of Records as the most successful female group of all time. To date they have had 30 chart hits. In the US, Venus became their first No1 single on the Billboard chart. Their combined record sales were over 40 million. Formed in 1981, Wham! found success with a speed and ease that’s virtually unheard of now, in an era of manufactured pop bands and nepo babies. That they did it for the love of music, not fame, makes their story even more charming, not least to a new generation of fans who grew up on a diet of reality TV, and who view fame more as an end game than a by-product of talent or success. Melanie's death came just two days after she issued a joint statement with the rest of the Panayiotou family thanking George's fans for standing by them. He is pleased with the documentary, which is true to the spirit of Wham!, “essentially a manifestation of our friendship and our youthfulness”. They blazed brightly – a blur of neon and hairspray and energy – for four short years, during which they produced incredible songs, among them Club Tropicana, Careless Whisper, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Last Christmas. “They each have character,” says Ridgeley. “We grew up listening to a really varied range of music. We never confined our listening to a particular genre. We were fans of everything.” She was also with him for most of his life milestones, and George left the bulk of his estate to her and Yioda when he died aged 53 from heart and fatty liver disease.

I didn't have any real ambitions to do anything else in music," he said. "I didn't have any artistic destiny like Yog. I had a girlfriend and we had a really rather nice couple of years in LA."George has left for us in his songs, in the transcendental beauty of his voice, and poetic expression of his soul, the very best of himself. I loved him and in return, we, you, have been loved."

Careless Whisper” is one of the most beloved tunes of all time. The sax-drenched guilt ballad topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic upon its release in 1984, and has since been voted the UK’s favorite song. Amazingly, Wham! were sitting on this gem right from the very beginning. A 16-year-old Michael came up with the song while riding the bus and fleshed it out with help from Ridgeley. An early version appeared alongside semi-completed renditions of “Wham Rap!” and “Club Tropicana” on the 1982 demo tape that earned the duo a deal with the record label Innervision. 6. Michael came out to Ridgeley in 1983. Its rich in fact and I cant fault the information given as it builds an in depth picture into the whole Whamania years plus the before and after zet George op een voetstuk als één van de beste zangers en songwriters van zijn generatie, iemand die niet onderdoet voor Freddie Mercury en Elton John. In hindsight, the music wasn't actually too bad for the time, but critics weren't kind to Ridgeley's solo efforts. Perhaps people were disappointed that Andrew had taken a guitar-driven route that veered wildly from Wham!, or maybe his work suffered from too many inevitable comparisons to George's huge success at the time. Whatever the case, Ridgeley never released another album of solo material again.The documentary was Ridgeley’s idea, which he proposed to the George Michael estate after realising that there was still a huge affection for Wham! – so much affection that their 1984 single, Last Christmas, reached last year’s much-coveted Christmas Number One spot, 38 years after its original release. That sounds as though you are in a relationship, I say. “No.” Pause. “I have several relationships.” Several? “Yes.” Several romantic relationships? “Yes. Love comes in a variety of forms. I had a long-term relationship with Keren [Woodward, of 1980s pop group Bananarama] for many years, and we still have a great affection for each other. Great gig, shame about the show trial". The Telegraph. 31 March 2001. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 . Retrieved 14 May 2013. It’s extraordinary how much it feels like a dialogue between you and George finishing each other’s sentences.

George Michael: Former partner 'heartbroken' at star's death". Sky News. 26 December 2016 . Retrieved 21 June 2023. He lived with Bananarama band member Keren Woodward in Cornwall between 1990 and 2017. Since then he has been seen with influencer Amanda Cronin. Cornwall is one of the places Ridgeley calls home, dividing his time between there and London. A keen cyclist (“largely for wellbeing and socialising – it keeps you fit, keeps the weight off and you get to see some wonderful countryside”), he’s involved in Papyrus, a charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide, as well as the Delaglio Foundation, which supports children who have been excluded from mainstream education by helping them to find employment.

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I had a very anti-pathetical relationship with the press, and it didn’t do me any good. I saw it as a sport, they saw it as sport, but actually it would have been far easier, had I been slightly less confrontational. I don’t think that served me well.” Kaloi, Stephanie (6 July 2023). "Andrew Ridgeley's Dating History: From Keren Woodward to Amanda Cronin". People . Retrieved 14 July 2023. From 1990 to 2017, Ridgeley was in a relationship with Keren Woodward, [29] [30] a member of the group Bananarama. They lived with her son in a restored 15th-century farm property near Wadebridge, Cornwall, England. [31] Ridgeley announced he was dating socialite Amanda Cronin in summer 2022; they separated in May 2023. [32] Memoir [ edit ]