Wham! George & Me: The Sunday Times Bestseller 2020

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It concludes with Ridgeley and Michael reflecting on their sell-out farewell concert The Final on 28 June 1986 at Wembley Stadium. The film restoration was performed by R3store Studios in London to clean and scan the archive material, with many reels untouched for 40 years. They also restored large portions of Wham! in China, the 1986 documentary film. [20]

A joyous celebration of the WHAM! years. For anyone who was a teenager in the early 1980s, it will take you on a nostalgia trip . . . It's an honest but affectionate account of a remarkable duo' Daily Express In late 1984, Michael describes how he felt attending the event to record Band Aid's " Do They Know It's Christmas?" at Sarm West Studios which would coincide with the release of their own release "Last Christmas". Showing outtakes from "Last Christmas" video shoot filmed in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. Halligan, Fionnuala (17 June 2023). " 'WHAM!': Sheffield Review". Screendaily . Retrieved 19 June 2023. For the firsttime, Andrew Ridgeley—one half of one of the most famous bands in the world—tells the inside story of Wham!, his lifelong friendship with George Michael, and the formation of a band that changed the shape of the music scene inthe early eighties.In 1984, the band went to Studio Miraval in Southern France to record their second studio album Make It Big. Andrew's memoir covers in wonderful detail those years, up until that last iconic concert: the scrapes, the laughs, the relationships, the good and the bad. It's a unique and one-and-only time to remember that era, that band and those boys. You co-wrote ‘Careless Whisper’ as schoolkids and were rightly convinced it was a surefire Number One – despite George’s sisters dubbing it ‘Tuneless Whisper’ to rib him… In 1975 Andrew took a shy new boy at school under his wing. They instantly hit it off and their boyhood escapades at Bushey Meads School built a bond that was never broken. The duo found themselves riding an astonishing rollercoaster of success, taking them all over the world. They made and broke iconic records, they were treated like gods, but they stayed true to their friendship and ultimately to themselves. It was a party that seemed as if it would never end. And then it did, in front of tens of thousands of tearful fans at Wembley Stadium in 1986. Last Christmas’’s position as the biggest-selling single in UK chart history not to reach Number One (it was beaten by Band Aid’s ‘ Do They Know It’s Christmas’ – which also featured George Michael) used to piss George off. Would he have been happy that it finally topped the charts in 2020?

The Wham! star charts his treasured friendship with George Michael, from their meeting at school in 1975 to George's untimely death in 2016. The duo left a legacy of pop classics from the exuberant Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go to the evergreen Last Christmas, and Ridgeley's enthusiasm for life in a chart-topping band is as infectious as their music Daily Mirror In 1975 Andrew took a shy new boy at school under his wing. They instantly hit it off, and their boyhood escapades at Bushy Meads School built a bond that was never broken. Theduo found themselves riding an astonishing roller coaster of success, taking them all over the world. They made and broke iconic records, they were treated like gods, but they stayed true to their friendship and ultimately to themselves. It was a party that seemed as if it would never end. And then it did, in front of tens of thousands of tearful fans at Wembley Stadium in 1986.In this moving memoir, which is also a vivid nostalgia trip for anyone who was a teenager in the 70s and 80s, he tells the story of his friendship and musical collaboration with George Michael. Engaging.' - Sunday Express

It's a joyous celebration of the Wham! years. For anyone who was a teenager in the early 1980s, it will take you on a nostalgia trip, with dozens of comically captioned photos of the band during the white espadrille years. It's an honest but affectionate account of a remarkable duo who remained true to their origins and their friendship throughout it all Daily Express

Take a look through these incredible images from Live Aid:

It does change the dynamic of a friendship, but the lovely thing is all four of us have always been friends. I was best friends with George until he passed away and Andrew and Pepsi are like family to me, so you don’t hear that from many bands that they still all love each other." When is the Wham! documentary out? It's a joyous celebration of the Wham! years. For anyone who was a teenager in the early 1980s, it will take you on a nostalgia trip, with dozens of comically captioned photos of the band during the white espadrille years. It's an honest but affectionate account of a remarkable duo who remained true to their origins and their friendship throughout it all.' - Daily Express