With late singer George Michael's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, and a resurgence in the music and moves of '80s heart throbs Wham!, fans can now dive even deeper in a brand new Netflix documentary featuring archival footage and commentary from co-founder Andrew Ridgeley.
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Now streaming, Netflix's Wham! shares the story of childhood friends Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael's rise to stardom in Wham! through archival interviews and footage all the way through the duo's amicable split and George's subsequent solo career. "I was the proudest person of [Michael’s] creative development throughout," Ridgeley explains in a new interview with Yahoo!, "and it was very, very swift, indeed. No one could have been more pleased than me.”
"It was essential that Wham! was a success for George personally," Andrew adds. "He was discovering himself. He hadn't found the person, or at least he hadn't been able to reveal it to himself or bring out the person that he was. He was very strongly opinionated, and he had great belief in his talent. But it took a little time for him to really, truly develop.” Eventually stepping out of the songwriting role to allow George space to grow, it was actually a song Andrew co-wrote with him, "Careless Whisper," that proved to be the launching point for Michael to go solo. The track, Ridgeley says, was "a real sort of one-off; at that point in time, it was still difficult to see how it might sit in the Wham! context."
"We all knew we had a gem in ‘Careless Whisper’; it was what to do with it," he admits. That's when Michael asked if Andrew would be opposed to him releasing it as a solo record. "At that point it had been established that he was the songwriting force in our partnership," Andrew says, "and that his songwriting was developing in a way that would inform and shape his career."
"I knew, and he knew, that his future lay outside of Wham!, even at that point,” Ridgeley explains. “Wham! imposed constraints upon his songwriting, which he was going to outgrow as an artist, as George Michael. He couldn't forever write for Wham!, because Wham! was essentially the representation of our youthful friendship up to that point. But we were growing into men and adults."
Wham!, directed by Chris Smith (FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, Bad Vegan, Tiger King) is streaming now on Netflix. Check out the official trailer above.
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