Wham!

"Wham" redirects here. For other uses, see Wham (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Whaam!.

Wham!
A black-and-white photograph of the members of the English pop duo Wham!, circa 1985.
Wham! in 1985: George Michael (left) and Andrew Ridgeley (right)
Background information
OriginBushey, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Genres
DiscographyWham! discography
Years active1981–1986
Labels
Past members
Websitewham.world

Wham! (known in the US as Wham! UK) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.[3][4] They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986.[5] Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, the singles "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Everything She Wants" and "Careless Whisper" all topped the US Billboard Hot 100.

Influenced by funk and soul music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Wham!'s 1983 debut album Fantastic addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem and teen angst over adulthood.[6] Their second studio album Make It Big in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting at number one in both the UK and the United States. In 1985, Wham! made a highly publicised ten-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group.[7] The event was seen as a major watershed moment in increasing friendly bilateral relations between China and the West.[8]

In 1986, Wham! disbanded. Michael was keen to create music targeted at a more sophisticated adult market rather than the duo's primarily teenage audience. Before going their separate ways, they released a farewell single, "The Edge of Heaven", and a greatest-hits album titled The Final, along with a farewell concert entitled the Final.

  1. ^ Himes, Geoffrey (12 September 1990). "WHAM! SEPARATE TRACKS". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  2. ^ Wilson, Carl (20 March 2014). "You Come and Go, You Come and Go ..." Slate. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  3. ^ Biography by Ed Nimmervoll. "Wham! | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  4. ^ Rettenmund, Matthew (15 October 1996). Totally awesome 80s. St. Martin's Press. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-0-312-14436-4. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  5. ^ Qualen, John (1985). The Music Industry: The End of Vinyl?. Comedia's Media and Communications Industry Profile Series. Vol. 5. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-906890-58-6.
  6. ^ "Why George Michael's Wham! period is in need of a reappraisal". CBC Music. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  7. ^ McCarty, Lorraine Yvette (2010). "'Big in Japan': Orientalism in 1980s British Pop Music". The Mid-Atlantic Almanack. 19.
  8. ^ Neville, Sam (28 April 1985). "ROCK: East meets Wham!, and another great wall comes down". Chicago Tribune – via ProQuest.