Wham!

Wham! is the name of a pop music duo formed by school friends George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in 1981.

Initially focussing on social commentary and problems facing the youth of Great Britain at the time, their songs became some of the biggest selling hits of the decade making the duo one of the best known and most commercially successful of pop culture both in Britain and abroad.

The career of the band was relatively short, with the first of their hits coming in late 1982, and their breakup in Spring 1986. In that short time Wham! had 11 UK Top 40 hits, including four no.1s, plus two no.1 studio albums, with the aptly named The Final reaching no.2 (held off the top only by Madonna). George Micahel's debut solo release Careless Whisper which also reached no.1 (his first of seven), was originally written by the duo and features on their second album Make It Big.

In March 1985, Wham! began a lengthy world tour, including a ground-breaking 10-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group, and one which attracted huge media attention across the world. the visit is documented in the film ''Wham! in China: Foreign Skies, ''which was shown at Wembley Stadium on large video screens on Saturday 28 June 1986 just prior to the band's farewell concert on that day, and later released on VHS. Ridgeley and Michael both participated in the Band Aid project and performed at Live Aid in July 1985 although not together as Wham!

Discography
UK releases only Other albums:
 * The Best of Wham!: If You Were There... (1997)