Yahoo News Wham's Andrew Ridgeley opens up about relationship with George Michael after the band ended
Wham! star Andrew Ridgeley has opened up about his relationship with George Michael after the band ended in 1986.
Ridgeley and Michael achieved worldwide success and stardom as pop duo Wham! in the 1980s, with new Netflix documentary Wham! detailing their meteoric rise and eventual separation.
In an interview with The New York Times, Ridgeley revealed how calling time on their musical partnership affected their relationship. For Ridgeley, Wham!'s ending was not a break-up but a new reality where the pair where "no longer living in each other’s pockets".
Despite this, the article states that "their bond was fixed".
Related: What Netflix's Wham! documentary left out about George Michael
Ridgeley and Michael were essentially joint at the hip from their first meeting as 12-year-olds at Hertfordshire's Bushey Meads School (as covered in the documentary).
In their early adolescent years, they established short-lived ska band The Executive, before buddying up for Wham! and taking their double act on the road aged 18.
Their performance on Top of the Pops in 1982 catapulted the pair into the public eye, with number one singles, albums and worldwide tours following (including China and the US).
Related: Netflix's Wham! director reveals how this documentary is different
Ridgeley clarified that the group's ending was not a break-up, but rather the pair "brought Wham! to a close in a manner of our own choosing".
The Wham! star said that he recognised his musicianship wasn’t in the same league as Michael’s, who he fondly describes as "one of the finest, if not the finest, singing voices of his generation".
Looking back on the group's astonishing success in the space of five years, Ridgeley admitted that he struggled to get his head around it.
"I could never quite really get that we had achieved the same kind of success as the artists that we revered like gods when we were growing up," he added.
"We were playing Wembley Stadium, the same place Elton John played. You can say, 'I am the same'. But in your own mind, you’re never the same."
Wham! is now available to watch on Netflix.
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