39-526: Wham! was a British pop music duo. Wham may also refer to: Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley . They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of
78-477: A Pop Group (1988). She also worked with the band on their 1989 recording Modernism: A New Decade , but this album was rejected by the band's label, Polydor , and did not see a release until almost 10 years later, when it was included in the boxed set , The Complete Adventures of The Style Council . Between 1989 and 1991, Lee teamed up with Robert Howard of the Blow Monkeys to form Slam Slam. They achieved
117-663: A few songs at the encore of his performance at the Rock in Rio event at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 21 November 2009, there was a Wham!-themed night on television's The X Factor in the UK. Michael later appeared on the show's final episode, performing a duet of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with finalist and eventual winner Joe McElderry . In 2012, Michael said that there
156-551: A number of minor UK club successes including "Move (Dance All Night)" and "Free Your Feelings", the latter produced by Young Disciples . In 1993, Lee collaborated with Gang Starr frontman Guru on a single from his solo project Jazzmatazz called "No Time to Play" which also featured guitarist Ronny Jordan . It peaked at No. 25 in the UK in November 1993. Later in the 1990s, Lee released two further solo albums; Things Will Be Sweeter (1994) and Smiles (1998). In 2006 Lee had
195-572: A remorseful two-timer, had more emotional depth than previous releases. It reached No. 1, selling over 1.3 million copies in the UK. "Careless Whisper" marked a new phase in Michael's career, as his label Columbia/Epic began to somewhat distance him from the group Wham!'s playboy image. The next single was " Freedom " and was simply promoted as a Wham! single. Wham! used a video edited together from footage of their tour in China for "Freedom " 's single release in
234-473: A small role as a pop star in the film Rabbit Fever . In September 2007 she performed her hit "See the Day" on ITV1 's Loose Women show. In September 2007, she also performed at a charity event in aid of combating domestic violence. Lee also portrayed Preaching Nut-Nut in a 2008 short film, The Town That Boars Me , which tells the tale of a Pig Boy created by the lonely town butcher. The Pig Boy, now banished from
273-522: A solo artist, as one half of a duo, and as part of a charity ensemble. At the end of 1985, the US Billboard charts listed "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" as the No. 3 song and "Careless Whisper" as the No. 1 song of the year. In March 1985, Wham! took a break from recording to embark on a lengthy world tour, including a ground-breaking 10-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group. The China excursion
312-460: The Executive, alongside former school friends David Mortimer (later known as David Austin ), Andrew Leaver, Tony Bywaters, Jamie Gould and Paul Ridgeley. When this group split, Michael and Ridgeley eventually formed Wham! Ridgeley explained that the name originated from a need for "something that captured the essence of what set us apart—our energy and our friendship—and then it came to us: Wham! Wham!
351-510: The Style Council , and was replaced by Helen 'Pepsi' DeMacque . Holliman and DeMacque would later record as Pepsi & Shirlie . Wham! followed up "Young Guns (Go for It)" with a reissue of "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", " Bad Boys " and " Club Tropicana ". By the end of 1983, Wham! were competing against pop rivals Culture Club and Duran Duran as one of Britain's biggest pop acts. Their debut album Fantastic spent two weeks at No. 1 in
390-482: The Style Council in mid-1983 by providing vocals on the song "Money Go Round". Lee's vocals appear on the tracks "Headstart for Happiness", "It Didn't Matter", "The Lodgers", "Walls Come Tumbling Down", and "Shout to the Top". Lee continued to record solo material during this time, but singles "Yippee Yi Yay!" and "Don't Do It Baby" failed to chart. In 1985, Lee was the featured artist on Masquerade's version of "Set It Off". In
429-404: The Sun Go Down on Me" with Elton John , while Ridgeley joined Kiki Dee in the row of backing singers. In November, Wham! released the single " I'm Your Man " which went to No. 1 in the UK charts. Around this time, Ridgeley began a relationship with Keren Woodward of Bananarama , and also took up the hobby of rally driving. " Last Christmas " was re-issued for the festive season and again made
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#1732859350716468-477: The UK Top 10, peaking at No. 6, while Michael took up offers he was starting to receive to add his voice to other artists' songs. He performed backing vocals for David Cassidy ("The Last Kiss"), and also for Elton John on his successful singles " Nikita " (UK No. 3) and " Wrap Her Up " (UK No. 12), on which he sang co-lead vocals. Michael was keen to create music targeted at a more sophisticated adult market rather than
507-524: The UK album charts in 1983, but the album achieved only modest success in the US. Soon after this, Ridgeley became conscious of legal problems with their initial contract at Innervision. While the legal battle raged, Innervision released a medley of non-single album tracks from Fantastic , entitled " Club Fantastic Megamix ". Wham! publicly denounced the release. After all the legal wrangling, Innervision settled out of court. Now signed to Epic Records , except in
546-432: The US and a few other countries on Epic's sister label Columbia Records , Wham! returned in 1984 with a new album and an updated pop image. These changes helped to propel Wham!'s next single, " Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go ", into the top ten of several countries around the world. It became their first US and UK No. 1 single, accompanied by a video of the duo with Pepsi and Shirlie, all wearing Katharine Hamnett T-shirts with
585-522: The US, the singles " Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go ", " Careless Whisper ", and " Everything She Wants " 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. Their second studio album Make It Big in 1984
624-466: The US, which was in July 1985. Their second album, Make It Big , climbed to No. 1 on the album charts and the band set off on an arena tour at the end of 1984. The double A-side single " Last Christmas " / " Everything She Wants " became the highest-selling single ever to peak at No. 2 in the UK charts. It stayed at No. 2 for five weeks and, as of February 2020, was the 10th best-selling single of all time in
663-464: The United Kingdom, selling over 1.9 million copies in the UK. Wham! donated all their royalties from the single to the Ethiopian famine appeal to coincide with the fund-raising intentions of Band Aid's " Do They Know It's Christmas? " the song which kept them out of the top spot. Nevertheless, Band Aid's success meant that Michael had achieved No. 1 status in the UK within three separate entities in 1984—as
702-413: The aliases Dee Sealy in 1981 and Dee C. Lee in 1983. She was a backing singer for Wham! , then released her first solo single, "Selina Wow Wow", in 1984. She started working with the Style Council in 1984, while continuing as a solo artist. Lee was a member of the funk/soul group Central Line under the alias Dee Sealy in 1981 and her current stage name Dee C. Lee in 1983. She was a backing vocalist for
741-552: The band was "Wham Rap!" in June 1982. The song charted at only No. 105. In September 1982, " Young Guns (Go for It) " was issued. Initially, it also stalled outside the UK Top 40 but the band got lucky when the BBC programme Top of the Pops scheduled them after another act unexpectedly pulled out of the show. Wham!'s first manager was Bryan Morrison . The effect of Wham! on the public was felt from
780-457: The band's demo tape. In February 1982, Dean met with Michael and Ridgeley and offered them a recording deal. "I'm going to offer Wham! a deal with my new label Innervision," Dean said. "It's not a huge thing, I'm taking a punt. I'd like you to have a crack at recording a single or two and we'll see what happens from there." Initially the pair wrote songs such as " Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) " and " Club Tropicana " together, but part way through
819-561: The duo's primarily teenage audience, and therefore, he and Ridgeley officially announced the break-up of Wham! in the spring of 1986. Before going their separate ways, a farewell single " The Edge of Heaven ", and a greatest hits album titled The Final would be forthcoming, along with a farewell concert entitled the Final . Announcing the break-up, Michael said: "I think it should be the most amicable split in pop history." The farewell single reached No. 1 in June 1986. " Where Did Your Heart Go? "
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#1732859350716858-455: 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 . Michael and Ridgeley met at Bushey Meads School in Bushey near the town of Watford in Hertfordshire. The two at first performed in a short-lived ska band called
897-504: The efforts of rock band Queen to be the first to play in China: he made two brochures for the Chinese authorities; one featuring Wham! fans as pleasant middle-class youngsters and one portraying Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in typically flamboyant poses. The Chinese opted for Wham!. British director Lindsay Anderson was engaged to accompany Wham! to China and make a documentary film about
936-457: The end of its final concert. 72,000 people attended the eight-hour event, which included support artists, on a scorching hot day in London. The duo had been together for five years, selling over 28 million records and 15 million singles. Foreign Skies , the documentary of their tour of China, received its world premiere as part of the festivities. In January 1991, Ridgeley joined Michael on stage for
975-511: The moment they finished their debut performance of "Young Guns (Go for It)" on Top of the Pops . Michael and Ridgley wore white espadrilles sockless, an open suede jacket and polo shirt, and rolled-up denim jeans. Ridgeley stood behind him, flanked by backing singers Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman . Afterwards, the song shot into the Top 40 at No. 24 and peaked at No. 3 in December. The following year, Dee C. Lee began her work with Paul Weller in
1014-521: The pop group Wham! in the early 1980s and appeared in their music videos for the songs " Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) ", " Young Guns (Go for It) " and " Club Tropicana ". Following her departure from Wham!, Lee released her first solo single, "Selina Wow Wow", in 1984. In 1984, she worked with the Style Council and appeared on their debut studio album Café Bleu (released as My Ever Changing Moods in North America), having already worked with
1053-448: The recording of their debut album Fantastic , the pair agreed that Michael was the stronger songwriter, and would take creative control. Still teenagers, they promoted themselves as hedonistic youngsters, proud to live a carefree life without work or commitment. This was reflected in their earliest singles which, part-parody, part-social comment, briefly earned Wham! a reputation as a dance protest group. The debut record to be released by
1092-408: The same year, after the release of the second Style Council album Our Favourite Shop , and a stint working with the band Animal Nightlife , Lee released another solo single; the self-penned ballad " See the Day ". The single became a hit and peaked at No. 2 in the UK chart in December 1985, selling a quarter of a million copies in the UK alone, and earning Lee a silver disc . Twenty years later,
1131-412: The slogans "CHOOSE LIFE" and "GO GO". The next single was " Careless Whisper ", featuring only Michael in the music video. In certain markets, the single was promoted as "Wham! featuring George Michael", and in other markets, including the UK, it was credited to Michael as a solo act but, unlike any Wham! single except "Wham Rap!" and "Club Tropicana", it was also co-written with Ridgeley. The song, about
1170-550: The song was covered by Girls Aloud , their version peaking at No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart in December 2005. Her follow-up singles, a cover of Judie Tzuke 's "Come Hell or Waters High" and "Hold On" failed to make the UK Top 40 . All tracks were featured on her 1986 album Shrine . Throughout the rest of the 1980s, Lee continued to work with the Style Council on their albums The Cost of Loving (1987) and Confessions of
1209-717: The town, returns at nightfall to torment the local women and satisfy his insatiable fetish for high-heeled shoes. The film was released in London on 28 August 2008. On 31 May 2009, Lee joined ex- Level 42 musicians, Mike Lindup and Phil Gould , to play a comeback gig with a collective called 'Favoured Nations' at Ginglik, Shepherd's Bush , London. In October of that year, she played a gig at Dingwalls in Camden Town . She continued to play one-off shows in London venues in 2010, and played in Chelsea in March 2011. In January 2018, she posted
Wham (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-462: The visit. Anderson called his one-hour and 18 minute film If You Were There . In the final stages of editing, Anderson was dismissed by Wham!'s management, the editing team quit, and the film was re-edited, renamed and released as Wham! in China: Foreign Skies . According to a 2006 interview with The Independent , Andy Stephens, manager for Michael, said that the film [Anderson's version]
1287-599: Was a publicity scheme devised by Simon Napier-Bell (one of their two managers; Jazz Summers being the other). It began with a concert at the Peoples' Gymnasium in Beijing in front of 12,000 people. They also played a concert in front of 5,000 in Canton. The two concerts were played without compensation. Wham!'s visit to China attracted huge media attention across the world. Napier-Bell later admitted that he used cunning tactics to sabotage
1326-531: 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. The event was seen as a major watershed moment in increasing friendly bilateral relations between China and the West. In 1986, Wham! disbanded. Michael was keen to create music targeted at a more sophisticated adult market rather than
1365-466: Was no truth in speculation that he and Ridgeley were set for a Wham! reunion to mark the 30th anniversary of the group's first album. Michael died from heart and liver disease at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on Christmas Day 2016, at the age of 53. Upon hearing of Michael's death, Ridgeley paid his respects on Twitter, saying, "Heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog." Michael
1404-461: Was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in November 2023, with Ridgeley as the induction presenter. Dee C. Lee Diane Catherine Sealy (born 6 June 1961), known as Dee C. Lee or Dee C Lee , is a British singer. Born to Saint Lucian parents, she grew up in south-east London. Early in her career, she was a member of the British band Central Line under
1443-491: Was simply not good enough to be shown in public: "It's a dreadful film ... It's 20 years old and it's rubbish. Why on earth should we allow it to be shown?" However, after viewing it in 2008, critic and journalist John Harris described it as "a rich, poetic, panoramic portrait of China's strangeness to the eyes of outsiders". Sporting a beard, Michael appeared with Ridgeley onstage at Live Aid on 13 July 1985 (although they did not perform as Wham!). Michael sang "Don't Let
1482-547: Was snappy, immediate, fun and boisterous too." British graphic design studio Stylorouge was credited with adding the exclamation mark to the name of the band. Ridgeley and Michael worked persistently to get a foot in the door with recording executives. Ridgeley would frequently run into Mark Dean from Innervision Records at the Three Crowns Public House in Bushey Heath Hertfordshire , and hand him
1521-591: Was the group's final single in the United States. The song, originally recorded by Was (Not Was) , was a gloomy and sombre affair. The duo's last release was a double-LP collection of all the singles to date, including some extended versions. This was released in North America as the severely pared-down Music from the Edge of Heaven with alternate tracks. At London's Wembley Stadium on 28 June 1986, Wham! bid goodbye to their fans and each other with an emotional embrace at
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