A heart condition was eventually recorded as the cause of death," added Ridgeley, "but there are still a number of questions. It now seems as if we may never know what really happened.

a b c d e f "1963 – Andrew Ridgeley Born". Rttnews.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015 . Retrieved 24 December 2012. Growing up, we had no real concept of celebrity. I wasn’t exposed to it in any way. Our perspective was always formed by what people produced, not how they were perceived. So it was important for us to form a band and write songs. The artists whose records we bought, we bought them because of the music. We didn’t idolise them, but we did revere them.” Why am I telling you all of this? Because I expected so much from this book, so you know it could never fulfill that expectation. Ridgeley gives the origins of his friendship with George Michael. He discusses the provenance of Wham! But it feels equal turns precious and equal turns simmering resentment. Thinking that their infectious " Wake me up before you go go" was a bit hokey in the beginning I came to realize like a million other teen fans that they were a hot duo who made me want to get up, dance and have fun. Shortly after the breakup, Ridgeley moved to Monaco and tried his hand at Formula Three motor racing. Meeting with little success, he moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in acting. He returned to Britain permanently in 1990.

Andrew and Yog are a love story, one made all the more enduring because their love was platonic, rather than the more tempestuous romantic sort. The two met aged 12, as pupils at Hertfordshire’s Bushey Meads School, and soon became inseparable. Although he doesn’t think that the fact that they were both being the sons of immigrants – Michael’s father was Greek Cypriot; Ridgeley’s was Egyptian – was a major factor in them bonding. Andrew Hart (1991). Understanding the Media: A Practical Guide. Routledge. p. 187 . Retrieved 24 December 2012– via Internet Archive. ridgeley nose. Everyone has been working so hard to bring you his music, the movie is going to be there to celebrate and remember Yog and his music well into the future…and we thank everyone whose efforts brought his music to you." All those fortunate enough to have childhood best friends will recognise the kind of generosity that is fundamental to a good relationship,” he says equably. “Wham! was a manifestation of the pillars of our friendship – humour, the joy that we found in each other’s company, the amusement with which we regarded each other, and the energy that existed as a consequence. I had a very anti-pathetical relationship with the press, and it didn’t do me any good. I saw it as a sport, they saw it as sport, but actually it would have been far easier, had I been slightly less confrontational. I don’t think that served me well.”

I did think the documentary would be a success, but I didn’t realise the depth of affection that it would elicit, or how deeply it might touch some people,” he says now, when we meet at Sony HQ in north London – looking as slim, fit and stylish as he did in Wham!’s heyday, wearing beige chinos, a blue polo shirt, white trainers and a Dunhill watch. I interviewed Andrew's then-partner Keren five years ago when she was rehearsing for a Bananarama reunion tour. She told me: “I’ve lived in Cornwall for over 20 years – I moved to Cornwall to re-balance myself after the madness of the ’80s. I’m pretty much a local now."In 1986, " The Edge of Heaven" became Wham!'s fourth and final U.K. No. 1 single. With Michael keen to move into a more adult market, the duo broke up after a farewell concert dubbed "The Final" in front of 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, 28 June 1986. The million dollar question: what’s his favourite George Michael song? “Amazing,” he says, without hesitation. “It could have been a Wham! record, but it’s a brilliant George Michael record. Fantastic self-analytical lyrics, but it’s humorous, too.” His favourite Wham! song is I’m Your Man. “From the opening bar, it has an energy and a tautness.” As the documentary recalls, Ridgeley and Michael were allowed a level of control over their output that seems staggering now, not least because they were just 19 when their first single, Wham Rap!, came out in 1982, and 23 when the band split. Get the best stories about the things you love most curated by us and delivered to your inbox every day. Choose what you love here. He then mainly stayed out of the spotlight, reappearing every so often, including a concert with George in Rio de Janeiro, BBC Two’s Fantasy Football League, the movie Last Christmas, and a 2005 documentary about George.

Wham! were the definitive pop group of the 1980s. With their brightly colored short shorts and ridiculously catchy songs, the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley ruled the charts from 1982 to 1986, when they opted to call it quits at the height of their fame. Along the way, the pair notched five No. 1 singles in their native UK and three in the U.S., paving the way for Michael to become an even bigger star with his subsequent solo career. I loved wham from the age of 12, my fave was always George. And have followed George’s career since. This book also explained for me the mystery of why Wham disbanded at a time when they were riding high, not only for George Michael to pursue a solo career but because they both reached the pinnacle of Wham's success and wanted to go out on top. A thought I never knew, only knowing at the time that it left me bummed out because I never had the chance to see them perform in concert.This was also bittersweet for me because I finally did have the opportunity to see George Michael, something I desperately wanted to do because even though I never saw Wham, I could still make up for it by at least seeing George. My brother and I had planned to drive to Chicago and finally experience his beautiful, soul stirring voice, but never did get to make it there because of an illness my baby daughter had at the time, so, I missed my last chance to see him before he passed, a regret I still have today. DALLAGLIO CYCLE SLAM 2018". Archived from the original on 21 December 2018 . Retrieved 20 December 2018. Michael came out to Ridgeley about 15 years before he did so to the rest of the public; as Ridgeley retells it, it happened during the "Club Tropicana" video shoot in beachy Ibiza. He'd consulted with Holliman first on how Ridgeley might react; when she said he'd likely be fine with it ("he's your best friend," she replied) he summoned Ridgeley to his room. Ridgeley portrays his reaction as low-key—"Oh, OK... Well, that's a bit of a surprise!"—but he also notes that while the two were close friends, they didn't talk much about relationships. "When it came to romance," he notes, "neither of us had ever confided in the other." Michael's decision to not come out more publicly was in part a reaction to his wanting to keep his private life private; Ridgeley, meanwhile, became a bit of a gossip-column fixture, and the descriptions of his dealings with the press in the much less invasive British-tabloid era make today's paparazzi chases feel downright horrifying.Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) [1] is a British singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham!. We'll close by saying, don't forget to say your 'I Love You's' and enjoy your celebrations wherever you are. Thank you so much for your kind messages, they lift us when things are tough. Andrew Ridgley lovingly goes on to express the profound loss of his best friend who shared his hopes, ambitions and together achieving their ultimate dream.