Wham!
Wham! | |
---|---|
General information | |
Genre (s) | pop |
founding | 1981 |
resolution | 1986 |
Last occupation | |
George Michael († 2016) | |
Vocals, guitar
|
Andrew Ridgeley |
Wham! was a British pop group formed in 1981 , which consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley .
Between the autumn of 1982 and the summer of 1986, the duo landed ten top 10 hits in Great Britain, five of which reached number one; total Wham! over 25 million records. The best-known and most commercially successful titles include Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Last Christmas , which has had a strong radio presence every year in the run-up to Christmas since its release and has repeatedly made it into the international charts.
Musical career
The original members were George Michael (born June 25, 1963 - December 25, 2016) and Andrew Ridgeley (born January 26, 1963), who also wrote most of the songs, supplemented by the background singers Dee C Lee (1982–1983), Pepsi Demacque and Shirlie Holliman . Among other things, Wham! caused a sensation when they were the first western band to play in the People's Republic of China in the spring of 1985 and released three singles from an album in the United States , all of which topped the Billboard charts . Before Wham! only the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever succeeded in doing this .
Already the first single Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) caused controversy because it presented life financing through unemployment insurance as worth striving for, although Michael repeatedly emphasized in numerous interviews that the text of the song was meant ironically. From their first record label Innervision, with the Wham! released the first album Fantastic and the singles from it, Wham! in a fight. As against the will of Wham! the single Club Fantastic Megamix was released, Michael and Ridgeley told their fans not to buy this record.
Even while Wham! Michael, who at the time wrote and produced most of the Wham! titles single-handedly, released solo singles and thus laid the foundation for his later solo career. However, the dividing line between Michael's solo projects and Wham! blurred. His first solo single Careless Whisper , which Ridgeley was also involved in composing, was released in the US as a single by Wham! featuring George Michael and was later released on the Wham! album Make It Big . The second single, A Different Corner , appeared on the album The Final , which was released in the United States under the title Music from the Edge of Heaven . Both singles immediately reached number one in Great Britain and later also in the USA.
In February 1986, Michael and Ridgeley officially announced the dissolution of Wham! known because Michael wanted to go other ways musically from now on. Then they gave on June 28, 1986 in front of 72,000 fans at Wembley Stadium their last concert , The Final titled. In the two and a half hour farewell show also came Elton John and Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran on. The concert is considered to be one of the fastest sold-out in music history in Great Britain: the tickets for it were sold out within three minutes. Michael and Ridgeley remained on friendly terms even after the band ended.
Solo careers
Andrew Ridgeley tried his hand at the end of Wham! in vain in a solo career as a singer. His single Shake , released in the spring of 1990, only made it into the lower regions of the charts, while the album Son of Albert , released a short time later, couldn't place itself at all. Today he works as an environmental activist.
George Michael released his first solo album with Faith in the fall of 1987 , which contained four US number 1 hits . Further albums and duets with other musicians ensured that he became one of the world's most successful artists. He died in 2016 at the age of 53.
Discography
Albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
Studio albums | |||||||
1983 | Fantastic |
DE7 (22 weeks) DE |
- |
CH25 (1 week) CH |
UK1 × 3
(116 weeks)UK |
US83
gold
(44 weeks)US |
First published: July 9, 1983
|
1984 | Make it big |
DE5
gold
(25 weeks)DE |
AT4 (20 weeks) AT |
CH1 (22 weeks) CH |
UK1 × 4
(72 weeks)UK |
US1 × 6
(87 weeks)US |
First published: October 23, 1984
|
1986 | Music from the Edge of Heaven | - | - | - | - |
US10
platinum
(28 weeks)US |
First published: July 1, 1986
|
Compilations | |||||||
1986 | The final |
DE2
gold
(22 weeks)DE |
AT3 (14 weeks) AT |
CH2 (14 weeks) CH |
UK2
platinum
(67 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: May 31, 1986
|
1997 | The Best of Wham !: If You Were There |
DE40 (13 weeks) DE |
AT23 (11 weeks) AT |
CH28 (7 weeks) CH |
UK4th × 2
(38 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: November 24, 1997
|
Soundtracks
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
2019 | George Michael & Wham! Last Christmas: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
DE85 (1 week) DE |
AT60 (1 week) AT |
- |
UK9
silver
(9 weeks)UK |
US43 (7 weeks) US |
First published: November 8, 2019
with George Michael |
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1982 |
Wham rap! (Enjoy What You Do) Fantastic |
DE17 (11 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK8 (12 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: June 16, 1982
|
Young Guns (Go for It) Fantastic |
DE20 (16 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK3
silver
(17 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: October 15, 1982
|
|
1983 |
Bad Boys Fantastic |
DE12 (17 weeks) DE |
- |
CH6 (5 weeks) CH |
UK2
silver
(15 weeks)UK |
US60 (9 weeks) US |
First published: May 2, 1983
|
Club Tropicana Fantastic |
DE13 (12 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK4th
gold
(11 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: July 23, 1983
|
|
Club Fantastic Megamix Fantastic |
DE56 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK15 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: November 1983
|
|
1984 |
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go Make It Big |
DE2 (17 weeks) DE |
AT6 (12 weeks) AT |
CH2 (15 weeks) CH |
UK1
platinum
(16 weeks)UK |
US1
platinum
(24 weeks)US |
First published: May 14, 1984
|
Freedom Make It Big |
DE14 (15 weeks) DE |
AT23 (4 weeks) AT |
CH5 (12 weeks) CH |
UK1
gold
(14 weeks)UK |
US3 (18 weeks) US |
First published: October 1, 1984
|
|
Last Christmas Music from the Edge of Heaven / The Final |
DE2
platinum
(140 weeks)DE |
AT2 (90 weeks) AT |
CH3 (89 weeks) CH |
UK2 × 2
(89 weeks)UK |
US11 × 2
(14 weeks)US |
First published: November 30, 1984
in Austria not placed until 1997, in the USA not until 2017 |
|
Everything She Wants Make It Big |
DE8 (9 weeks) DE |
AT5 (12 weeks) AT |
- | - |
US1
gold
(20 weeks)US |
First published: December 27, 1984
|
|
1985 |
I'm Your Man Music from the Edge of Heaven / The Final |
DE7 (12 weeks) DE |
AT14 (10 weeks) AT |
CH7 (9 weeks) CH |
UK1
gold
(13 weeks)UK |
US3 (18 weeks) US |
First published: September 14, 1985
|
1986 |
The Edge of Heaven Music from the Edge of Heaven / The Final |
DE4 (15 weeks) DE |
AT11 (12 weeks) AT |
CH4 (10 weeks) CH |
UK1
silver
(12 weeks)UK |
US10 (13 weeks) US |
First published: June 18, 1986
|
Where Did Your Heart Go? Music from the Edge of Heaven / The Final |
- |
AT23 (4 weeks) AT |
- | - |
US50 (8 weeks) US |
First published: June 18, 1986
B-side of The Edge of Heaven |
Video albums
- 1984: Wham! - The Video (US:gold)
- 1985: Wham! 85
- 1986: Wham! - The Final
- 1986: Wham! in China - Foreign Skies (US:gold)
- 1997: The Best of (UK:gold)
Awards for music sales
|
|
|
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
Country / Region | silver | gold | platinum | Sales | swell |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
Australia (ARIA) | - | gold1 | 6 × platinum6th | 455,000 | aria.com.au |
Belgium (BEA) | - | - | 2 × platinum2 | 100,000 | ultratop.be |
Denmark (IFPI) | - | - | 5 × platinum5 | 225,000 | ifpi.dk |
Germany (BVMI) | - | 2 × gold2 | platinum1 | 1,000,000 | musikindustrie.de |
Finland (IFPI) | - | - | platinum1 | 53,465 | ifpi.fi |
France (SNEP) | - | 2 × gold2 | platinum1 | 500,000 | infodisc.fr snepmusique.com |
Italy (FIMI) | - | - | 2 × platinum2 | 80,000 | fimi.it |
Japan (RIAJ) | - | gold1 | 3 × platinum3 | 550,000 | riaj.or.jp JP2 |
Canada (MC) | - | 2 × gold2 | 8 × platinum8th | 900,000 | musiccanada.com |
New Zealand (RMNZ) | - | - | platinum1 | 30,000 | nztop40.co.nz |
Netherlands (NVPI) | - | 3 × gold3 | 4 × platinum4th | 600,000 | nvpi.nl |
Spain (Promusicae) | - | 2 × gold2 | platinum1 | 140,000 | Sólo éxitos: año año, 1959–2002 elportaldemusica.es |
United States (RIAA) | - | 4 × gold4th | 10 × platinum10 | 12,600,000 | riaa.com |
United Kingdom (BPI) | 4 × silver4th | 4 × gold4th | 14 × platinum14th | 8,185,000 | bpi.co.uk |
All in all | 4 × silver4th | 21 × gold21st | 59 × platinum59 |
Web links
- Wham! at laut.de
- Wham! at 45cat.com (English)
- Wham! in Rate Your Music (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ release date "Shake"
-
↑ a b c chart sources:
- Wham! in the German charts at OfficialCharts.de
- Wham! in the Austrian hit parade on AustrianCharts.at
- Wham! in the Swiss charts on Hitparade.ch
- Wham! in the Official UK Charts (English)
- Wham! in the US album and singles charts of Billboard Magazine
- Wham! in the charts on Chartsurfer.de