WHAM *Make It Big* 1984 NM Vinyl Columbia Records Stereo LP In Shrink w/HYPE

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WHAM! *Make It Big* 1984 NM Vinyl Columbia Records Stereo LP In Shrink w/HYPE🔴🟠🟡🔴⚪🔵

Wham! – Make It Big Vinyl LP (1984) Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Careless Whisper

Description:

Relive the golden age of 1980s pop with this classic Wham! – Make It Big vinyl LP, featuring two of the band’s biggest hits: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Careless Whisper.” This album cemented Wham! — George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley — as international pop icons with its upbeat rhythms, catchy hooks, and smooth vocals.

Details:

• Artist: Wham!

• Album Title: Make It Big

• Format: Vinyl LP

• Year: 1984

• Label: Columbia Records / Epic (depending on pressing)

• Genre: Pop, Synthpop, 80s Dance

• Notable Tracks:

• Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

• Everything She Wants

• Careless Whisper

• Freedom

• Heartbeat

• If You Were There

Highlights:

Iconic 1980s pop album that defined a generation

Features two timeless chart-toppers by George Michael

Original hype sticker advertising “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Careless Whisper”

Perfect addition for collectors of 80s vinyl and George Michael fans

History

This article is about the album by Wham!. For the song sung by the Beach Boys, see Make It Big (song). For the film, see Make It Big (film).

Make It Big is the second studio album by English pop duo Wham!, released in 1984. In comparison to their earlier work, Wham! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley) had more control over the album's production and Michael would also be credited as a producer.

Make It Big

Studio album by Wham!

Released

22 October 1984 (US)[1]

5 November 1984 (UK)[2]

Recorded

1984

Studio

Miraval (France)

Sarm West (London)[3]

Genre

Popnew wave[4]pop-soul

Length

38:02

Label

Epic (UK)Columbia (US)

Producer

George Michael

Wham! chronology

Fantastic

(1983)Make It Big

(1984)Music from the Edge of Heaven

(1986)

Alternative cover

Album cover in North America

Singles from Make It Big

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"

Released: 14 May 1984

"Careless Whisper"

Released: 23 July 1984

"Freedom"

Released: 1 October 1984

"Everything She Wants"

Released: 3 December 1984

The album was a commercial success, hitting number one in both the US and the UK and spawning four singles, all reaching the top three in the US and the UK. Make It Big was certified 4× platinum in the US during the time of its release, and has since been certified 6× platinum in the US.[5] In March 2024, Make It Big was reissued on vinyl for the first time in 30 years.[6]

The music video for single "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" had the duo in shirts that read Choose Life. It would be the first of several hits from the album. The second single "Careless Whisper" is technically a Wham! song as it appears on the Wham! album Make It Big. However, when released as a single, it was credited either to Wham! featuring George Michael (in North America and several other countries) or solely to George Michael (in the United Kingdom and some European countries) as it became apparent, that at some point in the near future, Michael would be embarking on a solo career. The music video for third single "Freedom" featured the duo while performing a concert in China; incidentally Wham! would become the first Western popular music act to tour China. The fourth single "Everything She Wants" was released as a double A-side with "Last Christmas"; "Last Christmas" would later appear on Music from the Edge of Heaven, an album released only in North America and Japan.

Background and production

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Make It Big was mostly written and recorded at Studio Miraval in Southern France over a course of six weeks,[3] beginning in early July 1984.[7] This allowed George Michael to escape press attention and work peacefully. According to Andrew Ridgeley, the decision to record in the south of France was made largely due to tax reasons, as well as it being the ideal place for them to spend the summer due to the hot weather.[8] Plus, it was one and a half hours away from London, and Michael "had to keep going back to do things for 'Careless Whisper'".[8] Like "Careless Whisper" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", most of the songs were recorded with a live rhythm section.[3]

The main album credits attribute it as having been mixed at Good Earth Studios in London and Marcadet Studios in Paris.[9] However, it turns out to be neither, as engineer Chris Porter revealed: most of the album was mixed at Sarm West's Studio 2 (where "Careless Whisper" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" were recorded), with some mixing already completed at Studio Miraval.[10]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings

Review scores

SourceRating

AllMusicStarStarStarStarHalf star[11]

QStarStarStarStar[12]

Record MirrorStarStar[13]

Rolling StoneStarStarStarStar[14]

UncutStarStarStarStar[15]

The Village VoiceB[16]

Make It Big, Wham!'s second album, would see the duo score hit singles in the United States. Their first album Fantastic was a hit in the UK but failed to make an impact in the US. Make It Big received some positive reviews. Christopher Connelly from Rolling Stone wrote that the "music is an unabashed rehash of Motown", adding, "Make It Big is an almost flawless pop record, a record that does exactly what it wants to and has a great deal of fun doing it."[14] Billboard described the album as "a one-two punch",[17] while Cash Box described its sound as "less tense, more tuneful".[18] In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic writes, "They succeeded on a grander scale than they ever could have imagined, conquering the world and elsewhere with this effervescent set of giddy new wave pop-soul."[11]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by George Michael, except where noted.

Side one

No.TitleLength

1."Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"3:50

2."Everything She Wants"5:01

3."Heartbeat"4:42

4."Like a Baby"4:12

Side two

No.TitleWriter(s)Length

5."Freedom" 5:01

6."If You Were There"

Ernie IsleyMarvin IsleyChris Jasper

3:38

7."Credit Card Baby" 5:08

8."Careless Whisper"

George MichaelAndrew Ridgeley

6:30

Total length:38:02

Personnel

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Wham!

George Michael – lead vocals, backing vocals; Roland Juno-60 (2), LinnDrum (2), keyboards (3)

Andrew Ridgeley – electric guitars, backing vocals; steel-string acoustic guitar (8)

Additional musicians

Tommy Eyre – keyboards (1, 4–7)

Andy Richards – keyboards (8)

Anne Dudley – additional keyboards

Tom Herries – additional keyboards

Hugh Burns – electric and acoustic guitars

Deon Estus – bass guitar

Trevor Murrell – drums; LinnDrum (1)

Danny Cummings – percussion

David Baptiste – alto saxophone (1, 7)

Steve Gregory – tenor saxophone (8)

Colin Graham – trumpet (1, 7)

Paul Spong – trumpet (1, 7)

Pepsi & Shirlie – backing vocals

Production

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George Michael – producer, arrangements

Chris Porter – engineer

Paul Gomersall – assistant engineer

P/S/A – design

Tony McGee – photography

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for Make It Big

Chart (1984–85)Peak

position

Australian Kent Music Report[19]1

Austrian Albums Chart[20]4

Canadian RPM Albums Chart[21]1

Dutch Albums Chart[22]1

European Top 100 Albums[23]1

Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24]1

Italian M&D Albums Chart[25]1

Japanese LPs Charts (Oricon[26] and Music Labo)[27]1

New Zealand Albums Chart[28]1

Norwegian Albums Chart[29]1

Swedish Albums Chart[30]3

Swiss Albums Chart[31]1

UK Albums Chart[32]1

US Billboard 200[33]1

US Billboard Top R&B Albums[33]20

West German Albums Chart[34]5

Chart (2024)Peak

position

Greek Albums (IFPI)[35]73

Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[36]21

Year-end charts

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1984 year-end chart performance for "Make It Big"

Chart (1984)Position

Australian Albums Chart55

Canadian Albums Chart[37]44

French Albums Chart[38]19

UK Albums Chart[39]4

1985 year-end chart performance for "Make It Big"

Chart (1985)Position

Australian Albums Chart[19]20

Austrian Albums Chart[40]13

Canadian Albums Chart[41]8

Japanese Albums Chart[42]2

New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[43]19

Swiss Albums Chart[44]14

UK Albums Chart[39]18

US Billboard 200[45]4

Decade-end charts

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1980s end chart performance for "Make It Big"

Chart (1980s)Position

Japanese Albums Chart[26]21

UK Albums Chart[46]18

Certifications and sales

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Certifications and sales for Make It Big

RegionCertificationCertified units/sales

Australia (ARIA)[47]Platinum70,000^

Canada (Music Canada)[48]6× Platinum600,000^

Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[49]Gold10,000‡

Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[50]Platinum53,465[50]

France (SNEP)[51]2× Gold200,000*

Germany (BVMI)[52]Gold250,000^

Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[53]Platinum20,000*

Japan (Oricon Charts)—821,000[26]

Netherlands (NVPI)[54]Platinum100,000^

New Zealand (RMNZ)[55]Platinum15,000^

United Kingdom (BPI)[57]4× Platinum1,300,000[56]

United States (RIAA)[5]6× Platinum6,000,000^

Summaries

Worldwide—10,000,000[58]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Tour

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Main article: The Big Tour

Wham! embarked on a world tour to promote the album in December 1984, opening at Whitley Bay's Ice Rink, before going on to dates in Japan, Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and China, ending in April 1985 at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Canton.

References

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"FMQB" (PDF). p. 30.

"BPI".

Buskin, Richard (March 2013). "Classic Tracks: George Michael 'Faith'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 19 December 2016.

"Top 40 New Wave Albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2024.

"American album certifications – Wham – Make It Big". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"WHAM! Re-Release Their Iconic Albums 'Fantastic' and 'Make It Big'". Legacy Recordings. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2025.

WhamBamGM (4 November 2011). Wham South Of France Make It Big. YouTube. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.

"Think Big: Wham! Interview in Record Mirror (1984)". GMForever.com. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

Make It Big (liner notes). Wham!. Epic Records. 1984. 86311.

"George Michael Wham/solo songs comments & research". 12 January 2021. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021.

Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Make It Big – Wham!". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 May 2025.

Maconie, Stuart (March 1999). "Wham!: Fantastic / Make It Big". Q. No. 150.

Cordery, Mark (10 November 1984). "Careless misters" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 17. Retrieved 6 April 2025.

Connelly, Christopher (17 January 1985). "Wham!: Make It Big". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2025.

Booth, Daniel (February 1999). "Wham!: Fantastic / Make It Big". Uncut. No. 21. p. 91.

Christgau, Robert (27 August 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 29 June 2025.

"Albums Pop Picks Review: Make It Big" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 96, no. 45. 10 November 1984. p. 87.

"Album Popular New & Developing Pick Reviews: Make It Big". Cash Box. Vol. 47, no. 20. 3 November 1984. p. 9.

Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

"austriancharts.at Wham! – Make It Big" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 26 February 2012.

Library and Archives Canada. Archived 2 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 26 February 2012

"dutchcharts.nl Wham! – Make It Big" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Europarade". Hitkrant (in Dutch). 9 (3). Amsterdam: Nationale Hitkrant Productions. 19 January 1985. ISSN 0165-4942.

Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Wham!". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 280. Retrieved 9 June 2022.

"Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 10 June 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Wham!".

Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.

Billboard. 8 December 1984, p 59.

"charts.nz Wham! – Make It Big" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"norwegiancharts.com Wham! – Make It Big" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"swedishcharts.com Wham! – Make It Big" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Wham! – Make It Big – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Wham! > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.

"Allmusic: Make It Big > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Album Search: Wham! – Make It Big" (in German). Media Control. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined)– Εβδομάδα: 15/2024". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

"Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2024. 13. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved 4 April 2024.

"RPM Top 100 Albums of 1984". RPM. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Les Albums (CD) de 1984 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Austriancharts.at – Jahreshitparade 1985" (ASP) (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2010.

"RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2011.

"Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1985" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2011.

"Top Selling Albums of 1985 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 3 February 2022.

"Hitparade.ch – Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1985". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2011.

"Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 1985 | Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 2 June 2017.

"Artist Chart History". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

"ARIA Top 20 Vinyl Albums for week of 1 April 2024". ARIA. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.

"Canadian album certifications – Wham – Make It Big". Music Canada. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Danish album certifications – Wham – Make It Big". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 6 October 2021.

"Wham" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"French album certifications – Wham – Make It Big" (in French). InfoDisc. Select WHAM and click OK.

"Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Wham; 'Make It Big')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1985". IFPI Hong Kong.

"Dutch album certifications – Wham – Make It Big" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Make It Big in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1984 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".

"New Zealand album certifications – Wham! – Make it Big". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 20 November 2024.

"George Michael on the charts". Music Week. Intent Media. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.

"British album certifications – Wham – Make It Big". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

"Making Wham!: Make It Big". Classic Pop. 13 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2022.

Last edited 13 days ago by ~2025-33416-63

Related articles

Careless Whisper

1984 single by George Michael

Fantastic (Wham! album)

1983 studio album by Wham!

The Final (album)

1986 greatest hits album by Wham!

Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.[3][4] They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986.[5] Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, the singles "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Careless Whisper", and "Everything She Wants" all topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Their 1984 Christmas hit "Last Christmas" has become a staple of the holiday season since its release, with all proceeds from the single going to charity.

Wham!

A black-and-white photograph of the members of the English pop duo Wham!, circa 1985.

Wham! in 1985: George Michael (left) and Andrew Ridgeley (right)

Background information

Origin

Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Genres

Popdance-pop[1][2]post-disco

Works

Wham! discography

Years active

1981–1986, 1991

Labels

ColumbiaInnervisionEpicSony

Past members

George Michael

Andrew Ridgeley

Website

wham.world

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.[6] Their second studio album Make It Big in 1984 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.[7] The event was seen as a major watershed moment in increasing friendly bilateral relations between China and the West.[8]

In 1986, Wham! disbanded. Michael was keen to create music targeted at a more sophisticated adult market rather than 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.

History

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Formation

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In 1975, 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 the Executive, alongside former school friends David Mortimer (later known as David Austin), Andrew Leaver, Tony Bywaters, Jamie Gould and Paul Ridgeley.[9] The band were spotted by talent scout Michael Burdett, who was working for a publishing company called Sparta Florida Music Group.[10] Having heard rehearsal tapes, Sparta Florida passed on the band.[11] Burdett then booked the band into a recording studio near St Albans, Hertfordshire to record their first demo tape, which featured "Rude Boy" – the first Michael–Ridgeley composition – as well as a ska rendition of "Für Elise".[11]

When the Executive 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! was snappy, immediate, fun and boisterous too."[12] British graphic design studio Stylorouge was credited with adding the exclamation mark to the name of the band.[13]

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 the band's demo tape.[14] 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."[15]

Initially the pair wrote songs such as "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" and "Club Tropicana" together, but part way through the recording of their debut album Fantastic, the pair agreed that Michael was the stronger songwriter, and would take creative control.[16] 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 the band was "Wham Rap!" in June 1982. The song charted at only No. 105.[17] 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.[18]

Increasing success and legal disputes with Innervision

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Wham!'s first manager was Bryan Morrison.[19] The effect of Wham! on the public was felt from 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.[20] 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 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 the UK album charts in 1983, but the album achieved only modest success in the US.[21]

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.[22] After all the legal wrangling, Innervision settled out of court.[23]

Switch to Epic and continued success

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After the settlement, Innervision's distributor, CBS Records, took over Wham!'s contract, placing them on the Columbia label in the U.S. and on Epic worldwide. 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 U.S. and UK No. 1 single, accompanied by a video of the duo with Pepsi and Shirlie, all wearing Katharine Hamnett T-shirts with the slogans "CHOOSE LIFE" and "GO GO".[24]

The next single was "Careless Whisper", featuring only Michael in the music video. In certain markets, including the U.S., the single was promoted as "Wham! featuring George Michael", while most other markets it was credited to Michael as a solo act despite being written by both Michael and Ridgeley. The song was a ballad, marking a departure from previous releases. It reached No. 1, selling over 1.3 million copies in the UK.[25]

"Careless Whisper" marked a new phase in Michael's career, as his labels 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 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.[26]

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 the United Kingdom, selling over 1.9 million copies in the UK.[27] 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 a solo artist, as one half of a duo, and as part of a charity ensemble.[28] 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.[29]

China (1985)

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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.[7] The China excursion 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.[8] Wham!'s visit to China attracted huge media attention across the world. Napier-Bell later admitted that he used cunning tactics to sabotage 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!.[30]

British director Lindsay Anderson was engaged to accompany Wham! to China and make a documentary film about the visit. Anderson called his one-hour and 18 minute film If You Were There. In the final stages of editing, Anderson was dismissed[31] 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,[32] Andy Stephens, manager for Michael, said that the film [Anderson's version] 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".[33]

Live Aid (1985)

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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 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 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.

Break-up (1986)

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Michael was keen to create music targeted at a more sophisticated adult market rather than 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 double album titled The Final would be forthcoming, along with a farewell concert at London's Wembley Stadium also entitled The Final. Announcing the break-up, Michael said: "I think it should be the most amicable split in pop history."[34]

The farewell single reached No. 1 in June 1986. "Where Did Your Heart Go?" was the group's final single in the United States. The song was a cover of a Was (Not Was) song.

While The Final was the duo's last album release, it was not released in North America, Instead, Columbia released a pared down album called Music from the Edge of Heaven with some alternate tracks from The Final.

At Wembley Stadium on 28 June 1986, Wham! bid goodbye to their fans and each other with an emotional embrace at the end of its final concert. 72,000 people attended the eight-hour event,[26] 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.

Post-Wham! and Michael's death

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In January 1991, Ridgeley joined Michael on stage for a few songs at the encore of his performance at the Rock in Rio event at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[26]

Sony Music, the owners of CBS Records, released a greatest hits compilation in 1997 called The Best of Wham!: If You Were There.... Sony released another compilation in 2023 called The Singles: Echoes from the Edge of Heaven.

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 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.[35]

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."[36] Michael was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in November 2023, with Ridgeley as the induction presenter.[37]

Discography

edit

Main article: Wham! discography

Fantastic (1983)

Make It Big (1984)

Music from the Edge of Heaven (1986)

Filmography

edit

Wham! in China: Foreign Skies (1986)

Wham! (2023)

Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped (2024)[38]

Tours or shows

edit

Club Fantastic Tour (1983)

The Big Tour (1984–1985)

Whamamerica! (1985)

The Final (1986)

References

edit

Himes, Geoffrey (12 September 1990). "WHAM! SEPARATE TRACKS". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 June 2023.

Wilson, Carl (20 March 2014). "You Come and Go, You Come and Go ..." Slate. Retrieved 1 July 2015.

Biography by Ed Nimmervoll. "Wham! | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 December 2016.

Rettenmund, Matthew (15 October 1996). Totally awesome 80s. St. Martin's Press. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-0-312-14436-4. Retrieved 6 May 2011.

Qualen, John (1985). The Music Industry: The End of Vinyl?. Comedia's Media and Communications Industry Profile Series. Vol. 5. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-906890-58-6.

"Why George Michael's Wham! period is in need of a reappraisal". CBC Music. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.

McCarty, Lorraine Yvette (2010). "'Big in Japan': Orientalism in 1980s British Pop Music". The Mid-Atlantic Almanack. 19. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2013.

Neville, Sam (28 April 1985). "ROCK: East meets Wham!, and another great wall comes down". Chicago Tribune.

Andrew Ridgeley [@ajridgeley] (31 December 2016). "No 'Harry Tadayon' in The Executive GM, AJR, David Austin, Andrew Leaver & Paul Ridgeley Jamie Gould & Tony Bywaters joined us at 1 point 2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me (First ed.). Penguin. p. 102. ISBN 9780241385807.

Nevels, Godfried (2023). George Michael (in Dutch). DATO. pp. 31–32. ISBN 9789462264878.

Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me: The Sunday Times Bestseller. Penguin Books Limited. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-241-38583-8.

Lucas, Gavin (10 January 2012). "Dream In Colour: The Art of Stylorouge". Creative Review.

"Wham! – The Three Crowns". The Three Crowns – Traditional Pub Located in Bushey Heath, UK. Retrieved 21 June 2020.

Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me: The Sunday Times Bestseller. Penguin Books Limited. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-241-38583-8.

Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George & Me (First ed.). Penguin. pp. 17, 184. ISBN 9780241385807.

Jovanovic, Rob (2015). George Michael: The Biography. Little, Brown Book Group. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-349-41124-8.

Beaumont, Mark (26 December 2016). "George Michael Obituary: 1963–2016". NME. Retrieved 16 June 2019.

Herbert, Emily (2017). George Michael – The Life: 1963–2016: The Man, The Legend, The Music. John Blake Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-78606-471-4.

Herbert, Emily (2017). George Michael – The Life: 1963–2016: The Man, The Legend, The Music. John Blake Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-78606-471-4.

"WHAM! | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

Davis, Sharon (2012). 80s Chart-Toppers: Every Chart-Topper Tells a Story. Mainstream Publishing. p. 264. ISBN 978-1-78057-411-0.

Fricke, David (20 November 1986). "The Second Coming of George Michael". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 June 2019.

Sibbles, Emma (18 June 2009). "Get it off your chest: The slogan T-shirt has a noble history". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2019.

"Best Selling Singles Of All Time". EveryHit.com. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

"Tours Menu". Tours.yogsbackyard.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

"The best-selling singles of all time on the Official UK Chart". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 June 2020.

"The complete list of the UK No.1 songs of the 80s :1984". Pure80spop.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

"Billboard Top 100 Songs of 1985 – Year End Charts". Bobborst.com. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

"How Wham! brought the West to China". BBC News. 24 March 2005.

"Wham in China – Foreign Skies (1986) AKA Lindsay Anderson's If You Were There". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2015.

Kelbie, Paul (17 August 2012). "How Wham! made Lindsay Anderson see red in China". The Independent. Retrieved 11 December 2015.

Harris, John (19 September 2008). "Sentenced to a lifetime of stress". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 11 January 2017.

"Press 1986 – Smash Hits". Retrieved 11 December 2015.

"Wham! reunion rumours quashed by George Michael". ITV News. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

Andrew Ridgeley [@ajridgeley] (26 December 2016). "Heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog. Me, his loved ones, his friends, the world of music, the world at..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Monroe, Jazz; Lindert, Hattie (4 November 2023). "Miguel, Adam Levine, and Carrie Underwood Perform at George Michael's Rock Hall 2023 Induction". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 November 2023.

"BBC Two and BBC Music Present WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped". sonymusic. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.

External links

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Last edited 6 days ago by ~2025-34942-23

Related articles

Andrew Ridgeley

English musician (born 1963)

Club Tropicana

1983 single by Wham!

Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)

1982 single by Wham!

George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon,[2] he is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. Michael was known as a creative force in songwriting,[3] vocal performance,[4] and visual presentation.[5][6] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.[7]

George Michael

Michael performing in Houston, 1988

Born

Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou

25 June 1963

East Finchley, Middlesex, England

Died

25 December 2016 (aged 53)

Goring-on-Thames, South Oxfordshire, England

Resting place

Highgate Cemetery West, London

Occupations

Singersongwriterrecord producer

Years active

1981–2016

Partners

Anselmo Feleppa (1991–1993)

Kenny Goss (1996–2009)

Fadi Fawaz (2012–2016)

Musical career

Genres

Popdance-poppost-discoR&B

Instruments

Vocalskeyboards

Labels

InnervisionColumbiaEpicVirginDreamWorksPolydorSonyAegean

Formerly of

Wham!Boogie Box High

George Michael's voice

Duration: 27 seconds.0:27

from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 5 October 2007.[1]

Website

georgemichael.com

Signature

Born in East Finchley, Middlesex, Michael rose to fame after forming the pop duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. He took part in Band Aid's UK number-one single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 and performed at the following year's Live Aid concert. His debut studio album, Faith (1987), won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and became one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Michael then went on to release a series of multimillion-selling albums, including Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990), Older (1996), Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael (1998), Songs from the Last Century (1999), Patience (2004), and Twenty Five (2006).

Michael came out as gay in 1998, and was an active LGBTQ rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser. His personal life, drug use, and legal troubles made headlines following an arrest for public lewdness in 1998 and multiple drug-related offences. The 2005 documentary A Different Story covered his career and personal life. His 25 Live tour spanned three tours from 2006 to 2008. In 2011, Michael fell into a coma after developing pneumonia, but recovered. He performed his final concert at London's Earls Court in 2012. Michael died of heart disease on Christmas Day in 2016, at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

Michael achieved 10 number-one songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 and 13 number-one songs on the UK singles chart. His most successful singles include "Careless Whisper", "A Different Corner", "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", "Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", "Monkey", "Praying for Time", "Freedom! '90", "Jesus to a Child", "Fastlove", "Outside", "Amazing", and "An Easier Affair". His awards include two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. He was listed among Rolling Stone's 200 Greatest Singers of All Time and Billboard's Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time. The Radio Academy named him the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004.[8]

Early life, family and education

Early music

Wham!

Main article: Wham!

Michael (left) and Andrew Ridgeley as Wham!, c. 1984–1985

Michael formed the duo Wham! with Ridgeley in 1981. On the cusp of fame, he decided to legally change his name to the more accessible George Michael.[3] The band's first album Fantastic reached No. 1 in the UK in 1983 and produced a series of top 10 singles including "Young Guns", "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", and "Club Tropicana". Their second album, Make It Big, reached No. 1 on the charts in the US. Singles from that album included "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (No. 1 in the UK and US), "Freedom", "Everything She Wants", and "Careless Whisper" which reached No. 1 in nearly 25 countries, including the UK and US, and was Michael's first solo effort as a single.[30][31] In December 1984, the single "Last Christmas" was released.[32] In 1985, Michael received the first of his three Ivor Novello Awards for Songwriter of the Year from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.[33]

Michael performed on the original 1984 Band Aid recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?"—he appears third on the song after Paul Young and Boy George sing their lines.[34] The song became the UK Christmas number one and Michael also donated the profits from "Last Christmas" and "Everything She Wants" to charity.[35] Michael sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with Elton John at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in London on 13 July 1985.[36] He also contributed background vocals to David Cassidy's 1985 hit "The Last Kiss", as well as Elton John's 1985 successes "Nikita" and "Wrap Her Up". Michael cited Cassidy as a major career influence and interviewed Cassidy for David Litchfield's Ritz Newspaper.[37]

Michael performed at Live Aid at the old Wembley Stadium (exterior pictured) on 13 July 1985, and Wham! played their last concert, The Final, at the same venue on 28 June 1986.

Wham!'s tour of China in April 1985, the first visit to China by a Western popular music act, generated worldwide media coverage, much of it centred on Michael.[38][39] The headline in the Chicago Tribune read: "East meets Wham!, and another great wall comes down".[39] Before Wham!'s appearance in China, many kinds of music in the country were forbidden.[38] The band's manager, Simon Napier-Bell, had spent 18 months trying to convince Chinese officials to let the duo play.[38] The audience included members of the Chinese government. Chinese television presenter Kan Lijun, who was the on-stage host, spoke of Wham!'s historic performance:

No-one had ever seen anything like that before. All the young people were amazed and everybody was tapping their feet. Of course the police weren't happy and they were scared there would be riots.[38]

Wham! performed their hits with scantily clad dancers and strobing disco lights. According to Napier-Bell, Michael tried to get the crowd to clap along to "Club Tropicana", but "they hadn't a clue – they thought he wanted applause and politely gave it", before adding that some Chinese did eventually "get the hang of clapping on the beat."[40] A UK embassy official in China stated "there was some lively dancing but this was almost entirely confined to younger western members of the audience."[40] The tour was documented by film director Lindsay Anderson and producer Martin Lewis in their film Wham! in China: Foreign Skies.[41]

With the success of Michael's solo singles, "Careless Whisper" (1984) and "A Different Corner" (1986), rumours of an impending break up of Wham! intensified. The duo officially separated in 1986, after releasing a farewell single, "The Edge of Heaven" and a farewell compilation, The Final (their third album Music from the Edge of Heaven was released in North America and Japan), plus a sell-out concert at Wembley Stadium that included the world premiere of the China film.[42] The Wham! partnership ended officially with the commercially successful single "The Edge of Heaven", which reached No. 1 on the UK chart in June 1986.[43]

Solo career

1987–1989

During early 1987, at the beginning of his solo career, Michael released "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", a duet with Aretha Franklin. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" was a one-off project that helped Michael achieve an ambition by singing with one of his favourite artists. It scored number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 upon its release.[44][45] For Michael, it became his third consecutive solo number one in the UK from three releases, after 1984's "Careless Whisper" (though the single was actually from the Wham! album Make It Big) and 1986's "A Different Corner". The single was also the first Michael had recorded as a solo artist which he had not written himself. The co-writer, Simon Climie, was unknown at the time; he later had success as a performer with the band Climie Fisher in 1988. Michael and Franklin won a Grammy Award in 1988 for Best R&B Performance – Duo or Group with Vocal for the song.[46]

In late 1987, Michael released his debut solo album, Faith. The first single released from the album was "I Want Your Sex", in mid-1987. The song was banned by many radio stations in the UK and US, due to its sexually suggestive lyrics.[47] MTV broadcast the video, featuring celebrity make-up artist Kathy Jeung in a basque and suspenders, only during the late night hours.[47] Michael argued that the act was beautiful if the sex was monogamous, and he recorded a brief prologue for the video in which he said: "This song is not about casual sex."[48] One of the racier scenes involved Michael writing the words "explore monogamy" on his partner's back in lipstick.[49] Some radio stations played a toned-down version of the song, "I Want Your Love", with the word "love" replacing "sex".[50]

When "I Want Your Sex" reached the US charts, American Top 40 host Casey Kasem refused to say the song's title, referring to it only as "the new single by George Michael."[50] In the US, the song was also sometimes listed as "I Want Your Sex (from Beverly Hills Cop II)", since the song was featured on the soundtrack of the movie.[51] Despite censorship and radio play problems, "I Want Your Sex" reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 in the UK.[30][52] The second single, "Faith", was released in October 1987, a few weeks before the album. "Faith" became one of his most popular songs. The song was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks, becoming the best-selling single of 1988 in the US.[31] It also reached No. 1 in Australia, and No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.[30] The video provided some definitive images of the 1980s music industry in the process—Michael in shades, leather jacket, cowboy boots, and Levi's jeans, playing a guitar near a classic-design jukebox.[53]

On 30 October, Faith was released in the UK and in several markets worldwide.[51] Faith topped the UK Albums Chart, and in the US, the album had 51 non-consecutive weeks in the top 10 of Billboard 200, including 12 weeks at No. 1. Faith had many successes, with four singles ("Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey") reaching No. 1 in the US.[54] Faith was certified Diamond by the RIAA for sales of 10 million copies in the US.[55] To date, global sales of Faith are more than 25 million units.[56] The album was highly acclaimed by music critics, with AllMusic journalist Steve Huey describing it as a "superbly crafted mainstream pop/rock masterpiece" and "one of the finest pop albums of the '80s".[57] In a review by Rolling Stone magazine, journalist Mark Coleman commended most of the songs on the album, which he said "displays Michael's intuitive understanding of pop music and his increasingly intelligent use of his power to communicate to an ever-growing audience."[58]

In 1988, Michael embarked on a world tour.[59] In Los Angeles, Michael was joined on stage by Aretha Franklin for "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". It was the second highest grossing event of 1988, earning $17.7 million.[60] At the 1988 Brit Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall on 8 February, Michael received the first of his two awards for Best British Male Solo Artist. Faith won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 31st Grammy Awards, held on 22 February 1989.[61] At the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards on 6 September in Los Angeles, Michael received the Video Vanguard Award.[62] According to Michael in his film, A Different Story, success did not make him happy and he started to think there was something wrong in being an idol for millions of teenage girls. The whole Faith process (promotion, videos, tour, awards) left him exhausted, lonely and frustrated, and far from his friends and family.[63] In 1990, he told his record company Sony that, for his second album, he did not want to do promotions like the one for Faith.

1990s

Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 was released in September 1990. The title is an indication of his desire to be taken more seriously as a songwriter.The album was released in Europe on 3 September 1990, and one week later in the US. It reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart and peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200. It spent a total of 88 weeks on the UK Albums Chart and was certified four-times Platinum by the BPI. The album produced five UK singles, all of which were released within an eight-month period: "Praying for Time", "Waiting for That Day", "Freedom! '90", "Heal the Pain", and "Cowboys and Angels" (the latter being his only single not to chart in the UK top 40). Michael refused to do any promotion for the album. At the 1991 Brit Awards, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 won the award for Best British Album.

The album's first single, "Praying for Time", with lyrics concerning social ills and injustice, was released in August 1990. James Hunter of Rolling Stone magazine described the song as "a distraught look at the world's astounding woundedness. Michael offers the healing passage of time as the only balm for physical and emotional hunger, poverty, hypocrisy, and hatred." The song was an instant success, reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 in the UK. A video was released shortly thereafter, consisting of the lyrics on a dark background. Michael did not appear in this video or any subsequent videos for the album. The second single from Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, "Waiting for That Day", was an acoustic-heavy single, released as an immediate follow-up to "Praying for Time".

"Freedom! '90" was the second of only two singles from Listen Without Prejudice to be supported by a music video (the other being the Michael-less "Praying for Time"). The song alludes to his struggles with his artistic identity, and prophesied his efforts shortly thereafter to end his recording contract with Sony Music. As if to prove the song's sentiment, Michael refused to appear in the video (directed by David Fincher), and instead recruited supermodels Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz, and Cindy Crawford to appear in and lip sync in his stead. It also featured lyrics critical of his sex symbol status.It reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US,] and No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. "Mother's Pride" gained significant radio play in the US during the first Persian Gulf War during 1991, often with radio stations mixing in callers' tributes to soldiers with the music.

In 1991, Michael embarked on the Cover to Cover tour in Japan, England, the US, and Brazil, where he performed at Rock in Rio. The tour was not a proper promotion for Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. Rather, it featured Michael singing his favourite cover songs. Among his favourites was "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", a 1974 song by Elton John; Michael and John had performed the song together at the Live Aid concert in 1985, and again for Michael's concert at London's Wembley Arena on 25 March 1991, where the duet was recorded. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was released as a single at the end of 1991 and reached No. 1 in both the UK and US. In 1991, Michael released an autobiography through Penguin Books titled Bare, co-written with Tony Parsons.

An expected follow-up album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2, was scrapped due to Michael's lawsuit with Sony. Instead, Michael donated three songs to the charity project Red Hot + Dance, for the Red Hot Organization which raised money for AIDS awareness; a fourth track, "Crazyman Dance", was the B-side of 1992's "Too Funky". Michael donated the royalties from "Too Funky" to the same cause. "Too Funky" reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

"George Michael was the best. There's a certain note in his voice when he did 'Somebody to Love' that was pure Freddie."

—Queen guitarist Brian May on Michael's performance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

Michael performed with Queen at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on 20 April 1992 at Wembley Stadium. The concert was a tribute to the life of the late Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, with the proceeds going to AIDS research. Michael performed "'39", "These Are the Days of Our Lives" with Lisa Stansfield and "Somebody to Love". Michael's performance of "Somebody to Love" was hailed as "one of the best performances of the tribute concert". Michael later reflected, "It was probably the proudest moment for me of my career, because it was me living out a childhood fantasy, I suppose, to sing one of Freddie's songs in front of 80,000 people."

The Five Live EP featured five live recordings (six in several countries) performed by Michael, Queen, and Lisa Stansfield. "Somebody to Love" and "These Are the Days of Our Lives" were recorded at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. "Killer", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", and "Calling You" were recorded during his Cover to Cover tour in 1991. All proceeds from the sale of the EP benefited the Mercury Phoenix Trust. Sales of the EP were strong through Europe, where it debuted at No. 1 in the UK and several European countries. Chart success in the US was less spectacular, where it reached No. 40 on the Billboard 200 ("Somebody to Love" reached No. 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100). The performance would later feature on Queen's compilation album Greatest Hits III.

During November 1994, after a long period of seclusion, Michael appeared at the first MTV Europe Music Awards show, where he gave a performance of a new song, "Jesus to a Child".[86] The song was a melancholy tribute to his lover, Anselmo Feleppa, who had died in March 1993. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 1 and No. 7 on Billboard upon release in 1996. It was Michael's longest UK Top 40 single, at almost seven minutes long. The exact identity of the song's subject—and the nature of Michael's relationship with Feleppa—was shrouded in innuendo and speculation, as Michael had not confirmed he was homosexual and did not do so until 1998. The video for "Jesus to a Child" was a picture of images recalling loss, pain and suffering. Michael consistently dedicated the song to Feleppa before performing it live.

Michael released "Fastlove", an energetic tune about wanting gratification and fulfilment without commitment, in 1996. The single version was nearly five minutes long. "Fastlove" was supported by a futuristic virtual reality-related video. The single reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top spot. In the US, "Fastlove" peaked at No. 8. Following "Fastlove", Michael released Older, his third studio album. In the UK, the album was particularly notable for producing a record six top three hit singles in a two-year span.

In 1996, Michael was voted Best British Male at the MTV Europe Music Awards and the Brit Awards; and at the British Academy's Ivor Novello Awards, he was awarded the title of Songwriter of the Year for the third time. Michael performed a concert at Three Mills Studios, London, for MTV Unplugged. It was his first long performance in years, and in the audience was Michael's mother, who died of cancer the following year.

Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael (1998) was Michael's first solo greatest hits collection. The collection of 28 songs (29 songs are included on the European and Australian release) are separated into two-halves, with each containing a particular theme and mood. The first CD, titled "For the Heart", predominantly contains ballads; the second CD, "For the Feet", consists mainly of dance tunes. It was released through Sony Music

The product is a 1984 vinyl LP by the artist Wham!, titled "Make It Big." Released by Columbia Records, this stereo LP is in near mint condition and comes in its original shrink wrap with hype stickers. The record features popular synth-pop tunes from the 1980s and is a 12" format with a speed of 33 RPM. This collectible piece of music history from the United States captures the essence of the iconic 80s music scene in English language.

Wham! – Make It Big Vinyl LP (1984) Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go W/ Hype Sticker

Wham! - "Make It Big" - LP Album

WHAM! GEORGE MICHAEL MAKE IT BIG 1984 LP VINYL RECORD ALBUM FC 39595 Columbia

The Wham! "Make It Big" LP album, released in 1984 by Columbia, showcases the iconic synth-pop style of the 1980s. This 12" vinyl record, playing at 33 RPM, features excellent inlay and record grading, as well as a good plus sleeve grading. The album comes in its original black cardboard sleeve, with the original inner sleeve and cover intact. Perfect for fans of electronic music and vinyl collectors alike, this LP encapsulates the vibrant sound and energy of the era.

Wham! – Make It Big

Label: Columbia FC 39595

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Pitman Pressing

Country: US

Released: 1984

Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul

Style: Synth-pop, Soul

Jacket Condition: NEAR MINT

Jacket Comments: In the original shrink-wrap with HYPE sticker

Vinyl Condition: NEAR MINT

Tracklist:

A1Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

Written-By – G. Michael

3:50

A2Everything She Wants

Written-By – G. Michael

5:01

A3Heartbeat

Written-By – G. Michael

4:42

A4Like A Baby

Written-By – G. Michael

4:12

B1Freedom

Written-By – G. Michael

5:01

B2If You Were There

Written-By – C. Jasper, E. Isley, M. Isley

3:38

B3Credit Card Baby

Written-By – G. Michael

5:08

B4Careless Whisper

Written-By – A. Ridgeley, G. Michael

6:30