WHAM! found fame in the 1980s and quickly became one of the world’s top pop bands.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley made up the iconic duo — and they’re still topping charts 40 years on.

REX

What were Wham!’s biggest songs?

Wham! was an 80s pop duo made up school mates George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.

Although they mainly performed as a pair, Wham! was sometimes a quartet which included Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman, who is now married to Martin Kemp.

Wham! formed in 1981 not long after George and Andrew’s ska band The Executive broke up.

The young pair soon signed to a record deal and a graphic design studio contributed the exclamation mark to the band name.

The band’s first major hit Young Guns (Go For It!) came in 1982.

By 1983 Wham! had released two other chart-toppers Bad Boys and Club Tropicana, and famously made headlines when they performed with shuttlecocks down their shorts on their first UK tour.

In the early 80s, Wham!’s biggest pop rivals were Culture Club and Duran Duran.

After some legal trouble with their record label over royalties, Wham! eventually broke free before joining Epic Records, which helped to galvanise their success.

Then came smash hits Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Everything She Wants, I’m Your Man, Last Christmas, Careless Whisper and Freedom.

In 1984, Wham!’s festive hit Last Christmas was kept off the Number One spot by BandAid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas, which George sang on.

But almost 40 years later, in 2023, against the odds, and after a fierce battle to the top spot, Last Christmas made it to Christmas Number One.

Wham! festive hit beat Sam Ryder’s You’re Christmas to Me, and the Pogues’ Fairytale of New York, which many expected to win, considering the death of frontman Shane MacGowan.

By the end of 1985, the US Billboard charts listed Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go as the number three song and Careless Whisper as the number one song of the year.

Why did George Michael leave Wham!?

Pop icons Wham! officially broke up in the spring of 1986 because George had decided he wanted to pursue a solo career.

Around this time, George said: ”I think it should be the most amicable split in pop history.”

The pair said goodbye to their devoted fans at an eight-hour concert at Wembley Stadium the same summer they released their two final singles, The Edge Of Heaven and Where Did Your Heart Go?

At the concert, they also premiered a documentary about their tour of China, titled Foreign Skies.

What was George Michael’s net worth?

Before his tragic death at the age of just 53, George is believed to have amassed a huge fortune worth a reported £105 million.

Michael reported left his fortune to his sisters, his dad and a string of friends.

George left his father, Kyriacos, a horseracing stud farm where he has since lived for many years.

A source close to the family said at the time: “George was devoted to his dad and sisters, they were always going to be looked after.”

When did George Michael die?

The news of George Michael’s death in 2016 left his fans shocked and devastated.

George was found dead in his Oxfordshire home by boyfriend Fadi Fawaz on Christmas Day, 2016.

Fans and famous friends around the world paid tribute to George in the period that followed his death.

Referring to him by his nickname “Yog” (Yours Only George), George’s Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley said he was “heartbroken”  by the news.

Ridgeley wrote: “Heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog. Me, his loved ones, his friends, the world of music, the world at large. 4ever loved.”

Star Elton John also paid tribute to the Wham! legend, saying: “I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend – the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist.”

Darren Salter, the senior coroner for Oxfordshire, confirmed in March 2017 that George had died of natural causes after suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver.

The singer would have celebrated his 60th birthday in June 2023.