Andrew Ridgely reveals he used to go Christmas carolling with George Michael

From 1982 to 1986, there may have been no pop sensation more successful than Wham!. In their heyday, the group sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and penned 1980s staples like “Careless Whisper” and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”

Former Wham member and singer Andrew Ridgely opens up about the 40th anniversary of Wham and some of his favourite things about the Christmas holiday season.

Ridgely revealed that during the Christmas season him and George used to go Christmas carolling together, surprising unsuspecting families each year.

“One of the most spectacular things I ever did around Christmas was play Wembley on Christmas Eve. George and I as Wham had a tour in 1984, we played five or six nights right through Christmas. It was probably one of the few years that we didn’t go out Christmas carolling, much I imagine to the consternation of some households who couldn’t quite believe they had WHAM! Plus, entourage singing Christmas carols there in front of them.”

The singer also admitted that Christmas has mixed emotions for himself these days. “Obviously it will be an anniversary Christmas day and that lends a sadness to Christmas. We try and look on the positives and what was life affirming about George, and his work and his songs and we have great memories. His friends of Christmas, larking about and Christmas parties they were always outstanding.”

Having met at a young age, the duo often spent a lot of time together over the holidays and Andrew recalled the strength of their relationship. “We were schoolboy best friends, and that relationship had a bond that was strong right through our lives, so we meant a lot to each other, and we did spend a lot of time together through our professional career and then at social times like Christmas so lots of good times there.”

Whilst talking about the bands successful career, Andrew admits that he had seen Lewis Capalidi’s recent video homage to Club Tropicana saying that “It is amazing how faithful it is to the original in that frame-by-frame nature. You stop it at any point, there was a comparison I think, that Sony did, but you could see it is exactly every detail and accuracy.”

Since 1982, he has reportedly amassed £10 million from sales and royalties of records. Although ‘Careless Whisper’ was a George Michael solo song, it was credited as being co-written by Andrew so he woukd be financially secure. He still receives thousands of pounds each year from his share of ‘Careless Whisper’ royalties alone. The song reportedly paid £80m for the duo in royalties since its 1984 release.