Make It Big

Wham! returned in May 1984 with a new image. The moody look in leather jackets had been replaced by smiles, coloured clothing and an aim to promote themselves more as sex symbols rather than spokespeople for a disaffected generation.

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, a song George wrote from a note left to him in his hotel room one night by Andrew, became their first UK  single to go1 (it also got to the top in the USA) and had  a video of the duo, plus the ubiquitous Pepsi and Shirlie, wearing Katharine Hamnett T-shirts with the slogans CHOOSE LIFE and GO GO.

  The next single was issued as a George Michael solo piece, yet unlike any Wham! single, this one was co-written by Andrew. Careless Whisper reached 1 and in the autumn of 1984

Wham! came back as a duo with Freedom, another chart-topper, In November, they released their second album, Make It Big, which got to 1 in the album charts.

Wham! contributed to the Band Aid project, with George providing vocals. They had their own Christmas release, Last Christmas/Everything She Wants, the former of which featured a video set in a seasonal ski resort. It became the biggest selling single ever to peak at 2 in the UK charts, and as such Wham! donated all the royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal to coincide with the fundraising intentions of Band Aid, the song which beat them to the top spot.

 Band Aid's success meant, however, that George had been at 1 within three different tracks in 1984 - as a solo artist, half of a duo and part of a charity ensemble.

China and Live Aid

In April 1985 Wham!  went on world tour which included a groundbreaking 10-day visit to China. A concert at the Worker's Gymnasium in Beijing in front of 10,000 people. The visit to China was the the first tour of that country by a Western pop group.

George  and  Andrew appeared onstage at Live Aid although they didn't perform as Wham! - George sang Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me with Elton John while Andrew joined Kiki Dee in the row of backing singers.

 In November, they released I'm Your Man which went straight to 1 in the UK charts. By this time Culture Club and Duran Duran were in sharp decline and Wham! were the standout act in British pop music.

  Last Christmas was re-issued for the festive season and again made the UK Top 10 climbing to number 6  while George took up offers he was starting to receive to add his voice to other artists' songs, performing backing vocals for David Cassidy and Elton John on successful singles

The Final

George's desire to for a solo career, led to George and Andrew announcing the break-up of Wham! in 1986, destined to take place after a farewell single and album, and a grand finale concert at Wembley Stadium.

The single was The Edge Of Heaven (later flip-sided with Where Did Your Heart Go?) which reached 1 in June 1986. The album was called The Final (released in North America as Music from the Edge of Heaven with alternate tracks), and the two duly said goodbye to their audience - 100,000 of whom attended the 8-hour event - and each other with an emotional embrace at the end of the show, after five years and many millions of album sales.

The film of their tour of China - Foreign Skies - received its world premiere as part of the festivities, making it the most highly-attended film premiere in history.

Andrew's solo career was over almost as soon as it began, and he retired on his Wham! royalties to Cornwall with karen Woodward, whom he later married. He has never needed to work since - although he became a partner in a firm which manufactured surfing goods - and has largely stayed out of the public eye. He remains in Cornwall.

George, who had enjoyed his second solo 1 earlier in the year with A Different Corner, began a permanent solo career which immediately caught him  the adult audience  attention he desired to reach.

Last Christmas was given its third consecutive festive release in December 1986 although this time it stalled outside the Top 40.

Remarkably, no Wham! single has ever been re-issued to the UK charts since " ,Some of George's biggest hit singles as a solo artist include the single "Faith" (taken from his debut album Faith that not only became number one on both sides of the Atlantic but also resulted in stunning four number one singles in America) and many more.

 In 1986 he dueted with both aretha Franklin & jody Watley, the latter being the least well known & found on Fodies Album. The song was originally a anti drug song.

 In 1989 he again sang backing vocals on a record called Heaven Help Me with long time friend Deon Estuss. The song was written by both of them,  it never reached the top 40!

 Some of his other hits include "Father Figure", "One More Try", "Freedom 90", "Fastlove", "Jesus to a Child", "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (a duet with Elton John), 2002's "Freeek!" and the controversial anti-war/anti-Bush song and music video "shoot the dog!"

His work covers a variety of styles, from ballads to funky dance tracks. In a career spanning more than twenty years, George Michael has been responsible for more than 80 million album sales.

 His new, highly anticipated album Patience was released in March 2004 after two popular singles released. Patience debuted at number one on the UK album charts and number two in Australia.

During  event Live 8(2005), George Michael joined Paul McCartney on stage, harmonizing on "Drive My Car". As he couldn't perform a separate set himself because of a head cold.

 At the event, George said that he's writing and recording music at home and hinted that he may in fact tour in 2006.

It was announced on April 21, 2006 that he would embark on a 50 date tour in 2006 called "25 Live" to commemorate 25 years of being in the music business, as both a solo artist and as part of Wham!

The tour kicked off on September 27, 2006 in Madrid, Spain. A new greatest hits package was released to coincide with the tour. The new album  features four new tracks.