Wham!’s half Andrew Ridgeley gave an interview to the Guardian, where he talked about his childhood friend and the other half of Wham!, George Michael. In 1985, Michael went on stage with Elton John for Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, London, four years after the group was formed. When Andrew was asked how he felt seeing George on stage, and whether he was jealous of his friend, he answered:
“Extremely proud, oh God, I envied his voice and his songwriting talent, but it was an affectionate envy, very different from being jealous or covetous. I respected his talent immensely, but it was also a sense of great pride. He was my best friend and I knew his potential, and it was marvellous to see that become realised.”
In the interview, Ridgeley also shared his feelings about George taking over the songwriting during the making of Wham!’s debut album ‘Fantastic’:
“[It was] a little difficult … even though I knew exactly why we were making it and I didn’t try to assert … Assert? Impose a desire to demand to share even part of the songwriting duties, largely because he was so much better at it. It was important for us to make Wham! the biggest pop act of its kind, and that could only be served by Yog assuming the songwriting duties.”
When it was asked Andrew if this decision bruised his ego as a follow-up question, he answered:
“I like to think I have a minimal ego. But it was difficult. It did feel uncomfortable to put aside that aspect of my creativity, but I understood the context in which it was being done. I don’t do existential angst. My feelings weren’t hurt, but it was difficult, it was uncomfortable, because it reduced my input into Wham!. We started off writing songs together – that had always underpinned music-making.”
In the Wham! documentary on Netflix, the archival footage and audio showed what George Michael thought of his friend Andrew. Michael said:
“Andrew was this kind of idol that I had. He was the first person that I’d ever hung around with that was much stronger than me. Almost everything came from Andrew. Andrew changed my life in exactly the way someone needed to change my life if I was gonna be a pop star.”
About Wham!’s splitting up, George brought up the fact that he hid his sexuality while they were together and stated that he emphasised with Ridgeley:
“The turning point with Wham! was me as I suddenly thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m a massive star, and I’m gay.’ And the depression was about that. It was about the way I’d boxed myself in. I think Andrew was ready to finish because, much as he understood his importance, he was tired of being, you know, taken potshots at as the lucky guy that’s kind of coasted along with George Michael. He was so much more than that.”
You can watch Elton John and George Michael’s performance from 1985 below.
