Christmas came early for Andrew Ridgeley in 1984. The previous year’s festivities were barely over when he heard a song he felt was a dead cert to be the next Christmas number one. Even better, it had been written by George Michael for their band Wham!. 

Four decades later, the song’s enduring appeal means that, as long as Christmas is celebrated somewhere in the world, Last Christmas will be part of the soundtrack. 

It’s quite an achievement. Especially for a pop duo who were just 21 when it was released and were viewed as transitory pop pin-ups rather than cultural titans at that time. But Ridgeley, talking to Big Issue, says the song’s long afterlife was quite deliberate. 

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“George set himself a task as a songwriter to write a Christmas song that would endure and be perennial,” says Ridgeley, now a youthful 61. 

“It’s such a big ask. That’s why there aren’t that many really awesome Christmas songs. But Last Christmas was a song we both recognised as being a classic, and one we felt would be a shoo-in for Christmas number one.” 

Wham! Bam! 

The Wham! story is one of pristine pop music, perfectly packaged and presented. And, as Ridgeley notes, “Fortunately, we had one of the best singer-songwriters of his generation in the band. Which helped.” 

The way the duo came together made their future success feel almost predestined: Ridgeley volunteering to take newcomer Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, quickly shortened to Yog, under his wing at Bushey Meads School in Hertfordshire. Both were music fanatics and Ridgeley’s supreme confidence and highly attuned sense of style proved a perfect foil for his shy but talented friend. 

Wham! formed from the ashes of their school band, The Executive, in 1981. Now a single-minded pop duo, they immediately began touting their rudimentary demo tapes around record labels, signing with Innervision the following year.  

Socially conscious debut single Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do), released in September 1982, stalled at number 105 in the UK charts. But follow-up Young Guns (Go for It) exploded into the public consciousness thanks to a high-energy appearance alongside backing singers Dee C Lee and Shirlie Holliman on Top of the Pops. After that, their ascent was dizzyingly quick.  

A re-released Wham Rap! and then Bad Boys both made the top 10, and Club Tropicana, the final single from 1983’s debut LP Fantastic, confirmed them as the brightest new stars on planet pop, and they’d only just begun. Ridgeley takes up the story. 

“1984 was a big year for Wham! – we had our first number one in late spring with Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. It was a number one in the UK and the States, which was really big news,” he says. “We recorded the Make It Big album, which was a big success globally. And then we embarked on a world tour.  

“George [as a solo artist] also released Careless Whisper that summer, which we’d written together when we became a songwriting duo post the break-up of our school band. So all the stars were aligning. We definitely felt this momentum. And we had Last Christmas in our back pocket.” 

George’s marvellous melody 

Last Christmas was written in Michael’s childhood bedroom. Ridgeley has recounted the moment many times, but still seems awestruck at how his friend appeared to receive the melody from another realm on a very ordinary afternoon.  

“We were killing time on a Sunday,” he says. “It was winter, early 1984. The Big Match was on, which was the only live football on TV in those days. Neither of us were really watching it. I was more interested in football than Yog was and his attention was clearly elsewhere. 

“He had a four-track tape recorder in his bedroom and suddenly jumped and ran upstairs. Not long afterwards, he came down and said, ‘You’ve got to have a listen to this.’  

“He played a skeleton version of the song, the chorus and some of the verse with the keyboard pattern, which set the tone for the track insofar as it’s very evocative of motion, of a sleigh ride, which we enhanced with sleigh bells in the definitive recording. 

“It was a remarkable moment. And it’s such a remarkable song. So perfect at evoking and conveying the atmosphere of Christmas.” 

By this stage, Ridgeley was less involved in the Wham! songwriting process. Michael, confidence buoyed by success, felt increasingly assured to work solo. Their partnership was always underpinned by this deep friendship, and Ridgeley is generous in his praise of his bandmate’s talents. 

“There was an extraordinary moment when we were struggling with this song called Wham Shake and Yog, out of nowhere, conceived Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, which is one of the all-time great pop records,” he recalls.  

“That was a stylistic change that repositioned Wham! – we needed it as well. We had been nine months without a new release, so the pressure was on. And he did that time and time again. That song confirmed in his own mind his ability. From then, all bets were off. He knew he was writing hits. Make It Big was full of them.” 

No one had a better view of Michael as his talent flowered. So what does Ridgeley feel Last Christmas showcases about him as a songwriter, singer and producer? 

“It’s the magic,” he grins. “Fantastic melody, incredibly catchy, slightly wistful, but beautiful. And it is set against a lament, really, which is the lyric.  

“So it’s a slight contradiction. Musically so bright and pretty, while the lyric is a little sad. But it’s all very well having a great song. Making a great record is something else.  

“And with Last Christmas, he made an outstanding record of an outstanding song. That was another of his great talents. He knew how to make great records. It’s a dead simple arrangement. Yog played drum machine, the keyboard was sequenced but he played that in and the bass part he played as well. 

“And that’s all it is. But that provided the perfect bed to sprinkle his magic melody over. It was an exercise in songwriting, but also the song to put the cherry on the cake of an extremely successful year.” 

Two wise guys

Ridgeley talks with pride about the band taking control of their work, even ditching an early version of Careless Whisper Michael recorded at Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama with Jerry Wexler and some of the finest studio musicians of all time. 

“When Yog played it to me, I was distinctly unimpressed,” says Ridgeley. “And he knew in his gut it wasn’t up to scratch. The song had lost its magic. We learnt our instincts were correct.” 

By this point, Wham! were wise guys who realised the danger in diluting their sound. So while Wexler might have been happy with the recording, Ridgeley wasn’t – and it was the latter to whom Michael always turned for a trusted opinion.  

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• Simon Le Bon: ‘I’m very lucky. Solo artists have nobody to tell them they’re being an arsehole’

Big hair, huge hit 

Last Christmas was released on 3 December, 1984. As the young pop stars predicted, it became one of the most beloved Christmas songs of all time.  

But for the song to make it big, it needed a classic video. Director Andrew Morahan, fresh from Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, took charge as Wham! flew to Saas-Fee in Switzerland with backing singers Pepsi [who replaced Lee in 1983] and Shirlie and a group of pals to unleash a riot of huge hair, booze and genuine good times. 

“The song certainly doesn’t seem like 40 years ago. But when one watches the video, it reminds one of the passage of time,” Ridgeley says, with a wry grin. “The video shoot was too much fun for some – for me! There was a potential for it to go wrong, which was realised.” 

As they filmed the story that mirrored the lyrics of the song – Michael lamenting a lost love who was now with Ridgeley – the young guns went for it. 

“We were in an Alpine resort with our good friends. There were loose guidelines but a lot of latitude to have the sense of a Christmas house party. So it’s authentic, which is part of its attraction,” says Ridgeley.  

“It is not artifice. I don’t know which bright spark thought it was a good idea to use real wine for the dinner scene. But we were there for hours, and it descended into a riotous party. Great fun, but it did have its casualty. Which was me! I missed the last scene because of over-excitement at the dinner table.”

Christmas number two

When filming was over, Ridgeley flew home. Michael went directly to Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, West London where another Christmas single was being recorded.  

Pop rivalries were put aside as Michael joined Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon and Culture Club’s Boy George in Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s chorus. He was filmed singing Last Christmas to Paula Yates in the studio – that’s how proud he was of the song – and discussing whether Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? might scupper Wham!’s Christmas number one dream.  

“All of us recognised it as an incredible concept, a wonderful way to aid people in desperate straits,” says Ridgeley, who chose a day of rest over joining Band Aid, not realising the scale of it.  

“And it became clear Last Christmas was going to play second fiddle to Band Aid that Christmas. It was disappointing, but there was a higher and far more important goal with Band Aid. So we made the decision to donate the royalties from Last Christmas [to the famine relief fund]. I have a feeling the George Michael estate still does. It just seemed like the right thing to do.” 

Someone special

We are speaking 28 years to the week since George Michael broke a long media silence by giving an exclusive interview to Big Issue in 1996. He would continue to support us throughout his life. 

“Yog would have been making a point,” says Ridgeley. “He could have had his pick of any publication in the world – everyone wanted that interview. It speaks to his values. I’ve spoken to Big Issue before, I’ve supported it, as most people do. And George’s philanthropy is now well known, although he chose not to promote it when he was alive.” 

In the years after Wham! disbanded – in 1986, with their farewell concert at London’s Wembley Stadium – there were regular rumours of a reunion. Did it ever come close to happening? 

“No, no, no, no, no,” says Ridgeley. “When we brought Wham! to an end, we agreed we wouldn’t rekindle it in our middle age.  

“It was tempting, because it was something we enjoyed doing together and I did perform with Yog on tours he did as a solo artist. But we both understood Wham! was a representation of our youth. If we ever tried to relive it, it would go against the whole essence.” 

His music lives on 

When George Michael died on Christmas Day 2016, aged just 53, it sent shockwaves around the world. There was always a sense that there were more acts to come in his musical story. His songs had touched millions. Stories of his secret philanthropy only added to his legend. The timing of his death also seemed like a cruel irony.   

“It changed how I saw Christmas for a few years,” Ridgeley says. “There is a sadness now to Christmas that previously didn’t exist. And it was difficult to listen to Last Christmas the following year. But it was a time of year that Yog really enjoyed. And his music lives on, and in that, he lives on. 

“So, as with any death of family or a loved one, the sharpness and acuteness of the pain reduces over time. Christmas isn’t as painful as it was in the immediate years after his death. I’m now able to take into account his love of Christmas and the fact it was a happy time of year for him.” 

Like all of us, Ridgeley will hear Last Christmas many times this year. He recently completed a BBC documentary Last Christmas Unwrapped, which airs in December. But if he ever tires of talking about Wham!, Michael or their Christmas classic, he shows no sign of it.  

Last Christmas finally made number one in the UK singles chart in 2021 and achieved the coveted Christmas number one slot last year. It has had close to one billion views on YouTube, charted annually around the world, has inspired countless cover versions from the likes of Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Gwen Stefani (Ridgeley’s favourite, he says) and Jimmy Eat World, and remains as beloved as the man who wrote it. What a song. What a legacy.  

“Last Christmas has woven itself into the fabric of Christmas now,” says Ridgeley. “It’s established itself as part of Christmas in a lot of people’s minds. The fact that it is a Wham! record makes me very proud. We made some brilliant, brilliant records.” 

And when he hears those iconic opening chords, 40 years on? 

“I still enjoy listening to Last Christmas,” he shrugs. “It’s a great record. And it hasn’t dated for me.” 

Wham! Last Christmas Unwrapped is on BBC Two on Saturday 14 December at 8.35pm

Friends In High Places – How Saas-Fee celebrates Wham! and Last Christmas

Last Christmas, this Christmas and every Christmas the video for Wham!’s festive favourite will play on repeat. It was filmed in the picturesque resort of Saas-Fee in the Swiss Alps. Saas-Fee is car free so the only way to arrive is on the cable car, as seen in the video. For filming, different places were used for cosy interiors and spectacular exteriors of the chalet. The rickety wooden fence the party jump over is still there and has become a pilgrimage site for fans, though the chalet itself is now obscured – the little trees seen standing in front of it in 1984 are now towering pines.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song, Saas-Fee has a series of events planned: a glass karaoke box positioned at the entrance of the village, an exhibition including behind-the-scenes photographs, a Wham!Walk taking in key locations from the shoot, themed cocktails, disco nights and a scavenger hunt. Plus the Eskimos Ski & Snowboard School has a special package where you can “learn to ski where Wham! fell in love with winter”.

Find out more about Saas-Fee’s Wham! events here.

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