Wham star Andrew Ridgeley has opened up about his time in the chart-topping group revealing that he and George Michael never fell out, but rather had disagreements including one about the band’s infamous concerts in China.
The duo became the first western pop group to play in communist China in 1985.
“We never fell out,” Ridgeley says. “We had disagreements, for example, I didn’t think we should go to China.
“I thought it was a shot in the dark and a crazy stunt, but I was proved wrong,” he told Radio Times ahead of a new Netflix documentary which will be released on July 5.
The film tells the story of the band through archive footage and new contributions from Andrew, 60, who speaks in depth about the group for the first time in decades.
Speaking about how the China tour came about he says it was the brainchild of the group’s manager, Simon Napier-Bell, as he thought it would turn them into global stars.
“Our manager Simon proposed to us that we do a couple of shows in China,” Andrew reveals in the Netflix flick.
“America was really interested in communist China. As the first modern pop group ever to go we’d attract attention and bust America open wide,” he revealed.
Archive footage of the trip shows them larking around on the Great Wall during their downtime as well as performing to hugely appreciative sell-out crowds.
“Our idea was to project fun, exuberance – the values of Wham,” Andrew admits. “Our band and Pepsi and Shirlie – everyone was committed.”
The plan did indeed work and America sat up and took notice with CBS Morning News describing it as “a two man cultural revolution”.
When appearing on the show, the host asked them why they think China let them play in their country.
This leads to a very thoughtful response from George: “I think they see us as fairly safe because we don’t really represent rock and roll.
“We represent the more showbusiness pop,” he explained to the presenter.
“The videos and the records, which after all is all they know about us, haven’t shown any kind of real sex and drugs rock and roll angle I suppose.”
Andrew later acknowledges in the documentary that “the press response was massive”.
“It did elevate our status as a global phenomenon,” he concedes.
You can read Andrew’s full interview in this week’s Radio Times.
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