Wham! was a British pop duo composed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
A group that began its period of activity in the music industry in 1981. Their career as a duo was not very long, since in 1986 both artists decided to put a separate direction to their lives and their musical career.
However, that did not prevent them from releasing great musical hits that have gone down in history. We will go behind the story of ‘Last Christmas‘ to know it in depth. You will be surprised!
What’s behind Wham!’s «Last Christmas»?
It all started in Christmas 1984, a time when the iconic duo released what would become one of the most played Christmas songs of all time, ‘Last Christmas‘. A song composed by George Michael himself that was released through Epic Records.
With over two million copies sold, ‘Last Christmas’ is the best-selling British single of all time. However, it never reached number one. In fact, in 2017, after a campaign carried out by George Michael’s fans in an attempt to take it to the top spot in Christmas sales following Michael’s death, on Christmas Day 2016 it was positioned at number two.
Despite not reaching the number one position, the song was certified gold and platinum records in several countries around the world. Also, curiously, the song does not talk about Christmas itself, but about a love breakup and that moment when you meet your ex the following year. As Andrew Ridgeley, the other half of Wham! explained at the time, the song was born during a visit to George Michael’s parents’ house:
«We were having a bite to eat while watching TV when, almost unbeknownst to me, George disappeared upstairs for an hour. When he came back, he was as excited as if he had struck gold…and in part, he had been…we went to his old bedroom, where we had spent so many hours as kids, recording radio shows and jingles, and where he had a keyboard and a tape recorder. Then he started playing the beginning and the chorus of ‘Last Christmas’. It was a wonderful moment».
The song Last Christmas was a worldwide hit in 1984. However, in the United States it failed to enter the charts because the song had not been presented as a «commercial song». The rules on this changed in the 1990s, but for the Wham! song it was too late. Undoubtedly, an unforgettable song.
