Today George Michael remains a gay icon, a trailblazer in a time when pop stars could not be out. But before he was a solo artist, he was part of one of the biggest pop duos of the 1980s, and the new documentary WHAM! from director Chris Smith (FYRE, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, Sr.) coming to Netflix next month will tell that story.
The film will follow the story of the “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” band from the very beginning, when Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were just teens and best friends. Together, they set out to conquer the world and just four years after starting they succeeded — and played their last gig ever at Wembley Stadium.
It was just a blink of an eye as far as public perception, but it was four incredible years for two friends who went from having a dream to dominating the charts around the world with timeless and classic pop songs. From “Club Tropicana” to “Freedom” and “I’m Your Man” — and of course “Last Christmas” — the two left an indelible mark on ‘80s pop. “Their time in the spotlight was white-hot, becoming the very first Western pop act to play in China. It was a time that both encapsulated and epitomized not just their youth, but also those of the many millions of fans that adored them,” reads the official synopsis.
Courtesy of Netflix
Now that story is coming to Netflix thanks to “unprecedented access to both George and Andrew’s archive including remarkable and never-before-seen footage, alongside rare, candid and previously unheard interviews, WHAM! charts their incredible journey from school friends to superstars.”
It’s a piece of queer history we can’t wait to learn more about.
