It's been almost 40 years since 80s icons Wham! played their final ever gig at Wembley Stadium. Best friends George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley took the globe by storm, selling more than 30 million records worldwide in just four years.
A new documentary on Netflix, titled Wham!, is telling their story, featuring unheard interviews and never-before-seen footage from George and Andrew's personal archives. The pair were still teenagers when Wham! began to take off in 1982, having formed the duo while at school in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
They became one of the most successful bands on the 80s, with hits including 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go', 'Club Tropicana and Last Christmas.' But they split in 1986, with George wanting to create music for a more grown-up audience.
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Both went on to have solo careers, with George continuing to make music and release an album two and a half years before his death on Christmas day in 2016. Here's a look at what Andrew did following Wham!'s split.
Initially, he moved to Monaco and tried out Formula Three motor racing. Having little success, he then moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of an acting career.
He returned to Britain permanently in 1990 and released his first and only solo album, Son of Albert, which failed break into the top 50 and received mixed reviews. The album was named after himself - his father was called Albert Ridgeley.
Entertainment Weekly highlighted the instrumental 'verve' of the songs, but criticized them for lacking conviction, writing: "Ridgeley seems to have redefined himself as a kick-in-the-pants rock & roller, but his songs still come out sounding like manufactured pop."
But the singer has reportedly amassed more than £10 million in royalties from his Wham! hits and is thought to make thousands yearly from a co-writing credit on George Michael's Careless Whisper.
Andrew soon moved to Wadebridge in Cornwall, and now calls the area home, having lived there for 30 years. Andrew got together with Bananarama's Keren Woodward, moving to a farmhouse near Wadebridge in 1994 with Keren's then 10-year-old son, Thomas.
He quickly got to grips with North Cornwall life, enjoying the odd round of golf at the Trevose course, near Padstow. He is also reportedly a keen surfer, having been spotted taking to the waves off the shore of Constantine Bay, reports CornwallLive.
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One local told the Daily Mail about Andrew's love of surfing: "Occasionally if he falls off, he gets someone shouting 'Wham! Bam! I am a man!' but less and less as every year goes by. The thing about surfing is that it's a great leveller. Everyone just wants to crack open a beer and talk about the waves - and Andy's as up for that as anyone."
The couple enjoyed living in the countryside, with Andrew always having dreamed of living by the sea. Keren told the Daily Mail in 2009: "Our life in Cornwall is really quiet. We go to the pub and no one bothers us. Even when George [Michael] comes to visit, he isn't hassled. You can be normal if you choose to be. I have always found fame embarrassing, I still do."
She said of Andrew: "He enjoys the anonymity that he has. He's not bored at all. He surfs, he plays golf."
Andrew and Keren briefly split in 2015 before reconciling, but broke up for good and went their separate ways in 2017. It is believed that Andrew has found love again with Amanda Caroline Skincare co-founder and fashion influencer Amanda Cronin, 45.
In 2019, Andrew released an autobiography, Wham! George & Me. It became a bestseller, and in it he opens up about the effect George's death had on him.
He said: "The reality felt catastrophic and it was hard to get a handle on what had happened. For the next couple of days I felt lost and stayed in London because the press had descended upon my home in Cornwall. But I wasn't in a position to talk about George at that time. I felt crushed by sadness."
The former star is now a keen cyclist and does a lot of fundraising racing for the Dallaglio RugbyWorks Charity, which helps marginalised young people.
Wham! is available to stream on Netflix now
