Andrew Ridgeley has spoken emotionally about the loss of his Wham! bandmate George Michael, nearly a decade after his death, as a new documentary prepares to showcase the duo's groundbreaking 1984 trip to China.
The film, Wham! 10 Days In China, lands in cinemas next week and features never-before-seen footage of the pair at the height of their fame. Ridgeley, revisiting scenes with his childhood friend affectionately known as Yog, admitted: "It moved me. Sometimes it catches me out. Moments that really appeal to me are the bickering in the back of the car - that's just two youngsters... where you can identify the essence of a real friendship."
Loss of a best friend
Ridgeley reflected on the void left by Michael's death: "Those are obviously the things that I miss because we are unable to share them now. We all miss him. For me to have lost the best friend that I ever had is, obviously, it's difficult, but they're irreplaceable. A childhood friend, with whom you've spent your formative years, become an adult with gone through youth, it's a big loss, as it is for anyone who may have experienced that."
He added: "And the fact that (he's) possibly one of the finest singer songwriters that has ever set foot on the Earth makes it, you know, doubly poignant."
Wham!'s China trip: from publicity stunt to diplomatic mission
Wham!'s journey to China began as a publicity stunt aimed at cracking the American market. However, it inadvertently became a diplomatic mission that introduced Western pop culture to a nation that had never experienced it before. Ridgeley, who returned to China for the film and met audience members, said: "It is remarkable to see people's first reaction to that kind of genre of music. It's evident that some had never actually been exposed to that before."
He continued: "In hindsight, being able to understand what it meant to those people, it was touching and moving and gave the whole trip a substance and meaning that perhaps didn't have previously. I think George would feel the same way."
Success and the end of Wham!
The China shows proved effective: within four months, Wham! had become the biggest band in America, touring stadiums. Yet just six months later, they called it a day. When asked if George regretted ending Wham! so soon, Ridgeley explained: "No, we wanted to be the biggest pop act in the world. We pretty much were by the time June 28, 1986, rolled round. So there wasn't a great deal left for us to do, but there was a whole lot for George to do as a solo artist, and he could not do that within the constraints of Wham!"
Ridgeley noted that Michael had expressed reservations about his solo career: "He's on record, expressing that he had reservations about what lay before in front of him as a solo artist, and whether he could, and he has said - that had he known - perhaps, what it entailed, he might have thought twice about it. He wasn't unaware of the nature of what he was letting himself in for."
He emphasised that their friendship endured: "And, you know, we were friends. We still saw each other. It wasn't like Wham! was the end of our friendship. It was just the end of a chapter in our friendship."
Film release
Wham! 10 Days In China opens in cinemas on July 28 and will air on the BBC later in the year.
