Editing Wham! (section)

{{short description|English pop duo}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{hatgrp|{{redirect|Wham}}
{{distinguish|Whaam!{{!}}''Whaam!''}}}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Wham!
| image             = Wham! circa 1984-1985 (editing).jpg
| caption           = Wham! in 1985: [[George Michael]]  (left) and [[Andrew Ridgeley]]  (right)
| landscape         = yes
| alt               = A black-and-white photograph of the members of the English pop duo Wham!, circa 1985.
| background        = group_or_band
| alias             = 
| origin            = [[Bushey]], Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
| instrument        = 
| genre             = {{flatlist|
* [[Pop music|Pop]]
* [[dance-pop]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/09/12/wham-separate-tracks/8770be64-71d8-4057-9c43-d4b88ada9a8c/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|last=Himes|first=Geoffrey|date=12 September 1990|access-date=30 June 2023|title= WHAM! SEPARATE TRACKS}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Carl |last=Wilson |title=You Come and Go, You Come and Go ... |date=20 March 2014 |access-date=1 July 2015 |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2014/03/george_michael_and_boy_george_new_albums_from_the_80s_pop_stars_reviewed.html |magazine=Slate}}</ref>
* [[post-disco]]
}}
| discography       = [[Wham! discography]]
| years_active      = 1981–1986
| label             = {{flatlist|
* [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
* [[Innervision Records|Innervision]]
* [[Epic Records|Epic]]
* [[Sony Music|Sony]]
}}
| website           = {{URL|wham.world/}}
| current_members   = 
| past_members      =
* [[George Michael]]
* [[Andrew Ridgeley]]
}}

'''Wham!''' were <!-- This article is written is British-English, which treats collective nouns as plural. See WP:ENGVAR. --> an English [[Pop music|pop]] duo formed in [[Bushey]] in 1981 consisting of [[George Michael]] and [[Andrew Ridgeley]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Biography by Ed Nimmervoll |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/wham!-mn0000246960/biography |title=Wham! &#124; Biography & History |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=4 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="Rettenmund1996">{{cite book|last=Rettenmund|first=Matthew|title=Totally awesome 80s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7rELTyAeAsC&pg=PT60|access-date=6 May 2011|date=15 October 1996|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-14436-4|pages=60–}}</ref> They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Music Industry: The End of Vinyl? |first=John |last=Qualen |year=1985 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |series=Comedia's Media and Communications Industry Profile Series |volume=5 |isbn=0-906890-58-6 }}</ref> Associated with the MTV-driven [[Second British Invasion]] of the US, the singles "[[Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go]]", "[[Careless Whisper]]", and "[[Everything She Wants]]" all topped the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. Their 1984 Christmas hit "[[Last Christmas]]" has become a staple of the holiday season since its release, with all proceeds from the single going to charity. 

Influenced by [[funk]] and [[Soul music|soul]] music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Wham!'s 1983 debut album ''[[Fantastic (Wham! album)|Fantastic]]'' addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem and teen angst over adulthood.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/17841/how-wham-revealed-the-soul-of-george-michaels-musi |title=Why George Michael's Wham! period is in need of a reappraisal |publisher=CBC Music |date=28 December 2018 |access-date=3 August 2018 }}</ref> Their second studio album ''[[Make It Big]]'' in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting at number one in both the UK and the United States. In 1985, Wham! made a highly publicised ten-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group.<ref name="McCarty 2010">{{cite journal |title='Big in Japan': Orientalism in 1980s British Pop Music |first=Lorraine Yvette |last=McCarty |journal=The Mid-Atlantic Almanack |volume=19 |year=2010 |url=http://mapaca.net/almanack/2010/contents }}</ref> The event was seen as a major watershed moment in increasing friendly bilateral relations between China and the West.<ref name="Neville">{{cite news |title=ROCK: East meets Wham!, and another great wall comes down |last=Neville |first=Sam |date=28 April 1985 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

In 1986, Wham! disbanded. Michael was keen to create music targeted at a more sophisticated adult market rather than the duo's primarily teenage audience. Before going their separate ways, they released a farewell single, "[[The Edge of Heaven]]", and a greatest-hits album titled ''[[The Final (album)|The Final]]'', along with a farewell concert entitled [[The Final (concert)|the Final]].