Editing Wham! (section)

===Switch to Epic and continued success===
After the settlement, Innervision's distributor, [[Sony Music Entertainment|CBS Records]], took over Wham!'s contract, placing them on the [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] label in the U.S. and on [[Epic Records|Epic]] worldwide. Wham! returned in 1984 with a new album and an updated pop image. These changes helped to propel Wham!'s next single, "[[Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go]]", into the top ten of several countries around the world. It became their first U.S. and UK No. 1 single, accompanied by a video of the duo with Pepsi and Shirlie, all wearing [[Katharine Hamnett]] T-shirts with the slogans "CHOOSE LIFE" and "GO GO".<ref name="Sibbles 2009">{{cite web |last=Sibbles |first=Emma |title=Get it off your chest: The slogan T-shirt has a noble history |website=The Guardian |date=18 June 2009 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/19/slogan-t-shirts-hamnett |access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref>

The next single was "[[Careless Whisper]]", featuring only Michael in the music video. In certain markets, including the U.S., the single was promoted as "Wham! featuring George Michael", while most other markets it was credited to Michael as a solo act despite being written by both Michael and Ridgeley. The song was a ballad, marking a departure from previous releases. It reached No. 1, selling over 1.3 million copies in the UK.<ref name="everyhit.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.everyhit.com/bestsellingsingles.html |title=Best Selling Singles Of All Time |website=EveryHit.com |access-date=29 December 2012}}</ref> 

"Careless Whisper" marked a new phase in Michael's career, as his labels began to somewhat distance him from the group Wham!'s playboy image. The next single was "[[Freedom (Wham! song)|Freedom]]" and was simply promoted as a Wham! single. Wham! used a video edited together from footage of their tour in China for "Freedom{{"'}}s single release in the US, which was in July 1985. Their second album, ''[[Make It Big]]'', climbed to No. 1 on the album charts and the band set off on an arena tour at the end of 1984.<ref name="tours.yogsbackyard.co.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.tours.yogsbackyard.co.uk/home.php |title=Tours Menu |publisher=Tours.yogsbackyard.co.uk |access-date=29 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912030459/http://www.tours.yogsbackyard.co.uk/home.php |archive-date=12 September 2012}}</ref>

The double A-side single "[[Last Christmas]]" / "[[Everything She Wants]]" became the highest-selling single ever to peak at No. 2 in the UK charts. It stayed at No. 2 for five weeks and, as of February 2020, was the 10th best-selling single of all time in the United Kingdom, selling over 1.9 million copies in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-best-selling-singles-of-all-time-on-the-official-uk-chart__21298/|title=The best-selling singles of all time on the Official UK Chart|website=Officialcharts.com|access-date=24 June 2020}}</ref> Wham! donated all their royalties from the single to the Ethiopian famine appeal to coincide with the fund-raising intentions of Band Aid's "[[Do They Know It's Christmas?]]" the song which kept them out of the top spot. Nevertheless, Band Aid's success meant that Michael had achieved No. 1 status in the UK within three separate entities in 1984—as a solo artist, as one half of a duo, and as part of a charity ensemble.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pure80spop.co.uk/1984.htm |title=The complete list of the UK No.1 songs of the 80s :1984 |website=Pure80spop.co.uk |access-date=29 December 2012}}</ref> At the end of 1985, the US [[Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1985|''Billboard'' charts]] listed "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" as the No. 3 song and "Careless Whisper" as the No. 1 song of the year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/top-100-songs-of-the-year/?year=1985 |title=Billboard Top 100 Songs of 1985 – Year End Charts |website=Bobborst.com |access-date=29 December 2012}}</ref>