Wham! their tour of China, received its world premiere as part of the festivities. For several years after becoming a solo artist, Michael spoke negatively, in public, about his time with Wham, partly because of the negativity of intense media coverage on Ridgeley. Michael complained of the constant pressure he felt, and he claimed that the duo had been mistreated financially. He also spoke disparagingly about some of the videos and songs from the Wham repertoire, especially the video from "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", and the songs from Fantastic. However, his perspective on the era softened somewhat in the
Wham! first album. Michael died from heart and liver disease at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on Christmas Day 2016. He was 53. Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, formed in London in 1981. Influenced by funk and soul music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Wham's 1983 debut album "Fantastic" addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem for young people and teen angst over adulthood. Their second studio album "Make It Big" in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting number one in both the UK and the United States. The singles