Smash hit festive song, Last Christmas, was written in “an hour” by the late George Michael, according to the surviving member of Wham!, Andrew Ridgeley.
The popular singer makes the revelation today as he presents a one-off show on Smooth Radio, A Christmas Special with Andrew Ridgeley, to mark 40 years since the release of the single Last Christmas.
Over two hours today, Ridgeley will be choosing his favourite Christmas music and talk about his fondest memories of the festive holiday.
On the creation of Last Christmas, Ridgeley tells his listeners: “In the middle of nothing happening very much at all, George [Michael] leapt up, whizzed up to his little recording four-track machine upstairs, and about an hour later, came downstairs in high excitement and grabbed me and said, ‘Andy, Andy, you’ve got to listen to this. I’ve done it.’
It became a moment to remember, he explained.
“We went upstairs,” continued Andrew, “and listened to what really were the bare bones of Last Christmas, just the chorus and a little bit of the keyboard track. And it was an epiphanic moment. It was, ‘Oh my Lord, that is a Christmas number one’.
But they would face unexpected competition, ironically from George Michael himself.
Said Ridgeley: “We didn’t know we’d have to wait quite so long… One of my favourite facts about Last Christmas is that it took 39 years to get to the Christmas number one [in 2023]. Better late than never!”
Last Christmas was beaten to the top slot in the charts by the Band-Aid single, Do They Know It’s Christmas?, on which George Michael sang one of the leading vocals.
In a new documentary last week about the famous Band-Aid song, George Michael told Paula Yates, “This song is going to stop me getting our fourth number one..”
He was absolutely right.
Last Christmas is the third biggest song of all time in the UK if you combine sales and streams.
In the Smooth radio show, Andrew recalls George’s legendary generosity: “Christmas time always brings back so many memories, and one of my abiding memories is of my late, lamented best friend George [Michael] – and his generosity and charitable benevolence.
“His caring attitude began at home each Christmas, he would send me and each of his closest friends a wonderful Christmas hamper stuffed with seasonal goodies. It’s a gesture which illustrates one of the underpinnings of Christmas – the simple pleasure of giving.”
A Christmas Special with Andrew Ridgeley is broadcast today from 2pm to 4pm on Smooth Christmas, available on Global Player – the official Smooth Radio app.