Wham! was a U.K. pop-dance duo formed in 1981 by George Michael (born Yorgos Panayiotou, June 26, 1963) and Andrew Ridgeley (born June 25, 1963). The two got together while attending school in Bushey, England in 1979 after they had worked in a band called "Executive". Combining light soul music with slow, romantic ballads, they first hit the U.K. charts in the fall of 1982 with "Young Guns (Go for It)". It hit number three, the first of ten U.K. Top Ten hits for the duo.

The first Wham! album, "Fantastic", topped the U.K. charts in 1983. The group broke through in the U.S. the following year with "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", the first of three straight number one hits. The second of those chart-toppers was "Careless Whisper", billed as "Wham... featuring George Michael", the first sign that Michael , who sang lead and wrote the songs, was emerging as a solo entity. Ridgeley, it seemed, was having more fun chasing women and racing cars than recording songs. Nevertheless, Wham! continued through 1986, finishing their career at Wembley Stadium in England, after which the two split, and Michael went on to have success, while Ridgeley's best effort reached only #130 on the U.S. charts.

Few could have guessed that the transition from teenybopper idol to serious singer/songwriter would go as smoothly as it did for George Michael. His first post-Wham! outing was "I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)", a duet with Aretha Franklin that hit #1 in 1987 and earned Michael and Franklin a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo. Shortly afterward, Michael released the funky first single off the album, Faith, "I Want Your Sex," which, bolstered by a sexy video, quickly soared to #2. The album would eventually spin off four #1 hits: "Faith" (1987), the shimmering "Father Figure" (1988), the romantic ballad "One More Try" (1988), and "Monkey" (1988). "Kissing a Fool" hit #5 in 1989, further boosting the eight-million-selling album, 1988's bestselling selling L.P. and Grammy-winning Album of the Year.

Meanwhile, Michael continued, in his videos and media appearances, to cultivate a sex-symbol image, albeit a more rugged-leather, chin stubble, sneer-mature one than he had nurtured in Wham! But with the release of his second solo effort, "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1", in 1990, Michael surprised fans and industry insiders by shunning the press and saying he wouldn't make videos. The album peaked at #2 nonetheless, and there was a chart-topping hit, the sombre "Praying for Time" (#1, 1990). The danceable second single, "Freedom", whose lyrics spelled out Michael's decision to abandon his rock-star persona -- went to #8 (1990) and was made into a video, albeit without Michael's presence. (Instead, a bevy of supermodels appeared lip-syncing his vocals.) In late 1991, Michael was back on the charts with a #1 version of Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," recorded live with John.

A year later, Michael announced that he would take legal action to terminate his contract with Sony Music-the corporation that took over his label, Columbia Records. He charged that Sony, still wishing to package Michael as a sex symbol, lacked respect for his artistic expression and that it only half-heartedly supported his projects benefiting the AIDS cause, among them his duet with Elton John and his four-track contribution to a compilation album called Red Hot + Dance.

In 1993, Sony grudgingly granted Hollywood Records permission to release "Five Live", an EP of two cover songs performed by Michael on his 1991-92 tour and three from his appearance at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992, during which he sang Queen songs with surviving members of the band. All proceeds from the record went to the Phoenix Trust, an AIDS charity set up in Mercury's memory.

In June 1994 a London court rejected Michael's claim that his contract with Sony amounted to "restraint of trade" and upheld the $12-million contract the singer had signed with the company in 1988. At the time, Michael owed the label six more albums on a contract that could have run to 2003. Two months later, Michael filed an appeal of the verdict. As the legal battle continued, Michael was unable to release new product. Under a special arrangement, Michael's "Jesus for a Child" aired just once in England as part of an annual appeal to raise funds for needy children. After hearing the six-minute song, listeners pledged $32,000 to the charity.

After losing the appeal, Michael bought his way out his Columbia contract and signed with the music division of DreamWorks, a fledgling entertainment corporation founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. In 1996, he released "Older", its sales clearly hampered by his long hiatus away from performing.

In 1998, Michael made tabloid headlines when he was arrested for lewd conduct in a men's public restroom at a park near his Beverly Hills home; following the incident, the singer appeared on CNN and publicly revealed his homosexuality. Michael was sued for $10 million by the police officer who arrested him. Beverly Hills cop Marcelo Rodriguez said the singer slandered him in interviews, according to the Associated Press. Michael pleaded no contest to the 1998 charge, and was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service, undergo counselling and pay a $910 fine.

The hits collection, "Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael", followed later that year. George Michael continued to perform, while Andrew Ridgeley has faded from the music scene.