They met over one of their favorite pastimes: a game of Scrabble.
“It took us right back to just… the essence of our schoolboy friendship and one-upmanship.
It was a game that stimulated him, and me also.”
Andrew Ridgeley in 2023; George Michael in 2012.Jeff Spicer/BAFTA/Getty for BAFTA; Brian Rasic/Getty
With Michael’s ambitions outstripping the group, Wham!
broke up in 1986 and Michael went on to a very successful solo career.
“He would be very rightly proud, and he deserves his place there.
George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in 1984.Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty
You know, he is a genuine legend and an icon of contemporary music,” Ridgeley told PEOPLE.
There ain’t too many that held a candle to him."
