Andrew Ridgeley

Andrew Ridgeley
Birth name Andrew John Ridgeley
Born 26 January 1963 (1963-01-26) (age 49)
Windlesham, Surrey, England
Genres New Wave, hard rock
Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter, music producer
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 1981–1990
Labels Epic, Innervision
Associated acts George Michael

Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English former pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and environmentalist. He was a member (with George Michael) of the 1980s pop music duo Wham!.

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Early life

Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey to Jennifer and Albert Ridgeley. His mother is British and his father is Egyptian-Italian. Ridgeley grew up in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and attended Bushey Meads School. His mother was a schoolteacher at Bushey Heath Primary School and his father worked for Canon. When George Michael was enrolled at the school, Ridgeley volunteered to take him under his wing. After years of playing in various music groups, Michael and Ridgeley formed Wham! They then approached various record labels with a homemade tape (which took ten minutes to record in Ridgeley's living room), and signed with Innervision Records. According to I'm Coming to Take You to Lunch, a book written by Wham's manager, Simon Napier-Bell, the band left Innervision after the first album and signed to CBS.

Wham! and after

Wham! went on to enjoy worldwide success between 1982 and 1986. They made their U.S. debut appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand but broke up in late 1986, whereupon Ridgeley moved to Monaco, and tried his hand at Formula Three motor racing. Meeting with little success, Ridgeley moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in acting. He returned to Britain permanently in 1990.

CBS Records (later Sony Music), having taken up the option on Wham!'s contract that specified solo albums from Michael and Ridgeley, released a guitar and drum driven solo recording from Ridgeley, Son of Albert, in 1990. His brother Paul, an occasional percussionist for Bananarama, played drums on the album. Singles included "Shake" and "Red Dress". CBS passed up the option of a second album. Reportedly after retiring from active music-making, Ridgeley still remained active in music-writing under various pseudonyms.

Surfing

Ridgeley began surfing in the early 1990s. While surfing with his brother off the coast of Britain, both men contracted a waterborne illness from the raw sewage being discharged from a nearby pipe. After recovering from his illness, Ridgeley gave an interview to The Times. He went on to become a prominent environmentalist in the cause of water quality at British surfing beaches and riverways, working with the UK charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).[1]

Ridgeley is a partner in a British business that makes surfing equipment. He lends his name and donates money to help pass laws against the discharge of raw sewage in UK offshore waters. Ridgeley's and SAS's efforts enjoyed success in recent years, having influence upon numerous safe sewage laws that have virtually eliminated E. coli illness and deaths in the UK.

Personal life

Ridgeley now lives near Wadebridge, Cornwall, United Kingdom, in a restored 15th century farm property with his girlfriend Keren Woodward[2] of the pop group Bananarama. The majority of his spare time is taken up by golf and he is a keen member of a local club where he plays off a handicap of 12; other interests include drinking real ale (he is a member of CAMRA). He is also a keen Queens Park Rangers fan.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

  1. ^ SAS.org.uk
  2. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1216592/Wham-star-Andrew-Ridgeley-succumbs-ageing-process.html

External links