Andrew Ridgeley
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| Andrew Ridgeley | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Andrew John Ridgeley |
| Born | January 26, 1963 Windlesham, Surrey, England |
| Genre(s) | Pop, Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1981–1990 |
| Label(s) | Columbia/Epic, Innervision |
| Associated acts | Wham! |
Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English pop singer, guitarist and environmentalist born to Jennipher and Albert Ridgeley. His mother is British and his father is Egyptian-Italian[citation needed] Andrew came to public attention as a member (with George Michael) of the 1980s pop music duo Wham!
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[edit] Life and career
Born in Windlesham, Surrey, 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 Kodak. When the then-shy, then-chubby & bespectacled George Michael was enrolled at the school, Andrew volunteered to take him under his wing. After years of playing in various music groups, George and Andrew's common musical interests led them to form Wham!. After approaching various record labels with a homemade tape (which took ten minutes to record in Ridgeley's living room), they found a record label willing to sign them, Innervision. Innervision was later dissolved resulting from a royalty lawsuit led by Ridgeley and supported by George.
Wham! went on to enjoy huge worldwide success between 1982 and 1986, making their U.S. debut appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.
Following Wham!'s break-up in late-1986, Ridgeley moved to Monaco and tried his hand at Formula Three motor racing. Meeting with little success, Ridgeley moved to Los Angeles for the hopeful singer/actor crossover but returned to England 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 effort from Ridgeley, Son of Albert, in 1990. His brother Paul--a frequent percussionist for Bananarama--played drums on the album. Singles included "Shake" and "Red Dress". CBS Records passed up the option of a second album.
After retiring from active music-making, Ridgeley still remained active in music-writing under various pseudonyms.[citation needed]
Ridgeley began surfing in the early 1990s. While surfing with his brother off the coast of England, 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 English surfing beaches and riverways, working with the UK charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).
Ridgeley is a partner in an English business that makes surfing equipment. He frequently 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.
He now lives in Cornwall, United Kingdom, in a restored 15th-century farm property with his partner Keren Woodward [1] 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 hobbies include Real Ale and he is a keen member of CAMRA.
Ridgeley is no doubt a supporter of Queens Park Rangers Football club and can be seen wearing their kit in the music video for the Wham! single "Freedom". He also has allegiances to Manchester United and travels far and wide to watch his second team, he is a regular visitor to Old Trafford and uses his trips to the North West to fine tune his golf game on the tough links courses of the North West coastline
[edit] In popular culture
- Indie pop group Black Box Recorder wrote a song in tribute, entitled "Andrew Ridgeley" on their 2003 album Passionoia.
- Ridgeley is the alleged inspiration for Hugh Grant's character in the film Music & Lyrics.
- Frequently referenced as "The other guy from Wham!", such as in an episode from the satirical cartoon, Family Guy, where Peter Griffin interrupts Stewie's television programs, explaining to him that "Sorry Stewie, A&E Biography's doing the Life of the Other Guy From WHAM!" also in the second season of Eli Stone the character Nathan Stone also refers to him in this way.
- Andrew Ridgeley was the inspiration for the name of The Andrew Ridgeleys, a rock band from Iowa City, Iowa.
- Del Boy character from "Only Fools and Horses" has a saying: "I'm going to miss him like George Michael misses Andrew Ridgeley!".
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Andrew Ridgeley at the Internet Movie Database
- Article on how Ridgeley lives his life in 2007, also hints at a re-union with Michael at an announced concert
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