The Final was the farewell

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

by English musical duo

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

It was held at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 28 June 1986. A total of 72,000 people attended the event, which included support artists and special guests, such as

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Simon Le Bon Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British ...

. The concert was preceded by the release of the greatest hits album of the same name.

Background

Wham! had announced their breakup in 1986. During late February Michael was a guest on the talk show ''Aspel & Company'', he announced that Wham! were to break-up and were to perform one last show. During production rehearsals for the Wembley concert, Wham! performed two warm-up shows in aid of

Capital radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

’s “Help a London Child” charity on 23 and 24 June at the

Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...

in London. 2-15 July 1986.

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

. Publisher EMAP Metro. Retrieved 14 November 2019 In an interview in October 2019, Ridgeley said that the concert was unlikely to be released stating “I would love that to happen, but it was never actually filmed or recorded for

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

and George felt it wasn’t of the quality that he would be prepared to be made public.” Ridgeley also said of the concert, that he had wanted to take the show internationally and that he was disappointed saying “I felt that it was a slight betrayal of the fans who had supported us globally.”

Synopsis

The first ever public viewing of the '' Wham! in China: Foreign Skies''

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

was shown on large

screens Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which m ...

on either side of the stage. This set a record for the largest audience at a

film premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its fi ...

At 7.35pm an eight-minute introduction to "Everything She Wants" began from behind a huge black curtain which had "The Final" on it in huge white letters. It opened to reveal Michael - dressed in leather, black jeans, wearing

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can s ...

and danced in sync with two other dancers. Ridgeley, Shirley and Pepsi came to the stage. Ridgeley took off his black coat and strolled up the walkways and took off his black gloves. "Club Tropicana" followed. Michael spoke to the crowd "This is the best thing I've ever looked at". We've got four years of thank-yous to say this evening... and I know we're going to enjoy saying them. So let's get started!". "Heartbeat" and "Battlestations" was performed. Afterwards, it was "Bad Boys", Pepsi and Shirlie made a brief appearance wearing

bouffant A bouffant () is a type of puffy, rounded hairstyle characterized by hair raised high on the head and usually covering the ears or hanging down on the sides. Etymology The English word ''bouffant'' comes from the French ''bouffante'', from ...

wigs; included was "If You Were There". A large white

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

was wheeled on stage, Elton John was dressed in Ronald McDonald make-up and costume, a shiny red wig, a red nose, a stripey red t-shirt and yellow dungarees. Guitarist David Austin joined and "The Edge of Heaven" begins. Michael split the audience into three groups, with each group to sing a section. They performed John’s 1973 hit "Candle In The Wind". "Credit Card Baby", "Like A Baby", "Love Machine", "Where Did Your Heart Go?" had followed in quick succession. There was a pause before a cover of

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...

’s "Why" is performed. Wham! began their single "Last Christmas". Michael got the audience to do the "

Wave In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...

" and everyone showed the orange side of their programmes. It transferred into "Wham! Rap". After the ballad "A Different Corner" and "Freedom" ended, they disappeared for a short while and came back for "Careless Whisper" and "Young Guns". Michael ran around the stage performing "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". The band comes back to do the

encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pres ...

, their last song, "I'm Your Man". They were alone on stage. Michael took off his black jacket, while Ridgeley was in suede with denim

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

. Elton John again joined in a pink

mohican The Mohican ( or , alternate spelling: Mahican) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, who ...

(of

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

) made a surprise entrance on stage. Wham! embraced, the moment captured on the large screens.

Opening acts

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved success during the glam rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, and his career ended after he w ...

Nick Heyward Nicholas Heyward (born 20 May 1961) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He came to international attention in the early 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter for Haircut One Hundred. He and the band parted ways after their first alb ...

Set list

# "

Everything She Wants "Everything She Wants" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released as a single in 1984 on Epic Records on a double A-side with "Last Christmas". It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, becoming their th ...

" # "

Club Tropicana "Club Tropicana" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released in 1983 on Innervision Records. It was written by members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. History "Club Tropicana" was written in 1981 in Ridgeley's living room, before the band ...

" # "Heartbeat" # "Battlestations" # " Bad Boys" # "If You Were There" # "

The Edge of Heaven "The Edge of Heaven" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single. History With the known desire ...

" # "

Candle in the Wind "Candle in the Wind" is a threnody written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally written in 1973, in honour of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier. In 1997, John perfor ...

" (ft.

) # "Credit Card Baby" # "Like A Baby" # " Love Machine" # " Where Did Your Heart Go?" # "

Why Why may refer to: * Causality, a consequential relationship between two events * Reason (argument), a premise in support of an argument, for what reason or purpose * Grounding (metaphysics), a topic in metaphysics regarding how things exist in v ...

" # "

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK. Described as a "high watermark of mid-80s Br ...

" # "

Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" is the debut single by English pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records, released in June 1982. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. History Wham Rap! was the first song written by Michae ...

" # "

A Different Corner "A Different Corner" is a song written and performed by George Michael that was released on Epic Records (Columbia Records in the US) in 1986 . Background & Writing "A Different Corner" was written by Michael while Wham! were at their peak as a ...

" # "

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

" # "

Careless Whisper "Careless Whisper" is a song written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Released on the 1984 Wham! album ''Make It Big'', the single release was credited either to ''Wham! featuring George Michael'' (in North America and several other count ...

" # "

Young Guns (Go For It) "Young Guns (Go for It)" (also listed as "Young Guns (Go for It!)" on some releases) is a song by English pop duo Wham! first released as a single in the UK by Innervision Records in October 1982. It was written and co-produced by George Michael, ...

" # "

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified pla ...

" ;Encore : 21. " I'm Your Man" (ft. Elton John /

)

Show

''Source:'' Live Shows
- Various appearances 28 June 1986 Wembley Stadium

Personnel

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

- Lead vocals *

Andrew Ridgeley Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham!. Early life Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey, England, to parents ...

- Guitar * Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque - Backing vocals *

Shirlie Holliman Shirlie Kemp (née Holliman; born 18 April 1962) is an English singer, who found fame in the 1980s with Wham! and as part of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie. Early years Shirlie Holliman was child four of five born to Arthur and Margaret Holliman and ...

- Backing vocals Guests *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Final (concert), The George Michael concert tours 1986 concert tours