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27 July 2023, 11:41
Wham's greatest music videos: Andrew Ridgeley breaks down his biggest hits | Smooth's Video Rewind
The trio were pictured backstage in the late 1980's.
George Michael was one of the biggest heartthrobs of the 1980s.
The young star made his way to Hollywood after making his mark on the music industry as one-half of Wham!, and took the social scene by storm.
George Michael famously bought a property in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles in 1989 and made the US his home away from home, living there sporadically until his death in 2016.
Now fellow 1980s pin-up, actor Rob Lowe, has unearthed a picture of George Michael's early Hollywood days as he posed with himself and Demi Moore.
The actor, 59, posted the picture alongside the caption: "When you say: ‘80s,’ I say…"
Rob Lowe appears to be wearing a 'Faith' t-shirt and backstage pass, prompting speculation the picture was taken after one of George Michael's concerts on his 1988 Faith world tour.
After leaving Wham! in 1986 and releasing his debut solo album Faith in 1987, George embarked on a world tour that spanned nine months of 1988 and took the young singer to every corner of the globe.
Starting in Tokyo, the tour took George to New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii before heading north for the long leg of the European tour.
After playing six nights in London in June 1988, the tour headed across the Atlantic and played an incredible 31 venues across the US, including three nights in Los Angeles where the recently found snap was presumably taken.
The picture from Rob Lowe comes just weeks after George's Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley opened up about the status of his relationship with George after the band ended in 1986.
To mark the release of the new Netflix film, Wham!, Ridgeley spoke to The New York Times about his relationship with his old friend 'Yog'.
For Andrew, the ending of Wham!'s was not a break-up but a new beginning where the pair were "no longer living in each other’s pockets".
Despite this "their bond was fixed", the article states.
"The only thing I ever wanted to do from the age of 14 was to be in a band, write songs and perform," Ridgeley said adding that being famous or a celebrity “were never a motivating factor for either of us.”
Looking back at his success, he struggles to comprehend that he and George Michael had once reached the lofty heights of fame equal to some of the biggest idols of the day.
"I could never quite really get that we had achieved the same kind of success as the artists that we revered like gods when we were growing up," he said.
"We were playing Wembley Stadium, the same place Elton John played. You can say, 'I am the same'. But in your own mind, you’re never the same."
Andrew did add that he was never surprised by George's rise to success, saying his best friend and bandmate was "one of the finest, if not the finest, singing voices of his generation."