Wham! was an English pop duo that set the 80s on fire with a string of 7 consecutive Top 10 hits, the first three being the #1 smashes "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," "Careless Whisper," and "Everything She Wants." Their success made them the 5th most successful chart artist of the 80s. With George Michael being the major songwriting and vocal talent behind the duo with Andrew Ridgeley, it was perhaps inevitable that he'd soon depart for a solo career by 1986. Their last chart entry as Wham! seemed destined to be "Where Did Your Heart Go?" which peaked at #50 that year. However, their holiday hit "Last Christmas," recorded in 1984, has charted in multiple years and shows no sign of stopping that trend. The highest it climbed to date was #25 in 1997, and it matched this position again in 2018. Michael went on to have a legendary but truncated solo career. He died in 2016 at the age of 53. In 2017, Wham! appeared on the charts again when "Careless Whisper" returned to hit #33. "Heartbeat" goes back to the band's breakthrough album, "Make It Big." It is a great pop tune that was overshadowed by the many hits on this album.
Most of what George Michael released in his heyday easily had instant chart success, so there isn't too much from his prolific era to highlight that is "off the chart." Capitalizing on the success he had in Wham!, Michael's solo career made him the 5th most successful artist of the 80s. The 90s weren't too shabby to him, either, as he managed to maintain a healthy chart presence to be the 33rd most successful artist in the 1990s. His masterpiece album, "Faith," spawned four #1 hits and two more top 10s, but the monster success left Michael struggling with artistic identity. Wanting to be taken more seriously as a songwriter, Michael did a complete 180 with his follow up, 1990's "Listen Without Prejudice, Vol I." (There was a Vol. II but it was abandoned for reasons that remain unknown.) On "Listen," Michael left the catchy pop and dance music behind and focused more on acoustic guitars and piano. The lyrics were more thoughtful and surprisingly darker. While vastly different than its predecessor, the album produced two top 10 hits ("Praying For Time" hit #1 and "Freedom" hit #8) and 2 more top 40 hits: "Waiting For That Day" reached #27 and the haunting "Mother's Pride" (one of Michael's strongest compositions in my opinion) hit #46. "Something To Save" is an underrated cut from "Listen" that didn't chart. A simple piece featuring voice and guitar, the song lets his raw talent shine. Michael would hit the top again soon enough one last time: his cover (and duet) of Elton John's hit, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" was #1 in 1992. His last chart appearance occurred in 1996 when "Jesus To A Child" and "Fastlove" hit #7 and #8, respectively. Then he faded from the limelight, largely by choice of not wanting to perform as frequently. Sadly, Michael passed away from heart failure on Christmas Day in 2016 at 53 years old. His amazing voice and songwriting legacy endures, and he is currently ranked as the 49th most successful artist of all-time.
