Wham! Reveals Why George Michael Wrote “Last Christmas” in 1984 - An Untold Side

After all, his name was synonymous with the holiday season and he loved Christmas..

It was this love that led to his decision to record the hit single “Last Christmas” 40 years ago, just as he was transforming from a teenage hearthrob to a serious songwriter.

His move came as no surprise to his Wham! bandmates. Andrew Ridgeley, Helen “Pepsi” DeMacque-Crockett and Shirlie Kemp, all of whom were part of George’s Christmas Eve parties.

In the new BBC documentary “Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped”, they reveal that the superstar had a special reason for considering it the most wonderful time of the year.

Wham! reveals George Michael and “Last Christmas”

Wham! returned to the Swiss resort of Saas-Fee, where the iconic “Last Christmas” music video was filmed, to talk about their collaborator and the song that made them famous. Shirlie said: “Christmas was important to him, so he could dress up. Imagine if everyone had an iPhone back then. Our Christmas Eves were the best.”

They revealed that Michael actually dressed in drag and went out in public without anyone recognising him, singing on London buses and going to a pub together to spend the money they had saved.

The documentary then looks at how George Michael conceived of “Last Christmas” in 1984, which sold almost 2 million copies.

Being involved in it was a bittersweet experience, particularly for Andrew, who formed Wham! with Michael in 1981 after they became friends at Bushey Meads School in Hertfordshire.

It meant a lot to Michael to fulfil his dream of giving Wham! a No. 1 Christmas song.

It was one of the few things the band had not achieved since releasing hits like “Club Tropicana” and “Bad Boys.”

They had also had huge hits in 1984 with songs like “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” – their first No. 1 single in the UK – and George Michael’s unforgettable solo song, “Careless Whisper.”

A holiday chart-topping single was their next goal. But those hopes were dashed by Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, released the same year and on which George also sang.

Without the slightest hint of bitterness, the star promised that all royalties from “Last Christmas” would go to the same cause, to help with famine relief in Africa.

He went straight to recording the track for promoter Bob Geldof in London after returning from Saas-Fee, having filmed the iconic video for "Last Christmas".

Andrew later revealed that he had always called Michael "Yog", as it was a shortened version of his real name, Georgios Kyriakos Panayiotou.

Wham! reunited in the Swiss resort of Saas-Fee where the video for "Last Christmas" was filmed.

Andrew said: "Yog felt underrated as a songwriter and the best way to turn that around was with No1. His naysayers had been proven wrong throughout 1984 and his confidence had grown. I think he realised that Wham! was a vehicle in which his songwriting could flourish. The 1984 albums Make It Big and Last Christmas were some of his best work.”

“His music was his children, it was his purpose,” said Shirlie, whose son is Michael’s godson.

Despite his enormous efforts, the song didn’t actually become a Christmas number one until just last year.