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 Jennifer John (née Dunlop) and Alberto Mario Zacharia (who later changed his surname to Ridgeley); his mother is of English and Scottish descent and his father is of Italian and Egyptian descent. Ridgeley grew up in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and attended Bushey Meads School. His mother was a schoolteacher at Bushey Heath Primary School while his father worked for Canon. When George Michael enrolled at school, Ridgeley volunteered to take him under his wing. Career After years of playing in various music groups, most notably The Executive, Michael and Ridgeley formed the duo Wham! in 1981. Michael was the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and played keyboards, while Ridgeley co-wrote songs, played guitar, and performed backing vocals. They approached various record labels with a homemade demo tape–which took 10 minutes to record in Ridgeley's living room–and signed with Innervision Records (distributed by CBS Records). After one album, the duo signed with Epic Records/CBS. Wham! Wham! enjoyed worldwide success from 1982 to 1986, selling more than 35 million records worldwide. They made their U.S. debut on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, becoming the only 1980s British act to have three No. 1 singles on both the U.K. and U.S. charts. In 1984, Ridgeley underwent surgery to have his septum straightened to improve his breathing after having broken his nose as a child of nine. After photos were published in British newspapers showing Ridgeley's bandaged face, Wham!'s manager, Simon Napier-Bell, fabricated a story that the bandages were the result of Ridgeley having been hit in the nose in a nightclub. After days of tabloid headlines, the true reason was revealed. In 1984, Wham! charted two U.K. No. 1 singles, and were competing that year with pop rivals Duran Duran to be Britain's biggest pop act. Toward this end, Napier-Bell devised a publicity scheme that he believed would turn them into major international stars: In April 1985, he took Wham! to China for a 10-day visit. They gained huge worldwide media attention when Wham! became the first Western pop group to play in China, first in Hong Kong for two warm-up shows, then a show in Beijing in front of 15,000 people at the Worker's Gymnasium,