For someone who was a teenager in the 1980s, musical richness was a bonus. Musical geniuses coexisted and contributed with songs that are now iconic, true anthems. Standing out among so much wealth was much more difficult, and George Michael not only did it but was, for many years, the biggest pop star in the world. In those days it was virtually impossible to escape him on the radio, TV, magazines, something that everyone already considered curious because he was revealed with a band with a playful name – Wham! – and yet he became a God. Therefore, to understand how he got to Olympus, it was essential to contextualize what the band was and the documentary Wham!, from Netflix, allows this. A perfect gift for what would have been the year of the artist’s 60th birthday, who passed away early and young on Christmas 2016, aged 53.

Wham! features rich archival footage, interviews, and revelations about George Michael‘s youth, but even more, his friendship with Andrew Ridgeley, which began in 1975 when they were just 11 and 12 years old and was strong until the end of his life. Andrew, also the son of immigrants, was vital for the world to have “George Michael”, the singer always made that clear and the documentary proves that the fidelity and brotherly love between the two seems to have been written in the stars. Honestly, the group’s pop music that catapulted them to stardom in the early 1980s already seemed cheesy at the time, complemented by over-the-top looks from that decade. George’s clean, powerful, and unique voice stood out – obviously – but the catchy melodies dominated radio and dance floors of the time too.

It was with Andrew’s confidence and positivity that awkward and shy Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou became one of the most beloved pop stars in history. For Andrew, George would always be “Yog”, and together they calculatedly united their songwriting facility by breaking the mold of punk rock and unabashedly bringing pop to center stage. That was 40 years ago.

We follow the games, the recordings, and the anguish that made the band Wham! one of the most popular of the decade. With the precise direction of Chris Smith, the documentary has precise doses of revelations and emotion, telling two stories at the same time: that of two friends and how a pop legend like George Michael was formed, from the days of shyness to his music taking shape parallel to his creative control.

The documentary Wham! it’s kind of like the singer’s Rocket Man if you will. The film about Elton John was also like a declaration of love to his best friend and lyricist, Taupin, and as George Michael was gone before any talk of filming his life was considered (there is a production in development), the documentary is the closest of this narrative. Either way, it’s a must. For beginners or not.

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