It was 40 years ago that Wham! filmed the video for their much-loved hit "Last Christmas". The hit by pop duo Wham! is one of the most popular Christmas pop records of all time. The video, released in December 1984, was filmed in Saas-Fee and broke all viewing figures. Many locals still talk excitedly today about the visit of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, who appear in the video celebrating Christmas in one of the Saas-Fee chalets.
"Last Christmas" was written and produced by George Michael, and has been covered by many artists since its original release. The video shows George and partner Andrew Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends in Saas-Fee, Switzerland with the old Felskinn cableway playing a starring role in it.
In 2023 Wham!'s Last Christmas was crowned last year's Christmas number one in the UK, 39 years after it was first released.
It's the first time Wham!'s Last Christmas song hit number one in Christmas week. UK fans streamed the song 13.3 million times, making it the most-played song ever in 2023.
George Michael died at his home at the age of 53 in December 2016. The star, who launched his career with Wham! in the 1980s and had huge success as a solo performer, "passed away peacefully" on Christmas Day in Goring, Oxfordshire.
In October BBC Two and BBC Music Presented WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped, a nostalgic film brimming with memories, this special reunites a cast of characters from the song’s illustrious history. Last Christmas Unwrapped is an hour-long celebration from Blink Films and Sony Music Entertainment, in association with Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael Entertainment, of a latter-day Christmas classic, telling the story of how George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s WHAM! turned one song into a cultural phenomenon.
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