Page 31 - AT

A31
PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 10 OcTOber 2019
Andrew Ridgeley looks back with fondness at George Michael

By MARK KENNEDY Ridgeley has to write about his appearance.
NEW YORK (AP) — Long be- is his friend, who died on "He struggled with his looks
fore he was a music icon Christmas Day 2016. and his weight as an ado-
in skintight jeans, leather There are fun anecdotes, lescent," Ridgely said. "His
jacket and designer stub- such as the drunken hi- transformation, in every
ble, George Michael was jinks that accompanied sense, is quite amazing.
something else — awk- the video shoot for "Last Music and the career that
ward, chubby and inse- Christmas," the reason why he chose, allowed him to
cure. He even went by the Ridgeley wasn't part of become, in some ways, the
very unhip nickname Yog. Band Aid and the note he man in his mind's eye."
A loving portrait of a young, drunkenly wrote on his par- Ridgeley said he didn't al-
striving Michael is offered in ents' fridge that became ways handle the tabloid
a new book by his closest the title of a Wham! hit: press very well, unable to
friend and former band- "Mum, wake me up up be- shake the "Animal Andy"
mate, Andrew Ridgeley. His fore you go go." or "Randy Andy" labels as
"Wham! George Michael The book also deals with a hard-partying pop star.
& Me" is part memoir and more weighty subjects, like In many ways, the book is
part monument to one of how their lives changed as a lesson for any wannabe
the biggest pop stars of the tabloids stalked the pair pop stars out there about
1980s. and that during the band's the pitfalls ahead.
"The point of the book life Michael realized he was "If I was advising the
was really to illustrate our gay but remained closet- 20-year-old Andrew Ridge-
friendship and how it really ed. It was a business deci- ley from this perspective, I'd
formed," Ridgeley told The sion to stay there. be telling him to do things
Associated Press. "It's very "He felt it would undermine very differently," Ridgeley
difficult to put it into words us and our chances of suc- said.
or really put your finger on cess. And it was very im- "Perhaps the biggest lesson
exactly what it was that portant to both of us that that I would say is the one
people found so attractive Wham! was a success that to learn is not to let fame
about Wham! But it was a we wished for," said Ridge- and fortune get inside your
lot to do with George and ley. "It was tough for him. head," he added. "Give
me and our friendship." There's no doubt about yourself a healthy bit of dis-
In the book, Ridgeley trac- that. And it caused him a tance between your fame
es the rise of Wham! and great deal of discomfort." This cover image released by Dutton shows "Wham! Geirge Mi- and reality because they
key moments in the band's Ridgeley met a 13-year-old chael & Me," a memoir by Andrew Ridgeley. are two different things."
career, like the creation Michael — born Georgios Associated Press Among the book's high-
of hits like "Careless Whis- Panayiotou to a Cypriot lights are the dozens of
per" and "Everything She family — in 1975, at school "Wham Rap." ly in life," Ridgeley said. photos included, com-
Wants," their appearances in Hertfordshire, England. Ridgeley, 56, writes that The book charts the evo- plete with witty captions
at Live Aid and the time in They quickly bonded over Wham! was never meant lution of Michael from a from Ridgeley. One of the
1985 when the band be- a shared sense of humor to last very long, saying frumpy, uncool kid who col- duo wearing swimsuits is
came the first Western pop and music, both loving the youth-driven duo was lected Spider-Man com- labeled "poseurs," another
group to visit China. Queen, Elton John and Da- intended to "burn brightly, ics into a superstar, with of them dancing onstage
But while this may be Ridge- vid Bowie. but briefly." Ridgeley just detours into very tight Fila is given "prancers" and a
ly's memoir, Michael looms The pair formed a ska-influ- wanted to form a band, shorts and plenty of hours third of them joking around
large and the book peters enced quintet called The write music and perform. of hair teasing. Ridgely gets "prats."
out after Wham! broke Executive and then in 1981 Michael soon outgrew has a few well-intentioned "I had great fun doing that.
up in 1986 as Michael's re-emerged as a duo, tak- his bandmate and their cracks at Michael's early I could just imagine George
star soared, almost as if ing the name Wham! from breakup was amicable. "I fashion mistakes and his next to me going through
the most interesting thing their first completed song, achieved my ambition ear- later endless obsession with those," Ridgely said. q

Venice court temporarily blocks da Vinci loan to Louvre

Associated Press A final decision is set for memorandum in Septem-
MILAN (AP) — An adminis- Oct. 16, just days before ber securing the loan in
trative court in Venice de- the exhibition marking the exchange for a work by
cided Tuesday to tempo- 500th anniversary of Leon- Raphael for an exhibition
rarily suspend the loan of ardo's death is set to open marking the 500th anniver-
Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitru- at the Louvre on Oct. 24. sary of his death next year
vian Man" to the Louvre in Italia Nostra, which cam- in Rome.
Paris for an exhibition that is paigns for the protection of "The Vitruvian Man," Leon-
set to open later this month. Italy's cultural treasures, ar- ardo's famed study of hu-
The move followed a re- gued that such a "precious man proportions, is normal-
quest by the non-profit and fragile" masterpiece ly kept out of public view
group Italia Nostra, which should not leave Italy. in climate-controlled con-
has been protesting the The Culture Ministry called ditions, but was exhibited
loan of the famed drawing the decision "incompre- at the Accademia Gallery This Tuesday April 14, 2015 photo made available Tuesday Oct.
by the Renaissance master hensible." from April through July as 8, 2019 shows Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" during an ex-
from Venice's Accademia Culture Minister Dario part of events marking the hibition in Milan, Italy.
Gallery. Franceschini signed a anniversary of his death.q Associated Press