Wham! singer Andrew Ridgeley has opened up about the moment he learned of his former bandmate George Michael’s death in his new autobiography.
Michael was found dead at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, on Christmas Day in 2016, at the age of 53.
Ridgeley, 56, said that he received a call from Michael’s sister that day, just moments after he had sent the star a text to thank him for his gift of a Christmas hamper.
“There was certainly nothing to hint at the awful news that followed,” he wrote in his new book Wham! George and Me.
“‘Andrew, I hate to tell you this,’ said Melanie,” he continued. “‘But George has died.’ The news hit me like a punch in the gut.
“It was as if my world had been pulled out from underneath me. I felt overwhelmed and couldn’t quite comprehend what was being said. The details and hows and wheres rushed by.
“My best friend had died on Christmas Day and now his sister was having to tell me on the phone.”
“I can’t imagine how hard that must be for her to have to call so many people and tell them the dreadful news over and over.”
Ridgeley, who had been friends with Michael since secondary school, praised his sister who managed to “hold herself together” and “delivered the details with great dignity.”
He added that the news left him “doubled over with grief.”
A coroner later confirmed that Michael had died of natural causes. He had dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart’s ability to pump blood is decreased, myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle and a fatty liver, it was announced in March 2017.
Wham! George & Me by Andrew Ridgeley is out now.
