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Pepsi & Shirlie on the legacy of Wham's Last Christmas at 40: 'It's everything'
EXCLUSIVE The pair were backing singers and dancers for Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael’s 1980s pop duo and appear in a new BBC documentary celebrating the beloved song’s milestone anniversary.
Pepsi & Shirlie have lifted the lid on making Wham’s Last Christmas and reveal what the late George Michael would have made of its success four decades on.
The pair were backing singers and dancers for Andrew Ridgeley and Michael’s ’80s pop duo and appear in a new BBC documentary celebrating the beloved song’s milestone anniversary.
Following its initial release in 1984, the song spent five consecutive weeks at number two in the UK singles chart after being held off of the top spot at Christmas by Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? on which Michael also performed.
Then, after many chart runs in subsequent years, which included three more weeks at number two, the song finally reached number one on New Year’s Day 2021, 36 years after it was first released.
Two years later, Last Christmas returned to the top of the charts again and achieved the coveted Christmas number one spot and they are hoping that lightening will strike twice with the release of a Last Christmas’ 40th anniversary EP.
The song also inspired a romantic comedy starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding in 2019.
While they admit that when recording the song the “couldn’t even think of the next 40 days let alone 40 years”, Michael - who also penned the track - would have “loved” all of it Pepsi told The Standard.
“My god, yeah!” agreed Shirlie, who was also his best friend. “He would be like ‘make sure you talk about me! Make sure my song’s played’. It’s like, I can hear him saying it and that’s why it’s so important to keep it going and not just let it fade away - I know it will never fade away.”
Pepsi & Shirlie pictured on stage with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in 1984.
Last Christmas officially ranks as the fourth highest-selling single of all time in the UK and has been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter to name a few.
Drawn on why they think the song has stood the test of time, Pepsi said: “it’s the perfect pop song and that’s what George always wanted to write, the perfect pop song.
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