Wham! conquer China
1985
Wham! The British duo featuring George Michael and Andrew Ridgley, which was formed in 1981, made history when they became the first-ever Western pop act to have an album released in China.
In 1964 they toured China to promote their second studio, ‘Make It Big’, which featured some of their biggest hits including ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’, ‘Everything She Wants’ and the epic ballad, ‘Careless Whisper’.
The tour garnered massive media attention in China and denied rock stars Queen the chance of being the first band to play in the country.
Indian-born British director Lindsay Anderson accompanied Wham! On the tour to film a documentary about the visit, which was originally titled ‘If You Were Here’ and later released as ‘Wham! In China: Foreign Skies’.
A star is born
1992
Former Eurythmics star Annie Lennox went to No.1 on the UK album chart with her debut solo release ‘Diva,’ following her break-up with Dave Stewart.
The album, which featured the six-minute long ballad ‘Why’ sold two million copies in America. Though, not quite a masterpiece, it featured some lovely songs like ‘Walking On Broken Glass’, ‘Legend In My Living Room’, ‘Money Can’t Buy It’, ‘Little Bird’ and ‘Stay By Me’.
With ‘Diva’, Lennox announced herself as a unique and beautiful artist.
The album would win the Brit Award for British Album of the Year at the 1993 Brit Awards and received nominations for Album of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Long Form Music Video, winning the latter award at the Grammy Awards the same year.
Lennox is arguably one of the most popular British female artists of all time and has sold over 80 million albums worldwide.
Elton John supports Aids charity
2006
A sale of clothes belonging to British pop star Sir Elton John raised more than $700,000 for the singer’s Elton John Aids Foundation.
More than 10,000 pieces, some of which of which were used by the singer and some which were brand new and had their original price tags on them, were sold during a five-day sale in New York City at the specially-created shop, Elton’s Closet, at New York’s Rockefeller Centre. The sale has become an annual and highly-anticipated event.
