"The Edge of Heaven" is a song by English pop duo

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling mor ...

, released on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

in 1986. It was written and produced by

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling music ...

, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single.

History

With the known desire of George Michael to move into a more adult market, Wham! had announced in the

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

of 1986 that Michael and his musical partner

Andrew Ridgeley Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham!. Early life Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey, England, to pare ...

would go their separate ways after a farewell single, album and concert. The album was called ''The Final'' and the concert was held in front of 72,000 fans at

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on Saturday 28 June 1986. Prior to the official release date of the single, the song had been performed during their 1985 "Whamamerica!" tour. The single, a five-minute tale of emotional and physical frustration within a relationship, was a slick and upbeat — albeit harder-edged than earlier works — pop tune which featured a guest appearance by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, a friend of Michael and Ridgeley, on piano. It became the fourth No. 1 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

(and the final US Top Ten hit, reaching #10) for the duo. It was also to be their last UK number one for almost 35 years; they would not top the UK Singles Chart again until "

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records International, CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side and B-side, A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK ...

" finally reached that milestone in January 2021. Michael has said the lyrics to the song were "deliberately and overtly sexual, especially the first verse". The reason for this, he says, was he thought no one would care "because no one listens to a Wham! lyric. It had got to that stage." Epic released a double record set in the UK, with an updated version of Wham!'s early signature song " Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" on the flip of disc one, and two new songs - "Battlestations" and a cover of the

Was (Not Was) Was (Not Was) is an American pop rock group founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often fe ...

song "Where Did Your Heart Go?"—on the flip of the second disc. "Where Did Your Heart Go?" was later given an equal billing and reached a lowly position in the UK Top 40 as a result. In the United States, "The Edge of Heaven" was backed with a live version of "Blue" from Wham!'s tour of China. "Where Did Your Heart Go?" was released separately as the follow-up and the fourth and last single from ''Music from the Edge of Heaven'' (the shortened American version of ''The Final''), and charted at #50 (backed with "Wham! Rap '86").

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' said that "The live-wire, uptempo track moves along at a "Wake Me Up Before You GoGo" pace.."

Music video

The official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for the song was directed by

Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. ...

and filmed at stage 1,

Twickenham Film Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

on 5 June 1986. It features a performance in front of a crowd and is filmed in black and white.The Last Wham! Interview EVER
- " Number One" by Debbi Voller, 28 June 1986 It features a brief early appearance by

Danny John-Jules Daniel John-Jules (born 16 September 1960) is a British actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for playing Milton Wordsworth in The Story Makers and ''Red Dwarf'', Barrington which are both children's series. Also he played in ''Maid Maria ...

, emerging from the audience to dance alongside Michael onstage, as well as appearances by David Austin on guitar and Deon Estus on bass.

Track listing

Chart and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* AllMusic.com entry for "The Edge of Heaven" {{DEFAULTSORT:Edge Of Heaven, The 1985 songs 1986 singles Columbia Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Song recordings produced by George Michael Songs written by George Michael UK Singles Chart number-one singles Wham! songs