Editing George Michael (section)

==Early music==
{{anchor|The Executive}}
While Michael was in his early teens, the family moved to [[Radlett]].<ref name="forunitedkingdomlovers/george-michael">{{cite web |title=Following in the footsteps of George Michael in London |url=https://www.forunitedkingdomlovers.uk/london/en/following-in-the-footsteps-of-george-michael-in-london-bons-plans-londres |website=forunitedkingdomlovers.uk |access-date=9 July 2023 |language=en |date=25 June 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709063245/https://www.forunitedkingdomlovers.uk/london/en/following-in-the-footsteps-of-george-michael-in-london-bons-plans-londres |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Negus/suburban-Wham">{{cite journal |last1=Negus |first1=Keith |last2=Sledmere |first2=Adrian |title=Postcolonial paths of pop: a suburban psychogeography of George Michael and Wham! |journal=Popular Music |date=May 2022 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=131–151 |doi=10.1017/S0261143022000253 |s2cid=249829672 |url=https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/31669/ |access-date=9 July 2023 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709091139/https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/31669/ |url-status=live  | issn=0261-1430 }} [https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/31669/2/FINAL%20Accepted%20Negus%20Sledmere%20Wham%20and%20GM.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709091140/https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/31669/2/FINAL%20Accepted%20Negus%20Sledmere%20Wham%20and%20GM.pdf |date=9 July 2023 }} {{free access}}</ref> There, Michael began attending [[Bushey Meads School]] in [[Bushey]],<ref name="bbc/43783251">{{cite news |title=George Michael plaque unveiled at Bushey Meads school |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-43783251 |access-date=9 July 2023 |work=BBC News |date=16 April 2018 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709060911/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-43783251 |url-status=live }}</ref> where he, as "Yog", met, sat down next to, and befriended, his future Wham! partner [[Andrew Ridgeley]]. The two had the same career ambition of being musicians.<ref name="doc1"/> Michael [[busking|busked]] on the [[London Underground]], performing songs such as "[['39]]" by [[Queen (band)|Queen]].<ref>[http://www.queenzone.com/news/a-night-at-the-opera.aspx A Night At The Opera] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510152854/http://www.queenzone.com/news/a-night-at-the-opera.aspx |date=10 May 2015 }} QueenZone.com. Retrieved 23 January 2013</ref> His involvement in the music business began with his working as a DJ, playing at the Bel Air Restaurant in [[Northwood, London|Northwood]], London,<ref name="watfordobserver/5729852">{{cite news |title=Belair Restaurant in Northwood |url=https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/5729852.belair-restaurant-in-northwood/ |access-date=9 July 2023 |work=Watford Observer |date=20 January 2003 |language=en |archive-date=29 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729004239/https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/5729852.belair-restaurant-in-northwood/ |url-status=live }}<!-- Bel Air Restaurant, Rickmansworth Rd, Northwood HA6 2QW, United Kingdom --></ref><ref name="Gavin/George-Michael">{{cite book |last1=Gavin |first1=James |title=George Michael: A Life |date=28 June 2022 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-1-64700-673-0 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-b1VEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22George+Michael%22+%22Bel+Air+Restaurant%22&pg=PT21 |language=en |access-date=22 April 2024 |archive-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716051842/https://books.google.com/books?id=-b1VEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22George+Michael%22+%22Bel+Air+Restaurant%22&pg=PT21 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ridgeley/Wham-Memoir">{{cite book |last1=Ridgeley |first1=Andrew |title=Wham!, George Michael and Me: A Memoir |date=8 October 2019 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-5247-4531-8 |pages=120, 136, 141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=puW2DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Bel+Air+Restaurant%22 |language=en |access-date=22 April 2024 |archive-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716051842/https://books.google.com/books?id=puW2DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Bel+Air+Restaurant%22 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Youngs 2016">{{cite web | last=Youngs | first=Ian | title=George Michael: Six songs that defined his life | website=BBC News | date=26 December 2016 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38432981 | access-date=21 June 2020 | archive-date=3 October 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003211257/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38432981/ | url-status=live }}</ref> clubs, and local schools around Bushey, [[Stanmore]], and [[Watford]]. This was followed by the formation of a short-lived [[ska]] band called the Executive, with Ridgeley, Ridgeley's brother Paul, Andrew Leaver, Jamie Gould, and David Mortimer (later known as [[David Austin (singer)|David Austin]]).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tsE5ub7r4_MC&pg=PA7|page=7|title=George Michael: In His Own Words|isbn=978-0-7119-7891-1|last1=Michael|first1=George|last2=Goodall|first2=Nigel|year=1999|publisher=Omnibus Press|access-date=12 March 2016|archive-date=9 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209163400/https://books.google.com/books?id=tsE5ub7r4_MC&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref>