George Michael said he was 'persuaded' to stay closeted in Wham! even though he 'really wanted to co

• The new Netflix documentary "Wham!" includes archival audio from interviews with George Michael.
• Michael said he was "persuaded" not to come out as gay to his father, which kept him closeted publicly.
• "I really wanted to come out," he said. "And then I lost my nerve completely."

George Michael is now known as a LGBTQ+ icon, but the British crooner spent much of his career closeted after seeking advice from "the wrong people."

The new Netflix documentary "Wham!" uses archival footage to explore the "pivotal moment" that Michael came out to his bandmate, Andrew Ridgeley, when the two friends were 19.

Back in 1983, the pop duo traveled to Ibiza, Spain, to film the music video for "Club Tropicana." In the documentary, Ridgeley recalled how Michael phoned him one morning to "come over and have a chat."

Ridgeley found Michael in bed in his hotel room. Shirlie Holliman, their backup singer and close friend, was also there.

"He gave Shirlie a sort of quick glance. He said to me, 'Didn't know how to tell you this, but I'm gay. If not gay, you know, bisexual,'" Ridgeley said. "For me, his sexuality had absolutely no bearing on us. I wanted him to be happy."

Despite his best friend's acceptance, Michael wouldn't come out publicly for another 15 years.

"I said I was gonna talk to my mom and dad, and was persuaded in no uncertain terms that it really wasn't the best idea," Michael said in a voiceover as photos of himself with Ridgeley and Holliman are shown on screen.

"I don't think they were trying to protect my career or their careers, I think they were literally just thinking of my dad," he continued. "'Cause you know, when you're 19, that's as far as you think. You look at your parents: 'Don't tell your dad! My god, your dad'll hit the roof.'"

"We felt he just couldn't tell his dad," Ridgeley explained, adding: "We were 19, 20 years old. Our perspective was a little narrower."

Elsewhere in the documentary, Michael labeled his upbringing as "oppressive." His father also appears in an archival interview, describing himself as a strict patriarch.

"The three of us were so close at the time. But the point being, I really, really asked the wrong people," Michael said, seemingly referring to Ridgeley and Holliman, though he never specifies them by name in the doc as the people who pursuaded him to stay closeted.

"That is a pivotal moment," he continued. "At that point in time, I really did, I really wanted to come out. And then I lost my nerve completely. And just, by necessity, I went with full gusto into — in the progression of Wham! — creating a new character."

Later in the doc, Michael reflected on his ambition to become a huge star and how it influenced his decision to stay closeted.

"At that point, if your goal is to become the biggest-selling artist of that year or two, you're not gonna make life difficult for yourself, are you?" he said. "I was too young and too immature to know that I was sacrificing as much as I was."

During their four years as a duo, Wham! did become a global sensation, selling tens of millions of albums and scoring several No. 1 hits in the US, including "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper."

The two friends went their separate ways in 1986. Ridgeley stepped away from the spotlight, while Michael became one of the most commercially successful solo artists and beloved songwriters of all time, best known for songs like "Faith" and "Freedom! '90."

"Because I'd come out to Andrew, he understood it was more than a band at stake, it was kind of my sanity," Michael recounted in the documentary. "He didn't put any pressure on me to continue. He already knew why I was feeling trapped."

In 1998, at age 34, Michael publicly came out as gay during an exclusive interview with CNN. A few days earlier, Michael had been arrested for soliciting sex in a public restroom in California.

"In terms of my work, I've never been reticent in terms of defining my sexuality. I write about my life," he said at the time.

In the documentary, Michael revealed that he wrote the Wham! song "Nothing Looks the Same in the Light," from their 1983 debut album "Fantastic," about the moment he realized he was attracted to men.

"I'll keep my feet firm on the ground / Nothing looks the same in the light," he sings in the chorus. "There's a danger in a stranger / With a warm hand, then a kiss so right."

Michael died unexpectedly in 2016 of heart failure. He was 53 years old.

Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.

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