Pop
Wham!'s Careless Whisper crowned Magic Radio’s Best Song Ever
Careless Whisper has been voted Magic Radio’s Best Song Ever for 2026, with Andrew Ridgeley accepting the award and reflecting on the track’s early days.
Careless Whisper has officially been crowned Magic Radio’s Best Song Ever for 2026.
Andrew Ridgeley - who was joined by the late George Michael in the '80s pop duo - dropped by radio station's studios to accept the honour on behalf of Wham!.
Speaking at the studio, he said: “It's a truly immense accolade, one of which I'm very proud and of which George would have been similarly extraordinarily moved to know that this song, one of the jewels in the crown is so much loved by the people and that was always the mark of success for us as songwriters and him as an artist so thank you very much.”
In conversation with presenter Dan Morrissey, Ridgeley looked back on the song’s beginnings, recalling: “Best Song Ever! I'm not sure that either of us would have imagined that when we wrote it at the tender age of 19 in 1981. The sax melody occurred to him on the bus and that was mated with a chord pattern that I had come up with and then we developed it from there, wrote the lyrics together in a basement flat in Peckham. Careless Whisper was one of the tracks that got us signed - it was a great time in our lives and a happy one.”
The classic track topped the poll ahead of Bryan Adams classic (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody taking third place.
