by Sarah Becker
The audiences had never seen anything like it. Before then they’d mostly experienced classical performances, so suddenly you’ve got break dancers, flashing lights, loud music and all this excitement. Their faces were a picture – and they were clapping politely.
WHAM! 10 Days in China, a new documentary released on 28 July, features newly restored and previously unseen footage from the band’s landmark 1985 China tour. Forty years after the original documentary, it also includes new interviews with Andrew Ridgeley, members of the touring party and Chinese fans who witnessed the concerts.
One person who remembers the tour firsthand is former Wham! backing singer Janey Lee Grace, who describes the experience as “surreal” as the band became the first Western pop act to perform in China.
You may know Janey from the airwaves of BBC Radio Northampton.
She has also spent more than three decades in broadcasting, including 25 years alongside Steve Wright on BBC Radio 2, as well as presenting on BBC Radio Northampton.
Alongside her broadcasting career, Janey has become well known for championing holistic living, authoring five books and supporting thousands of people through The Sober Club, her community for those choosing to live an alcohol-free life. Most recently, she has shared her personal story in From Wham! to Woo: A Life on the Mic.
From Wham! to China: Janey Lee Grace on the Tour That Made Music History
Janey performed at every concert alongside George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley including the historic China tour.
Looking back more than four decades later, Janey admits the experience still feels almost unreal.
“It was incredible,” she recalls. “When I was writing my book, From Wham to Whoo! I was digging back into my memories and thinking, ‘Did this really happen?’ It was so surreal. We were the very first Western band to play China, and at the time none of us really appreciated just how historic it would become.”
The tour took place at a time when China was still largely closed to Western popular culture. For many in the audience, it was their first experience of a live pop concert complete with dazzling lights, pyrotechnics and energetic choreography.
“The audiences had never seen anything like it,” Janey says. “Before them, they’d mostly experienced classical performances, so suddenly you’ve got break dancers, flashing lights, loud music and all this excitement. Their faces were a picture.”
Most concertgoers remained seated, politely clapping along, unsure quite how to react.
She remembers at one performance a group of students stood up to dance.
“We discovered afterwards that security had removed them because they weren’t supposed to be dancing,” she remembers. “Their identity cards were taken away, which back then was a really serious thing. We were horrified because the last thing we wanted was to cause any trouble.”
The trip also offered a rare glimpse into life in China during the mid-1980s. Janey fondly remembers the band’s Chinese tour manager, who became a much-loved member of the travelling party.
“When the tour finished we wanted to give him some money as a thank-you, but he simply couldn’t accept it,” she explains. “Instead, we opened all our perfumes and aftershaves so they looked used and gave those to him for his family. We invited him to visit us in Britain, but he just looked so sad and said, ‘I can’t leave.’ That really stayed with me.”
She also recalls discovering just how much the concerts meant to local fans.
“I remember finding out that a ticket for the Beijing concert cost the equivalent of around three months’ wages. It really showed how much people wanted to be there.”
Janey is particularly looking forward to hearing from Chinese concertgoers featured in the new documentary.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing interviews with people who were actually there. It’ll be fascinating to hear what the experience meant from their perspective.”
Culture Shock in China
Away from the concerts, the band explored the Great Wall of China, wandered through local markets and attended an official reception at the British Embassy, where they sampled unusual delicacies—including the infamous century eggs.
“It was total culture shock,” Janey laughs. “We wandered through markets where people were carrying live chickens home for dinner, and I even remember seeing someone selling live bees. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced, but it was fascinating.”
Although a film crew followed Wham! throughout the trip, documenting every moment, much of the footage remained unseen for decades following disagreements over the original documentary. Its recent restoration has allowed a new generation to appreciate the significance of the tour.
What was George Michael like offstage?
As Wham!’s popularity exploded around the world, Janey says there came a point when everyone around the band realised George Michael’s extraordinary talent would take him even further.
“I don’t think anyone said it out loud, but you just got this feeling that George was something incredibly special,” she reflects. “He was writing the songs, producing them, singing the backing vocals—he was doing everything. His talent was just extraordinary.”
She believes that realisation crystallised during the China tour and the huge American stadium dates that followed.
“It was around the time of the China tour and then those massive stadium shows in America. Chaka Khan was supporting us, Elton John came along, the Bee Gees were there—you could sense this was becoming something enormous.”
Yet despite Wham!’s extraordinary success, Janey says George remained remarkably grounded – and humble.
“He was absolutely lovely,” she says. “He was great fun, but also quite private and incredibly professional. Even though he was only about 23, he was completely focused on his music.”
I saw a side of George that was very understated. He wasn’t big-headed at all. In fact, he was very self-effacing. I thought he might be full of himself, but he absolutely wasn’t. He was an incredibly kind guy.
Looking back, Janey believes the China tour reflected George Michael’s ambition and determination.
“He was extremely focused on what he wanted. It’s well documented that he wanted to do something massive, and Simon Napier-Bell made China happen because we became the first Western band to play there.”
“I think it really put Wham! on the map. Forty years later, it’s all happening again with renewed interest.”
Wham! 10 Days in China opens in cinemas from 28 July, ahead of its world-exclusive terrestrial television premiere on BBC Two and BBC Music. The 90-minute documentary is produced by Sony Music Vision in association with Sony Music Entertainment UK and Supercollider (a Zinc Media company).
Janey Lee Grace’s bestseller, ‘From Wham to Woo’: A Life on the Mic’ is available from https://amzn.to/4xZYh1J
For further details on ‘The Sober Club,’ visit: https://www.thesoberclub.com/