Pepsi Demacque-Crockett and Shirlie Holliman were the faithful backing singers for the legendary 80s band Wham!
Performing smash hits such as Wake Me Up Before You Go Go and Club Tropicana with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley was the stuff of dreams and their families had no idea about the level of fame.
In a new joint autobiography, Pepsi and Shirlie have opened up about the crazy time they spent with Wham! and can even pinpoint the moment Shirlie, 59, picked up Pepsi from the station for the first time to meet the band.
(Image: Getty Images)
Shirlie said: “Pepsi had this tomboy energy I liked. She didn’t try too hard, she was really laid back, very cool, unimpressed by us.”
Pepsi told The Mirror: “I was actually impressed by them, really impressed, I thought Shirlie was the coolest and I was conscious of the fact she really wanted me to be comfortable.
“I couldn’t help falling into this ball of fun and energy and feeling part of something different and historic.”
(Image: Redferns)
Despite the band’s stratospheric levels of fame, both the girls stuck to their roots.
Shirlie still lived on a council estate with her family – though a limo would come to pick her up – and both only requested simple things like crips and fizzy drinks while on tour.
Shirlie said it was “a very innocent time” and she felt lucky to be touring the country and feeling like she was on one long holiday.
However, the constant groupies and who wanted to see George and Andrew were hard work.
Fans were so desperate to get a message to the heartthrob pair that Pepsi joked she and Shirlie were a “pop postal service”.
She continued: “I can’t even describe to you the decibel of screaming, we’re talking about hysteria to the point of concern.
George, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2016, and Andrew, 58, were so popular that several A-listers were fans of the chart-topping group.
The girls remember fondly when Liza Minelli came to their dressing room after a show.
Shirlie said that Liza was “just how you would imagine” and “an icon”.
Roman Kemp’s was at school with George and Andrew and George even introduced her to her husband, Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp.
She saw him a few weeks before he died and said: “I knew George as a friend way before Wham!, way before fame.
“He was adorable and with his sense of humour, he could laugh at himself, it was his empathy and his wit.
(Image: Getty Images)
“To be that compassionate but that hilarious was a beautiful combination.”
Pepsi, who runs a sailing company in St Lucia with her husband said she believes that George has given the book his blessing and added: “I’m quite emotional actually, Ive been walking into the hotel foyer and every time one of George’s songs comes on.
“I think he’s got his fairy dust on our book, wishing us well.”
Pepsi & Shirlie: It’s All in Black and White by Pepsi Demacque-Crockett and Shirlie Kemp, published by Welbeck, £20.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
