How much does Last Christmas earn in royalties each year?

Often you see how old you are yourself when you meet someone from your youth and notice that many years have passed. I had that realization when I saw the Albert Heijn commercial. I had heard that Andrew Ridgeley would be in it, so I was searching, looking, digging, and peeking, looking for that delightful being with his wavy hair, strong eyebrows, and that olive-colored, sun-kissed skin. Let everyone have been in love with George Michael; I would definitely have knocked on Andrew's hotel room door.

I looked and looked and looked – brilliant stunt by advertising agency TBWA/Neboko by the way – until I realized that it was that friendly waving gentleman whom I had mistaken for the grandfather all this time. Nothing human is strange to our celebs, it turns out. And fortunately so, because he is still here. He may have lost his hair, but apparently not his zest for life, because he was indeed up for a little joke in a Dutch commercial.

This brought me to the question: how is Andrew doing now? Is he still with one of the Bananarama’s? How much does his bank account tick up each year when Last Christmas is played for the 83 millionth time? And where does he live? So many questions, so many answers. Here they come:

• Andrew Ridgeley now leads a reclusive life. He lives in Wadebridge, Cornwall, England.
• He was in a relationship with Keren Woodward, a member of the pop group Bananarama, from 1990 to 2017. The couple split in 2017.
• Ridgeley has no children.
• His net worth is estimated at around 25 million dollars. This is mainly due to his music career and royalties from Wham! hits like Last Christmas.
• This brings me to the next interesting point about Last Christmas. The song was entirely written and composed by George Michael.
• Andrew Ridgeley officially received no co-authorship or compositional credits for this song, meaning the rights and proceeds went entirely to George Michael and after his death to his heirs.

Butttt...
Andrew Ridgeley received an equal share of the income from Wham! as part of their business agreement, even though his creative contributions were more limited than those of George Michael. George was the great genius, but Andrew earned just as much from the band as George. And I find that quite sympathetic.

Just as intensely lovely as the fact that George Michael donated the proceeds from Last Christmas entirely to charity in the first year, including aid for the famine in Ethiopia. The heirs of George Michael receive between 3 and 5 million euros in royalties each year. Since the release of the song, it has generated over 100 million euros.

And does Andrew visit George Michael's grave? He keeps his mourning for George private, but was present at the private funeral in 2017.