Andrew Ridgeley on the Last Time He Saw Wham! Bandmate George Michael Before His Death (Exclusive)

The singer-songwriter opens up about his former bandmate's shocking 2016 death in an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE

Andrew Ridgeley is recalling the last time he saw his Wham! bandmate George Michael before his death.

While chatting exclusively with PEOPLE about WHAM!, the upcoming Netflix documentary that debuts on July 5, the singer-songwriter, 60, also recounts how he and Michael spent time together shortly before he died at age 53 on Dec. 25, 2016.

Detailing that they often met "over the Scrabble board," Ridgeley says Michael "was a big fan [of the board game] and we'd have regular games of Scrabble."

"He'd beaten me the week before, and I was exacting my revenge," he continues. "It took us right back to just ... the essence of our schoolboy friendship and one-upmanship. It was a game that stimulated him, and me also."

"That was a few months prior to his passing," Ridgeley adds, also noting that he wasn't Michael's "only Scrabble partner."

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Related: George Michael's Ex-Partner and Friends Remember Star in New Doc: 'He Always Had a Good Heart'

Michael was found dead at his home in Goring-on-Thames, a village part of South Oxfordshire, England. His lifeless body was discovered by his boyfriend Fadi Fawaz.

In the days following Michael’s death, an autopsy was conducted that led to “inconclusive” results. At the time, the Thames Valley police released a statement saying that Michael’s death was “unexplained but not suspicious.”

Over the course of the next few months, extensive additional testing was done, which ultimately determined Michael’s death to be from natural causes.

According to the coroner investigating the singer's death, Michael had been suffered dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver.

Related: Andrew Ridgeley Says Wham! Bandmate George Michael's Death 'Hit Me Like a Punch to the Gut'

Later this year, Michael will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony that will take place on Friday, Nov. 3 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The feat, Ridgeley says, is "obviously a great privilege, and I'm sure that he would recognize it as such. He was aware of the meaning of accolades from his peers."

"He would be very rightly proud, and he deserves his place there. You know, he is a genuine legend and an icon of contemporary music," he continues. "I said so in my tribute to him at the BRITs, that he was a supernova in a firmament of shining lights and stars, and he was probably the finest singing voice and songwriter of his generation. There ain't too many that held a candle to him."

When asked what he would say to the late icon if he were still alive today, Ridgeley laughs and states, "What would I say to him? Oh, let's go and have a drink."

WHAM! debuts on Netflix July 5.

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