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George Michael dead: Wham singer dies on Christmas Day aged 53

Ebony Bowden
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Pop singer George Michael has died, aged 53.

Michael's long-time manager Michael Lippman said he died of heart failure and was found "in bed, lying peacefully".

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George Michael dead aged 53
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George Michael dies 'peacefully'

From the early success of Wham! to a lucrative solo career, George Michael will go down as one of the most celebrated recording artists ever.

"I'm devastated," he told Billboard. "(There was) no foul play whatsoever."

According to a statement released by his publicist Cindi Berger, the singer – born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou – died peacefully at home on Christmas Day and had not suffered from any illness.

"It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother, and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period," a statement said.

"The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage."

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In a statement, Thames Valley Police called Michael's death "unexplained but not suspicious."

"A post-mortem will be undertaken in due course. There will be no further updates from Thames Valley Police until the post-mortem has taken place."

Health scares dogged the last decade of Michael's life.

Last year he publicly denied new allegations about drug-taking, describing them as "highly inaccurate".

The star nearly died from pneumonia in late 2011. After receiving treatment in a Vienna hospital, Michael made a tearful appearance outside his London home just before Christmas and said it had been "touch and go" whether he lived.

In 2013 Michael had to be airlifted to hospital with a head injury after falling from his vehicle on the M1 near St Albans in Hertfordshire.

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George Michael dies

It is understood he passed away in his sleep at his Goring-on-Thames home on Sunday.

Police and ambulance were called to the singer's Oxfordshire property shortly before 2pm local time (1am Monday AEST).

Australian music commentator Molly Meldrum told Channel Nine he was "shocked and saddened" at Michael's death.

"He always loved and talked about Australia... hundreds and hundreds of thousands of fans loved George Michael out here in Australia," Meldrum said.

Michael shot to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of pop band Wham! before launching a hugely successful solo career.

The singer reportedly recently rekindled his 13-year romance with Texan art dealer Kenny Goss, who he split with in 2009, and was working on a comeback record with producer Naughty Boy, who helped launch the career of Sam Smith.

Just several days ago model Kate Moss, Michael's neighbour in London, told BBC Radio how her daughter like to swim in his pool.

"He's got a pool, so when it's hot I'm like 'Oh can Lila come and jump in your pool?'. And he's like 'yeah, come over'," Moss said.

Michael nearly died from pneumonia in late 2011.

After receiving treatment in a Vienna hospital, he made a tearful appearance outside his London home and said it had been "touch and go" whether he lived.

Doctors had performed a tracheotomy to keep his airways open and he was unconscious for some of his spell in hospital.

Born to a Greek Cypriot father and English mother, Michael sold over 80 million records worldwide and was nominated for eight Grammy Awards.

Tributes began flowing in for Michael after news of his death emerged with comedian Ricky Gervais and William Shatner both expressing their grief on Twitter.

His Wham! band mate Andrew Ridgeley also said he was "heartbroken" by the loss.

His good friend Elton John posted a touching tribute on Instagram, saying he was in "deep shock".

Michael's battle with pneumonia left him with psychological trauma, cancelling his Australian tour in 2012 due to "anxiety".

"Since last year's illness I have tried in vain to work my way through the trauma that the doctors who saved my life warned me I would experience," he wrote in a statement on his website.

"They recommended complete rest and the type of post-traumatic counselling which is available in cases like mine but I'm afraid I believed (wrongly) that making music and getting out there to perform for the audiences that bring me such joy would be therapy enough in itself."

 

#rip George. I will always love you. #georgemichael #family #love #life #sad #toosoon #restinpeace

A photo posted by Nick Lippman (@mrlippman) on

Michael's 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1 had been set to be reissued accompanied by a new film featuring Stevie Wonder, Elton John and the supermodels who starred in the video to his hit single Freedom! '90.

The movie, with the working title Freedom: George Michael, was to be narrated by Michael and set to feature Mark Ronson, Mary J Blige, Tony Bennett, Liam Gallagher, James Corden and Ricky Gervais.

The record was his second solo album, after the hugely successful Faith, and was arranged produced and almost entirely written by Michael, but did not feature him on the album cover.

He joins a long, tragic, list of celebrities who have been taken in 2016.

- with wires