Singer George Michael, who passed away on Christmas Day, is believed to have died from heart failure, his manager Michael Lippman said, according to the UK-based Press Association.
Police are treating Michael’s death as “unexpected but not suspicious,” the news agency reported.
Michael, who first shot to fame with the 1980s duo Wham!, died on Christmas Day at age 53.
“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,” said a statement from Michael’s family.
Singer George Michael’s home in Goring on Thames, Oxfordshire, where he died.
In a statement, Thames Valley Police said: “At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.” The agency said police were called to a property in Goring-on-Thames shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday and confirmed the death of a 53-year-old man at the scene.
Condolences poured in on social media.
Andrew Ridgeley, the other half of Wham!, expressed his grief on Twitter, saying he was “heartbroken.”
The Australian beach house that George Michael called home after the legendary singer bought it for $5.8M during his final tour of the nation.
It’s understood Michael bought his own beachfront mansion in Sydney’s ritzy far-northern beaches after falling in love with the city while on his last ever Australian tour in 2010.
Michael had reportedly only planned to spend a few days in Sydney after the tour, but ended up enjoying the city’s relaxed lifestyle and buzzing nightlife so much that he stayed for several months.
The home, which he picked up for $5.8 million, is available for rent at the price of $3928 a night with a minimum stay of seven days.
Michael is believed to have bought the Palm beach mansion during his extended stay following his 2010 tour.
The tour saw him rake in almost $15 million after sellout shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
He was booked in to perform further shows across Australia in 2012 for his ‘Symphonica’ Tour, but later cancelled them as he dealt with recovery from a nearly-fatal bout of pneumonia in late 2011.
The property is featured on the Contemporary Hotels website, and has no exclusion period listed – indicating Michael likely wasn’t planning on returning any time soon.
An expansive deck wraps around the middle level of the three-story home, perched on the cliff tops near Whale Beach.
An infinity lap pool and alfresco tiled dining area, along with four king-size bedrooms all fitted with ensuites.
TRAGIC: George Michael has ‘died peacefully’ at his home at 53 years of age.
The Wham! member “died peacefully” at his home, his agent said.
COLLECTION OF GEORGE MICHAELs MUSIC VIDEOS BELOW:
The star, who launched his career with Wham in the 1980s and later continued his success as a solo performer, is said to have “passed away peacefully at home”.
Thames Valley Police said South Central Ambulance Service attended a property in Goring in Oxfordshire at 13:42 GMT.
Police say there were no suspicious circumstances.
Michael, who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in north London, sold more than 100m albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades.
In a statement, the star’s publicist said: “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.
“The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.”
At his bed side were his 2 sisters Yioda, Melanie, Partner and his father Jack Panos from Famagusta.
He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide in a career spanning four decades.
Michael, who was set to release a documentary in 2017, rose to fame as a member of Wham!, known for their hits Club Tropicana and Last Christmas.
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 would live.
Doctors had performed a tracheotomy to keep his airways open and he was unconscious for some of his spell in hospital.
It was not altogether a happy childhood. Michael later recalled that his parents worked constantly to improve their financial status leaving little room for affectionate moments. “I was never praised, never held. So it wasn’t exactly the Little House on the Prairie.”
He moved with his family to Hertfordshire while in his teens and met Andrew Ridgeley, a fellow pupil at a local school. The two discovered they had a shared interest in music and, together with a group of friends, formed a ska band which had a short lived existence.
In 1981 Michael and Ridgeley formed Wham! Their first release, Wham Rap! failed to trouble the charts but the follow up, Young Guns (Go For It) established the group after they were asked at the last minute, to perform it on Top of the Pops complete with dancers. The record quickly rose to No 3 in the UK charts.
The duo initially adopted a leather-clad rebellious image with songs such as Bad Boys, but moved to a more pop-oriented approach with the world-wide hit, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, while the band members swapped their leathers for more fashionable attire.
With Michael very much the front man, it was almost inevitable that he would eventually strike out on his own. The 1984 single, Careless Whisper, while co-written by Ridgeley, was to all intents and purposes a George Michael solo effort. Indeed it was credited to Wham! featuring George Michael in the US.
Wham! finally split up in 1986 and in the spring of the following year Michael released I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) a duet with one of his musical icons, Aretha Franklin.
He was also beginning to experience doubts about his sexuality. In an interview with The Independent he blamed his depression after the Wham! breakup on the dawning realisation that he was not bisexual but gay.
Legal battle
Michael spent most of 1987 writing and recording his first solo album, Faith, which was released in the autumn of that year. It went to the top of both the UK and US charts going on to sell more than 25 million copies and winning a Grammy in 1989.
The first single from the album, I Want Your Sex, caused some controversy, particularly on US radio stations. Many refused to play it at all while others played a version substituting the word love for sex. In any event the single reached the top three on both sides of the Atlantic.
A 1988 world tour cemented Michael’s status as a pop superstar although the constant touring and the adulation of thousands of screaming teenage girls left him feeling exhausted and only exacerbated the periods of depression that he was now beginning to experience on a regular basis.
Indeed he refused to promote his second album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 and no videos were made to back up the single releases. A much more introspective work than Faith, the album was aimed at a more adult audience.
Michael performing in the Live Aid concert in 1985
It failed to achieve the success of his previous work in the US although there were contrasting fortunes in the UK where it actually outsold Faith.
While playing a concert in Rio on his Cover to Cover tour in 1991 he met Anselmo Feleppa, the man who would become his partner, although Michael still did not publicly state that he was gay. Their relationship was to be short-lived as Feleppa died of a brain haemorrhage in 1993.
Plans for Listen Without Prejudice Vol 2 were scrapped amidst a legal dispute with his record company, Sony. In what proved to be a long and costly battle Michael finally severed his relationship with Sony.
In November 1994, Michael released the single, Jesus to a Child, a tribute to his dead lover, Feleppa. It went straight to No 1 in the UK. The single featured on the Older album, which had been three years in the making when it was released in 1996.
Coming out
A dark and sometimes melancholy work, Older contained a number of references to his sexuality and his change of image saw the long hair and beard replaced by a cropped haircut and leather clothes.
The album was a big success in the UK and Europe but achieved disappointing sales in the US, where audiences still seemed to hanker after Michael the pop superstar rather than the more serious artist that he had aspired to become.
He was voted Best British Male at the Brit Awards and won the title Songwriter of the Year for the third time at the Ivor Novello awards.
The death of his mother from cancer saw him spiral into another round of depression. He told GQ magazine that he had contemplated suicide and had only been dissuaded by the support of his new partner, Kenny Goss.
Michael performing at an event in memory of Linda McCartney with Tom Jones in 1999
In April 1998 he was arrested in a Beverley Hills public toilet by an undercover police officer and charged with engaging in a lewd act. He was fined and sentenced to 80 hours of community service.
The incident finally persuaded him to go public about his sexuality and his relationship with Kenny Goss, a Dallas based businessman.
He continued to record, releasing an album of cover tracks in 1999 entitled Songs from the Last Century, before spending two years writing and recording the album, Patience, which was released in 2004.
It was seen as something of a comeback, achieving instant success in the UK and even reaching No. 12 in the US, a market that seemed to have rejected him.
Following the release of Patience, he told the BBC that he would no longer make albums for sale to the public, preferring to produce free downloads of his music and ask fans to contribute money to charity.
In 2006 he set off on his first live tour for 15 years and became the first artist to perform at the newly reopened Wembley Stadium.
His private life continued to dominate the headlines. In February 2006 he was arrested and charged with possession of class C drugs and in July of that year the News of the World printed allegations that he had been engaging in sexual activity on London’s Hampstead Heath.
Michael threatened to sue photographers for harassment but admitted that he often went out at night seeking what he called “anonymous and no-strings sex.”
In August 2010 he was sentenced to eight weeks’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to driving while under the influence of drugs. He was released after serving half his sentence.
Just before the start of a concert in Prague in 2011 he announced that he had split from his partner Kenny Goss two years previously, blaming Goss’s addiction to alcohol and his own battles with drugs.
George Michael was a man whose talent made him a global star but he was never comfortable in that role. He once admitted that, in his younger days, the figure adored by thousands of screaming fans was just a kind of alter-ego he sent out on stage to do a job.
He fought hard to be accepted as a serious singer-songwriter and record producer, and successfully adapted his style to suit a more mature audience, all while struggling with depression and doubts over his sexuality.
He will be remembered as one of the more enduring musicians of the 80s generation.
George Michaels parents
The star with glasses and floppy hair, aged eight, in 1971
Μια ξεχωριστή παραμονή Χριστουγέννων μάς υπόσχεται η εκπομπή Στην Υγειά μας ρε παιδιά.
Ο Σπύρος Παπαδόπουλος το Σάββατο 24 Δεκεμβρίου στις 22.00 μας προσκαλεί σε ένα ρεβεγιόν πολυσυλλεκτικό με υπέροχα τραγούδια, κέφι, αλλά και συγκίνηση με την Πάολα στο επίκεντρο, έτσι όπως δεν την έχουμε ξανακούσει και ξαναδεί στην ελληνική τηλεόραση.
Μια βραδιά καλλιτεχνικής ανατροπής με μουσικές κόντρες (γνήσιες λαϊκές φωνές και σοπράνο, σολίστ πιο παραδοσιακών οργάνων και αντίστοιχοι πιο ηλεκτρικών και τζαζ οργάνων, ενώνουν τις δυνάμεις τους) και ιδιαίτερη ατμόσφαιρα που ξεκινά εντυπωσιακά, με 40 μουσικούς της μπάντας της Πολεμικής Αεροπορίας να συμπράττουν μαζί της στο «Θεός αν είναι».
Ένα κεφάτο ρεβεγιόν Χριστουγέννων με την Πάολα να συνυπάρχει καλλιτεχνικά με τον μοναδικό Γιώργο Κατσαρό που τη συνοδευει με το σαξόφωνό του, με την Πίτσα Παπαδοπούλου σε ένα απίστευτο ντουέτο και όχι μόνο δύο κορυφαίων λαϊκών φωνών, αλλά και με τον Θανάση Βασιλόπουλο και τον μαγικό ήχο του κλαρίνου του. Ο Θανάσης Πολυκανδριώτης και δώδεκα μαθητές του, σολίστ του μπουζουκιού, ερμηνεύουν λαϊκές επιτυχίες και ο Χρήστος Δάντης με πιο ροκ διάθεση, μας χαρίζει ξεχωριστές στιγμές.
Στις ιδιαίτερες στιγμές της βραδιάς, η έκπληξη από τους DUO FINA (τους τενόρους Γιάννη και Τάκη Φίνα) που -εκτός των άλλων- τραγουδούν την επιτυχία της, «Κράτα με» με το δικό τους… λυρικό τρόπο, αλλά και οι ερμηνείες της μέτζο σοπράνο, Ειρήνης Καράγιαννη.
Η Πάολα, μεταξύ των άλλων, συγκινείται όταν η Πίτσα Παπαδοπούλου τραγουδά το «Θυσιάστηκα», χορεύει με τον φίλο της Κώστα Κόκλα και επιλέγει να πει πέρα των λαϊκών επιτυχιών της και κομμάτια της καρδιάς της, που συγκινούν και δείχνουν το μέγεθος των ερμηνευτικών της δυνατοτήτων.
Την παρέα συμπληρώνουν και οι: Κωνσταντίνος Ρήγος, Φανή Χαλκιά, Ζέτα Δούκα, Αλέξανδρος Μπουρδούμης και Ευθύμης Ζησάκης (τραγουδούν επίσης αγαπημένα λαϊκά κομμάτια), Μάνος Ιωάννου, Νίκος Αναδιώτης, Μαρία Κορινθίου, Ιβάν Σβιτάιλο, Τόνια Σωτηροπούλου, Πηνελόπη Πλάκα, Αγγελική Δαλιάνη, Παύλος Παπαδημητρίου, Κατερίνα Δημητρόγλου, Ορφέας Παπαδόπουλος, Νίκη Λάμη, Δανάη Μεϊδάνη, Τζένη Μελιτά και ο Άκης Δείξιμος που ξεσηκώνει με τα τραγούδια του.
GREEK WORLD MEDIA 