Pop superstar George Michael dies at 53, shocks fans

According to British media reports, his death has been treated as "unexplained but not suspicious".

"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 issued by the family of Michael said on Sunday night. It was released by Thames Valley Police.

Michael died at his home in Goring, England, said his publicist, Cindi Berger, adding that he was not ill.

British media quoted Michael's manager, Michael Lippman, saying that the death was from heart failure.

"I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend - the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. My heart goes out to his family, friends and all of his fans," posted on Instagram Elton John with his picture with Michael.

According to his own website, his "latest ‘Symphonica’, his sixth solo album, was released on March 17. ‘Symphonica’ was recorded during the tour of the same name of 2011 and ‘12 and was co-produced by George himself, alongside the late, legendary Phil Ramone.

Since 1982 with the ground-breaking  ‘Wham! Rap (Enjoy What You Do)’, George Michael has become an international artist of the highest order.  He had collaborated with  Andrew Ridgeley in 1981 to form Wham! which released also Club Tropicana, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, and Last Christmas.

Ridgeley tweeted on his death: "Heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog. Me, his loved ones, his friends, the world of music, the world at large. 4ever loved."

Michael had sold well over 100 million albums in a world where Germany’s population is 80 million and the United Kingdom’s is 63 million, said his site.

His first solo album was in 1987 with "Faith" while his raunchy  "I Want Your Sex," was also a bit hit.

He’s topped charts from Austria to Australia. He’s sold-out stadiums from Tokyo to Tampa. He re-defined popular music with his debut solo album, 1987’s ‘Faith’ and has subsequently crafted a substantial, enormously popular body of work.

Michael was bisexual and in  a 1999 interview with The Advocate, he revealed that "falling in love with a man  ended his conflict over bisexuality". "I never had a moral problem with being gay", Michael said. 

He, however, had said in 1992: "I will never say if I'm gay. I have never thought about my sexuality being right or wrong. To me it has always been a case of finding the right person."

According to his website, "even when Wham! were in their pomp and George was contributing to his friend and sparring partner Elton John’s ‘Nikita’ and ‘Wrap Her Up’, it was plain that George’s destiny was solo and that his new, more mature songs were too worldly, too adult to fit into the format of a good-time duo.

He’d already dipped a toe in solo waters in 1984 with a song he’d written as a 17-year-old (“a very precocious lyric!” he quipped) while riding the number 32 bus home as a teenager. ‘Careless Whisper’ (credited to Wham! Featuring George Michael in the US) not only introduced one of the great lines in popular music, “guilty feet have got no rhythm”, but showed that there was more to George than the instant joy of ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ and ‘Young Guns (Go For It)’. ‘Careless Whisper’ charged to Number 1 in America and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, France, Holland, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland and the UK, amongst others.

"Just to prove ‘Careless Whisper’ was no fluke, before Wham!’s final hurrah, George’s second solo single, ‘A Different Corner’ topped the British charts and went Top 10 in the US, Australia, Austria, Germany, Holland, Ireland and Switzerland. As someone once almost said, you didn’t have to be a weatherman to see which way the wind was blowing," his biography on the site said.

During the 2005 Live 8 concert at Hyde Park, London, Michael had joined Paul McCartney on stage, harmonising on The Beatles classic "Drive My Car". In 2006, Michael started his first tour in 15 years, 25 Live.
     
He once said he "really don't need the public's money." "I'd like to have something on the internet with charitable donation optional, where anyone can download my music for free." 

Image: Internet Wallpapers