George Michael dies aged 53

The singer "passed away peacefully at home" on Christmas Day, his publicist said.

George Michael has died aged 53, his publicist has said.

The star, who launched his career in the 1980s as part of Wham before continuing his success as a solo performer, is said to have "passed away peacefully at home". The cause of death has been confirmed as heart failure.

Thames Valley Police, who said South Central Ambulance Service attended a property in Goring in Oxfordshire at 13:42 GMT today (December 25), say there were no suspicious circumstances.

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."

George Michael - real name Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou - was born in north London and reported to have sold more than 100 million albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades.

As a member of Wham in the early 1980s he scored four Number 1s on the Official Singles Chart, including Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Freedom and I'm Your Man. Wham also lay claim to one of the best-selling Christmas singles of all time - Last Christmas remains the biggest selling single in the UK never to have reached Number 1. The track was only unluckily kept off the top spot by the phenomenon that was Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas, leaving Wham! settling for a five-week stint at Number 2 instead in December 1984. Click here to look back through Wham's complete Official UK Chart history.

In 1984 he launched his solo career with Careless Whisper, which spent three weeks at Number 1. He went on to claim another six chart-toppers plus seven Number 1 albums, including his 1998 Best Of collection Ladies & Gentleman, which earlier this year was announced by the Official Charts Company as one of the UK's 60 biggest selling albums of all time.

Click here to look back at George Michael's complete Official UK Chart history.

MORE: George Michael's Official Top 20 most downloaded songs

Below are just a few of the touching tributes from musicians:

i bought Listen Without Prejudice the day it came out, which happened to be my 15th birthday. even when i put it on now, hearing the opening chords of “praying for time”—the opening tune, i can picture the exact shade of yellow paint that covered my teenage bedroom. it all comes back to me in pure technicolour. that’s how much of a mark that song left on me. i had never heard a musical language quite like that before. later, when i discovered the 70’s masterworks of Stevie Wonder, i started to understand where George got it from. but at that point, to my naive musical knowledge, it blew the doors open. it prepared me for Stevie in a way. later on, as a DJ in hip-hop clubs in New York City in the late 90’s, George/Wham’s “Everything She Wants” was one of maybe three or four tunes by white artists that you could follow MJ, Frankie Beverly or Roy Ayers with. the keyboard lick from “Father Figure” comprised the bones for the Jungle Bros.’ classic, underground club destroyer “J Beez Comin’ Through”. So while “Faith” and the like made George a global phenom, another side of his genius as singer, writer, producer and arranger made him a bonafide giant of soul music. as did most soul afficionados, George had a huge affinity for the music of Amy Winehouse. i imagine he felt more than a little kindred spiritness to some of the personal stuff too. Anyway, as a result of my ties to Amy, he called me once. i was on holiday exactly around this time 9 years ago. he told me he had a few soulful tunes left off of Faith that he never got to finish and asked if i would be interested in working on them. i remember one of the songs was absolutely flooring, as good as any pop/soul ballad of the era. i said of course i would be interested—all the while in complete disbelief that i was actually on the phone with GEORGE MICHAEL. i don’t know why, for some reason it never materialized. i hope one day i might get to, but i really dreamed of being in the room with him while i did. this is a tough day in a brutal year. but i'm so grateful for what he left us xxx

A photo posted by Mark Ronson (@iammarkronson) on Dec 25, 2016 at 4:49pm PST

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. A xx https://t.co/OlGTm4D9O6
— Andrew Ridgeley (@ajridgeley) December 26, 2016

I was just at his home the morning of our last @CHICorg show on Dec 23rd in London. I'm stunned #RIPGeorgeMichael My heartfelt condolences.
— Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) December 26, 2016

I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend - the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. RIP @GeorgeMichael pic.twitter.com/1LnZk8o82m
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) December 26, 2016

I've loved George Michael for as long as I can remember. He was an absolute inspiration. Always ahead of his time.
— James Corden (@JKCorden) December 25, 2016

George Michael

Read: https://t.co/z669xGdjwM
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) December 26, 2016

Farewell My Friend! 🙏🏻 Another Great Artist leaves us. 💔Can 2016 Fuck Off NOW? pic.twitter.com/aEGIUNSJbt
— Madonna (@Madonna) December 26, 2016

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GEORGE MICHAEL

Sunshine Gal

27th December 2016

*re-post from about a month back* ok, everyone, in much love and rememberance we're gonna take a look @ george michael's incredible u.s. run & his biggest success over here was his 'faith' album...amazing u.s. chart runs for his album and singles and an incredible year of success for him! even today, he's still the only uk act to have 6 top 10 singles off 1 album...not even the beatles achieved this feat. so i'll break up my throwbacks into smaller posts...let's go ahead and take a look @ the 1st 3 top 10's off his history-making 'faith' album.

1. 'i want your ***' enters on 6/6/1987 @ #51-47-36-28-21-11-9-5-4-2 *final peak*. will remain in top 10 for 5 wks. modest climb into the top 10 and obviously u.s. radio was slow to pick it up in the beginning...prob. due to the title ;).

2. 'faith' enters on 10/24/1987 @ #54-37-27-19-10-5-3-1! will spend 4 wks @ #1 and stay in the top 10 for 9 wks. will become hot 100's #1 song of the year ;)

3. 'father figure' enters on 1/16/88 @ #49-37-30-19-12-4-1. spends 2 wks @ #1 and will remain in the top 10 for about 1 month.

so, keep in mind that in 1987 in the u.s., we had very few cassette singles...you would buy the entire album. so the hot 100 back then would be predominantly radio airplay. obviously the first single is taking a lil' longer to go into the top 10 and was prob. considered too risque' for radio back then. and also a #1 smash @ that time would be around 3-5 wks.. i certainly recall 'faith' and 'father figure' being big radio hits back in the day.

so, 3 top 10's, actually 3 top 2 singles are always great...but wait, he ain't done yet ;)

Sunshine Gal

27th December 2016

4. 'one more try' enters on 4/16/1988 enters @ #40-31-22-14-4-2-1. remains @ #1 for 2 wks and will stay in the top 10 for 6 wks.

5. 'monkey' enters on 7/9/1988 @ #42-36-21-16-10-8-2-1. spends 2 wks @ #1 and will remain 6 wks in the top 10. *and my fave song off the album back then!*

6. 'kissing a fool' enters on 10/8/1988 @ #47-34-28-22-15-9-7-5 *final peak*. will spend 4 wks in the top 10.

so, we got 3 more top 10 hits for george...and the very unique thing about his hot 100 run during this time, all 6 hits peaked within the top 5! in the u.s., janet jackson's 'rhythm nation' album boasted 7 top 5 singles. the only album in history to do so...and george is right behind her ;). he obviously got a lot of support from u.s. radio during this time.

also, during this time, top 10 lifespans usually would be very short...so, for george to spend say 9 wks in the top 10 *'faith' single* shows how much u.s. radio was playing it non-stop. and back then, most songs would enter @ the bottom of the chart and have to climb their way up...no top 5 or #1 debuts quite yet *mj and janet would be the first to debut @ #5 with 'scream' in 1995 and mj would be the first to debut @ #1 with 'you are not alone' in 1995*

so, congrats again to george on a phenomenal momentum here in the u.s. and his still-unmatched feat of 6 top 10 singles off 1 album for any uk artist. and of course, other uk solo acts can look @ george's u.s. splash for inspiration.

Sunshine Gal

27th December 2016

ok, next up, we'll take a look @ the 'faith' album on the 200 albums chart in 1987.

'faith' enters 200 albums chart on 11/21/1987 @ #41-15!-8-5-3-3-3-2-1. spends an amazing 12 non-consecutive wks @ #1!! spends an exhilarating 11 1/2 mos. in the top 10!! :))))! he did fall to #11 a few times, but basically spent almost 1 full yr in the top 10 *he's telling adele, 'this is how you do it lass!' :D*. album will become bb 200's #1 album of the year and reach 10x plat *diamond*...that's right, 10mill. in 1 yr! ;)

he won grammys, mtv awards, american music awards, billboard music awards *esp. for having the #1 album and single of the year*. so, an amazing splash for george and i'm not just saying that. today's artists have internet advantages to try and do what he did back then...and based on my own research, looks like george was the very 1st solo artist to achieve 6 top 5 singles off 1 album here in the states! :) possibly 1st act ever :)

of course, it's never easy to try and match and even top a success like this and the later yrs did prove to be a challenge for george over here. but, seeing today's crop of pop artists that can't even do a fraction of what he did without internet advantages, goes to show when you have an exceptional album and people really like you...anything can happen. i always believe 'if your music is hot, people will like it'.

Sunshine Gal

27th December 2016

i am so sorry to hear about george's passing! back in the late 80s when he was big here, he was a huge pop star! even an appealing *** symbol back then :) i was only 12 when his 'faith' album dropped over here...i didn't see him the same way as the older teen girls did...but all that seemed like yesterday! he still has u.s. bb chart feats that remain unmatched by any uk act...lots of fun memories of george being a dominant pop artist over here :(

Sunshine Gal

27th December 2016

i am so sorry to hear about george's passing! back in the late 80s when he was big here, he was a huge pop star! even a symbol back then :) i was only 12 when his 'faith' album dropped over here...i didn't see him the same way as the older teen girls did...but all that seemed like yesterday! he still has u.s. bb chart feats that remain unmatched by any uk act...lots of fun memories of george being a dominant pop artist over here :(

D .

26th December 2016

He will always be here with us with his songs . It is sad that the greatest 80s pop stars passed away ...No one will take their place .GEORGE you will always be heard and be with us with your songs remind us our youth ...R.I.P.

I Am A Stegosaurus

26th December 2016

Oh jesus, I wasn't expecting this, especially not at Christmas

Νίκος

26th December 2016

A pure angelic voice and a huge talent who will be greatly missed!
I suppose the fans will give Last Xmas the Nr. 1 position it so deserved next week.