ADIEU GEORGE MICHAEL

British pop star George Michael (right), who rose to fame with the band Wham! and sold more than 100 million albums in his career, passed away at 53. On Sunday, his 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.” Thames Valley Police said, “At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. A post-mortem will be undertaken in due course.” However, a magazine quoted Michael’s manager, Michael Lippman, saying the singer had died of heart failure. Referring to him by his nickname “Yog” (Yours Only George), Wham! co-star Andrew Ridgeley said he was “heartbroken” by Michael’s death.

Michael was due to release a documentary in 2017 after a period of living as a virtual recluse, when he hit the headlines for a series of bizarre incidents linked to drugs. Earlier this month, it was also announced that producer-songwriter Naughty Boy was working with Michael on a new album for next year. Michael was best known for his 1980s hits ‘Last christmas’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Careless whisper’ and ‘Wake me up before you go-go’, but his career spanned more than three decades. He won a string of awards including two Grammies and three BRIT Awards. His last album, Symphonica, rose to number one in the UK charts in 2014.

In 2011, he spent several weeks in hospital in Vienna, Austria, after contracting pneumonia, later saying that he had been close to death.