Cause of Michael’s death still a mystery
A post-mortem examination of the body of George Michael has failed to establish a cause or rule out a drug overdose.
The body of the English singer, who died on Christmas Day, aged 53, will now undergo further tests, including toxicology analysis.
Fadi Fawaz, Michael’s boyfriend, has said that he found him ‘‘lying peacefully’’ in bed at his 16thcentury cottage in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Announcing the death, Michael Lippman, the singer’s manager, said it appeared to be the result of heart failure.
Police said yesterday the death was not being treated as suspicious but confirmed that tests would be necessary. ‘‘The results are unlikely to be known for several weeks,’’ a spokesman said.
Known throughout his career for a recklessness fuelled by his conflicted relationship with fame, the pop star, who started his career as one half of the 1980s band Wham!, had clocked up police cautions for cannabis and crack cocaine possession. In 2010, he was sentenced to eight weeks in jail after crashing his SUV into a London shop while under the influence of cannabis and prescription medicine.
In 2011, he spent several weeks in hospital in Vienna after contracting pneumonia while on tour, later saying that he had come close to death.
Two memorials are planned for this year, with the dates yet to be confirmed. Sir Elton John, with whom Michael collaborated, is rumoured to have agreed to perform at one.
Melanie Panayiotou, Michael’s sister, will receive the bulk of an estate estimated to be worth £105 million (NZ$187m).
In the wake of Michael’s death, his solo compilation album, Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael, has broken back into the top 10 of the British album charts for the first time in 17 years, with a combined sales and streaming surge of 5625 per cent. Five more of his albums have entered the top 100, including the Wham! compilation album The Final, which reached No 40.
In the official singles chart, Wham!’s Last Christmas reached No 7 as it returned to the top 10 for the first time in 31 years.