2016 has not been kind to many beloved icons and the world has lost another great one. English songwriter George Michael, of the duo Wham! and an incredible solo artist in his own right was found dead on Sunday at his home in Goring in Oxfordshire, England. He was 53 and the following statement has been by his publicist:
“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,” his publicist Connie Filippello said in a statement. “The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.”
It was later confirmed by Michaels manager that his death was caused by heart failure. A statement has been released from the police including a few more details but does not list heart failure as the official cause of death. According to the statement “Thames Valley Police were called to a property in Goring-on-Thames shortly before 2 p.m. Christmas Day. Sadly, a 53-year-old man was confirmed deceased at the scene. At this stage, the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.”
Michael’s first success in the music industry came after forming the band Wham! in 1983 with Andrew Ridgeley. Their debut, Fantastic, reached No. 1 in the UK and contained a series of top 10 singles including “Young Guns”, “Wham Rap!” and “Club Tropicana”. Their sophomore album, Make It Big, was released in 1984 and reached No. 1 in 11 different countries with four of the album’s songs making their way to the top of the singles charts. This included one of the groups arguably most iconic songs: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” following which Wham! became the first band from the Western Hemisphere to tour China.
In 1987, Michael began his solo career with the release of Faith which ranked No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 for 12 weeks as well as 51 non-consecutive weeks in the top 10 and eventually went on to win Michael the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1989. Michael eventually grew increasingly uncomfortable with the what he considered the superficial nature of being an 80’s pop star and set out to make more mature statements in his songs. Michael maintained a steady output of solo releases, including 1990’s Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, a duet with Elton John called “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” in 1991, a Freddie Mercury tribute EP Five Live in 1993’s, Older in 1996 and lastly Symphonica in 2014. As a solo artist, Michael has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and achieved eight No. 1 singles in the US which led the Radio Academy to name Michael the most played artist on British radio during the period of 1984–2004.
Michael came out as being gay in 1998 after being arrested on charges of lewd conduct in a men’s room in Beverly Hills, Calif. Though he had never previously confirmed his sexuality he had long used his name and music in support of gay rights and AIDS education and said that hiding his sexuality had made him feel “fraudulent.”
“I never minded being thought of as a pop star,” Mr. Michael told GQ in 2004. “People have always thought I wanted to be seen as a serious musician, but I didn’t, I just wanted people to know that I was absolutely serious about pop music.”
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