Summary Singer Elton John published a picture of himself with Michael on his Instagram account.
London (AFP) - British pop star George Michael, who rose to fame with the band Wham! and sold more than 100 million albums in his career, has died aged 53, 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," the publicist said in a statement.
Thames Valley Police said the ambulance service had attended a property in Goring in Oxfordshire, where the singer lived, at 1342 GMT on Sunday and a 53-year-old man was confirmed dead at the scene.
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"At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. A post-mortem will be undertaken in due course," the police said.
Singer Elton John published a picture of himself with Michael on his Instagram account.
"I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend - the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist," the British star wrote.
Madonna posted a video of herself presenting Michael with an award and wrote: "Farewell my Friend! Another Great Artist leaves us."
Michael was due to release a documentary in 2017 after a period of living as a virtual recluse in which he hit the headlines for a series of bizarre incidents linked to drugs.
Earlier this month it was also announced that producer and songwriter Naughty Boy, whose real name is Shahid Khan, 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 Brits.
His last album "Symphonica" (2014) rose to number one in the charts.
Talented soul
Many tributes to Michael referred to other music world deaths in 2016, starting with David Bowie in January and including Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt who died on Saturday.
"2016 - loss of another talented soul. All our love and sympathy to George Michael’s family," the band Duran Duran, which were 1980s contemporaries of Wham!, said on their official Twitter account.
Referring to him by his nickname "Yog" (Yours Only George), Wham! co-star Andrew Ridgeley said he was "heartbroken" by Michael’s death.
Canadian musician Bryan Adams tweeted: "I can’t believe it. Such an incredible singer and a lovely human being, far too young to leave us."
Tributes poured in from outside the music world too.
Football presenter and former England captain Gary Lineker tweeted: "No, not George Michael as well. Another musical great leaves us this year. 2016 can just sod off."
"Star Trek" actor George Takei referred to some of Michael’s greatest hits in a tweet, writing: "Rest with the glittering stars, George Michael. You’ve found your Freedom, your Faith. It was your Last Christmas, and we shall miss you."
Drug charges, health scares
Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou to a Greek Cypriot father and English mother in north London in 1963.
He met Ridgeley at high school and the pair went on to form Wham! in 1981.
With their good looks, perma-tans, highlighted hair and hedonistic image, the duo captured the go-getting spirit of the age and fast became one of Britain’s biggest pop acts.
In 1985, Wham! became the first Western pop band to perform in China as the country was slowly beginning to open up to the outside world under reformist leader Deng Xiaoping.
Following years of speculation over his sexuality, Michael came out as gay in 1998 after being arrested for committing a lewd act in the public toilet of a Los Angeles park.
It was the first of several incidents that were to overshadow his musical career in his later years.
He notched up police cautions for cannabis and crack cocaine possession and in 2010 was sentenced to eight weeks in jail after crashing his car into a London shop while under the influence of cannabis and prescription medication.
In 2011, he spent several weeks in hospital in Vienna after contracting pneumonia, later saying that he had been close to death.
There were fresh concerns in 2013 when he had to be airlifted to hospital after falling out of his chauffeur-driven Range Rover as it travelled at high speed on a motorway.George Michael, who has died aged 53, was a teenage heartthrob turned superstar singer-songwriter whose smooth vocals belied a personal life shadowed by drug problems and heartbreak.
As one half of boy band Wham! and then as a solo artist, he created some of the biggest hits of the 1980s including "Careless Whisper" and "Faith", selling over 100 million records in a career spanning nearly four decades.
In recent years, he was rarely seen in public, hitting the headlines more often for a series of bizarre accidents, some linked to drugs, than for his music.
But Michael -- who came out as gay in 1998 after being arrested for committing a lewd act in the public toilet of a Los Angeles park -- did not shy away from discussing his private life when he did do interviews.
"People want to see me as tragic with all the cottaging and drug-taking... those things are not what most people aspire to and I think it removes people’s envy to see your weaknesses," he told Britain’s Guardian newspaper in 2009.
"I don’t even see them as weaknesses any more. It’s just who I am."
On top of the world
Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou to a Greek Cypriot father and English mother in north London in 1963.
He met Andrew Ridgeley at high school and the pair went on to form Wham! in 1981.
With their good looks, perma-tans, highlighted hair and hedonistic image, the duo captured the go-getting spirit of the age and fast became one of Britain’s biggest pop acts with hits like "Club Tropicana" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".
Their fame spread globally and in 1985, Wham! became the first Western band to play a concert in China.
They split the following year after four British number one singles and Michael embarked on a solo career, targeting a more adult audience.
Michael’s first solo album, "Faith", was released in 1987. It signalled a change in style, with cover art showing Michael in a leather jacket, stubble and an earring and a first single entitled "I Want Your Sex".
"Faith" was a huge hit, spawning the single of the same name which became one of Michael’s most famous songs, drawing widespread critical acclaim and selling millions of copies worldwide.
Drained by promoting the album, it was three years before Michael produced another, "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1".
Several years later, Michael’s Brazilian boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa, died, leaving the star devastated. There was more grief in 1997 when his mother passed away.
Michael only revealed in public that he was gay in 1998 after being busted by police in Los Angeles. The star later said he had not wanted to come out while his mother was still alive.
He kept producing hits throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, courting controversy with 2004’s "Shoot The Dog", an anti-Iraq war song whose video poked fun at George W. Bush and Tony Blair.
Don’t believe this rubbish
But fears for his health were growing.
In 2009, David Furnish, the now-husband of Elton John, who duetted with Michael on "Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me", spoke of how the couple’s friends were worried for Michael’s health.
Michael responded by saying that John "needs to get on with his own life".
He notched up police cautions for cannabis and crack cocaine possession and in 2010 was sentenced to eight weeks in jail after crashing his 4x4 into a London shop while under the influence of cannabis and prescription medication.
In 2011, he announced his split with long-term partner Kenny Goss. He then spent several weeks in hospital in Vienna after contracting pneumonia, later saying he had been close to death.
In 2012, Michael performed "White Light", a song about his hospitalisation, at the London Olympics closing ceremony.
But the following year, there were fresh concerns when he had to be airlifted to hospital after falling out of his chauffeur-driven Range Rover as it travelled at high speed on a motorway.
In 2015, he took to Twitter to deny claims from his cousin’s wife that he was using crack cocaine and marijuana and was in rehab.
"To my lovelies, do not believe this rubbish in the papers today by someone I don’t know anymore and haven’t seen for nearly 18 years..." he wrote.
