He was “the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist,” Elton John wrote on Instagram in one of many many tributes to pop star George Michael, who died at 53 on Christmas Day.

The singer is believed to have died from coronary heart failure, his supervisor Michael Lippman stated, based on the UK-based Press Association.

Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016), recognized professionally as George Michael, was an English singer, songwriter, and report producer who rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham! He was greatest recognized within the 1980s and 1990s together with his fashion of post-disco dance-pop, with best-selling songs corresponding to “Last Christmas” and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go“.

Michael bought greater than 100 million data worldwide. His 1987 debut solo album, Faith, bought greater than 20 million copies worldwide. Michael garnered seven number one singles within the UK and eight number one hitson the Billboard Hot 100 within the US, together with “Careless Whisper” and “Freedom! ’90“. He ranks among the many best-selling British acts of all time, with Billboard journal rating him the 40th-most profitable artist ever. Michael won numerous music awards all through his 30-year profession, together with three Brit Awards—profitable Best British Male twice, 4 MTV Video Music Awards, 4 Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations. Michael, who was gay, was an lively LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDScharity fundraiser.[3][4][5]

In 2004, the Radio Academy named Michael probably the most performed artist on British radio through the interval 1984–2004. The documentary A Different Story, launched in 2005, coated his profession and private life. In 2006, Michael introduced his first tour in 15 years, the worldwide 25 Live tour, spanning three particular person excursions over the course of three years (2006, 2007 and 2008). In 2016, he introduced a second documentary on his life entitled Freedom, set to be launched in March 2017. In the early hours of 25 December 2016, Michael, aged 53, was discovered lifeless in mattress at his Oxfordshire house.

Michael’s demise, which is being handled as “unexpected but not suspicious” by police, was additionally confirmed by the singer’s household