他唱紅了《最後聖誕》；卻也走完了他的最後聖誕。染上毒癮無法自拔的殿堂級歌手喬治邁可在聖誕節安祥離世。（內有他畢生精彩組圖）

曾紅極一時的英國歌手喬治邁可（George Michael）驚傳去世消息，其發言人表示，他在家中安祥離世，終年53歲。

喬治邁可曾是「Wham！」雙人組合主唱，1983年出道大紅，1987年單飛之後事業也一帆風順，唱片總銷售超過1億張。代表作包括《Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go》《Freedom》《Last Christmas》《Careless Whisper》等。

喬治邁可1963年出生，本名Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou，是英國籍希臘裔創作歌手，1980年代跟在校好友安德魯瑞吉里（Andrew Ridgeley）以流行二人組Wham!（轟！）出道，創作《Last Christmas》多首名曲，1986年解散。

喬治邁可之後個人發展，1988年以專輯《Faith》創下演藝生涯高峯，成為英美兩地最受歡迎的男歌星，擅長靈魂樂、搖滾樂、福音和舞曲等多種不同曲風，是1980年代和1990年代主流歌手，本身亦是葛萊美、全英音樂獎和MTV音樂錄影帶大獎等多項大獎得主。

喬治邁可曾於1998年在美國洛杉磯公廁猥褻便衣男警被捕，自此屢次因持毒或吸毒肇事登上社會版面。2011年因嚴重肺炎取消巡迴演出住院治療，病癒後表示當時差點送命。去年曾有八卦媒體爆料稱，他毒癮嚴重，「如不再受協助可能會死」，但此傳言遭經紀人否認。本月初，唱片製作人Naughty Boy曾透露，正在跟喬治邁可合作，準備推出新專輯。

The pop superstar George Michael has died peacefully at home, his publicist said.

The 53-year-old, who was set to release a documentary in 2017, rose to fame as half of Wham!, known for their hits Club Tropicana and Last Christmas. He had a highly successful solo career which included the songs Careless Whisper, Faith, Outside and Freedom! 90.

Michael – who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou – had 11 UK number ones and sold more than 100m albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades. His last album, Symphonica, was released in 2014.

Thames Valley police told the BBC an ambulance had attended a house in Goring, Oxfordshire, at 1.42pm. They said the death was being treated as 「unexplained but not suspicious」 and they would not comment further until after a postmortem.

In a statement, the star’s 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 family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.」

Michael’s manager, Michael Lippman, said he had died from heart failure and was found 「in bed, lying peacefully」. His publicist, Cindi Berger, said he had not been ill.

On Twitter, Andrew Ridgeley, Michael’s partner in Wham!, said he was 「heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend」.

Sir Elton John, another friend and collaborator, wrote on Instagram of his 「deep shock」 at the lost of a 「the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist」.

Michael was born in London to Greek Cypriot parents and first achieved pop success with school friend Ridgeley in the pop duo Wham! They split up in 1986 and he went on to have a glittering solo career that also saw him collaborate with John, Aretha Franklin, and Queen, after the death of Freddie Mercury.

He also had frequent brushes with the law, including his highly publicised arrest in a Los Angeles public toilet in 1998, an episode that led him to acknowledge his homosexuality and his relationship with Kenny Goss. His track Outside, released the same year, poked fun at the arrest and reached No 2 in the charts.

But Michael would struggle to recapture the same success and his last studio album, Patience, was released in 2004.

In later years he had a series of arrests for drugs and driving offences and was banned from driving twice. In 2011 he officially announced the ending of a turbulent 15-year relationship with Goss – though he said that the pair had actually split about two years earlier. After a career hiatus that he described as 「a very long period of grief and self-abuse」, he announced his return to performing and said he felt remorse for the impact his high-profile arrests might have had on young gay people striving for acceptance.

Michael nearly died of pneumonia in late 2011. After receiving treatment in a Vienna hospital, he made a tearful appearance outside his London home and said it had been 「touch and go」 whether he lived. Doctors had performed a tracheotomy to keep his airways open and he was unconscious for some of his spell in hospital.

In May 2013 Michael had to be airlifted to hospital with a head injury after falling from his vehicle on the M1.

Michael’s 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 had been set to be reissued, accompanied by a new film featuring Stevie Wonder, John and the supermodels who starred in the video to his hit single Freedom! 90.

The movie, with the working title Freedom: George Michael, was to be narrated by Michael and set to feature Mark Ronson, Mary J Blige, Tony Bennett, Liam Gallagher, James Corden and Ricky Gervais.

The record was his second solo album, after the hugely successful Faith, and was arranged, produced and almost entirely written by Michael, but did not feature him on the album cover.

It featured hits including Cowboys and Angels, Mother’s Pride and Praying for Time and outsold Faith in the UK, where it went platinum four times but led to a court case with US record label Sony spurred by Michael’s frustration at how the album was marketed. Michael lost the case.

Paying tribute, contemporaries Duran Duran referred to theloss of 「another talented soul」 in a year which has seen the death of several major-league rock and pop stars, among them David Bowie, Prince and Leonard Cohen. Rick Parfitt, guitarist in Status Quo, died on Christmas Eve at the age of 68.

Brian May, the Queen guitarist, said the news of Michael’s death was 「beyond sad」 and LaToya Jackson said he had 「an amazing gift」. Martin Fry, the lead singer and songwriter with ABC, said on Twitter: 「Absolutely devastated to hear of the loss of George Michael.」

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said Michael was 「an exceptional artist and a strong supporter of LGBT and workers』 rights」. Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, was among the first to pay tribute, describing him as 「an amazing talent gone too soon」.

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