Singer-songwriter George Michael, the former Wham!
band member turned solo artist, has died, his representatives confirmed on Sunday.
The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time.
There will be no further comment at this stage," the representative said in a statement to EW.
formed in 1981 with schoolmate Andrew Ridgeley before going solo.
He sold more than 100 million albums worldwide throughout a career that spanned more than three decades.
Michael’s hits with Wham!
included “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (the duo’s first song to hit No.
The album spawned six singles in all and won the 1989 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
His second solo album,Listen Without Prejudice Vol.
1, came in 1990 and featured the singles “Praying for Time” and “Freedom ‘90.”
Michael was arrested for “lewd behavior” in Beverly Hills in 1998.
The incident led to his public coming out as gay when he revealed his relationship with Kenny Goss.
They stayed together until 2011.
Throughout his career, Michael was a staunch activist for gay rights.
He added, “I’d been out to a lot of people since 19.
I wish to God it had happened then.
In 2011, Michael canceled a number of tour dates as herecovered from pneumonia.
The following year, he canceled additional dates to get treatment for anxiety he suffered following that health scare.
His most recent album,Symphonica, was released in 2014.
