In a statement released late on Christmas Day, George Michael's publicist said in a statement: "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."
Emergency services reportedly attended a property in Goring, west of London, at 13:42 local time (1442 UTC) on Sunday.
According to authorities, there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.Thames Valley police said a "post-mortem will be undertaken in due course."
The 53-year-old rose to fame in the 1980s as a member of pop duo Wham!, which he formed with school friend Andrew Ridgeley. The group was best known for the songs "I'm your man," "Club Tropicana" and the Christmas hit "Last Christmas."
Michael - whose real name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou - went on to enjoy a hugely successful solo career, spanning almost four decades, selling more than 100 million albums.
His 1987 debut solo album "Faith" sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Michael won numerous music awards throughout his 30-year solo career, including four Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, three Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations.
As his music career faded Michael continued to hit the headlines, but often for the wrong reasons. In October 2006, Michael was banned from driving after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of drugs. Two years later, the singer was cautioned for possessing class A drugs, including crack cocaine.
Within a year, Michael crashed his car into a shop in north London. He was later handed an eight-week prison sentence.
Michael - whose real name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou - went on to enjoy a hugely successful solo career, spanning almost four decades, selling more than 100 million albums.
His 1987 debut solo album "Faith" sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Michael won numerous music awards throughout his 30-year solo career, including four Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, three Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations.
As his music career faded Michael continued to hit the headlines, but often for the wrong reasons. In October 2006, Michael was banned from driving after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of drugs. Two years later, the singer was cautioned for possessing class A drugs, including crack cocaine.
Within a year, Michael crashed his car into a shop in north London. He was later handed an eight-week prison sentence.
Musician Elton John paid tribute on Instagram, posting a photo of himself and Michael.
"I am in deep shock," the singer-songwriter wrote. "I have lost a beloved friend - the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. My heart goes out to his family and all of his fans."
In 1974, John and Michael re-recorded the former's 1974 hit "Don't let the sun go down on me" - reaching number one in both the US and UK charts.
Michael’s contemporaries also paid tribute to the star. Martin Fry, the lead singer and songwriter with ABC, said on Twitter: “Absolutely devastated to hear of the loss of George Michael.”
Contemporaries Duran Duran referred to the “curse of 2016” – a year in which rock and pop behemoths David Bowie, Prince and Rick Parfitt have died. The band posted on their official Twitter account: “2016 - loss of another talented soul. All our love and sympathy to George Michael’s family.”
