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The Agora => UK & World News => Topic started by: BeeTee on Monday, 26 December, 2016 @ 01:23:10
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Singer George Michael has died aged 53, his publicist has said.
The star, who launched his career with Wham! in the 1980s and later continued his success as a solo performer, is said to have "passed away peacefully at home".
Thames Valley Police said South Central Ambulance Service attended a property in Goring in Oxfordshire at 13:42 GMT.
Police say there were no suspicious circumstances.
Michael, who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in north London, sold more than 100m albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades.
He first found fame with his schoolfriend Andrew Ridgeley in duo Wham! before going on to release solo albums, including the multi-million selling Faith and Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1.
Earlier this month it was announced that producer and songwriter Naughty Boy was working with Michael on a new album.
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."
In 2011, Michael postponed a series of concerts after being taken to hospital for treatment for pneumonia.
After 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 were said to have performed a tracheotomy to keep his airways open and he was unconscious for some of his spell in hospital.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38432862
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Greg Lake, Rick Parfitt, George Michael... 2016 is ending as it started :(
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Have more famous people died in 2016?
It's been held up as a particularly gloomy year for celebrity deaths. But has the grim reaper really claimed the souls of more notable people than usual in 2016?
Back in April, the BBC's Obituaries Editor Nick Serpell was tasked with checking if there was anything unusual about the number of well-known people dying, as many on social media had been claiming.
He counted the number of pre-prepared BBC obituaries that ran across radio, TV and online from January until the end of March for the years 2012-16.
And at that point he found that, yes, just looking at the first three months of the year, there had been a huge increase.
Twice as many notable people had died in this period of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, and five times as many as in 2012.
Nonetheless, now that December has arrived, it seems an appropriate time to ask - has 2016 continued to be so dangerous and fateful for famous people?
In actual fact, Serpell says, it hasn't.
Across the whole year, there was a 30% increase in BBC pre-prepared obituaries used in 2016 compared with 2015.
He thinks that the increase isn't particularly surprising, because we're now half a century on from the flourishing of both TV and pop culture in the 1960s, which massively expanded the overall pool of public figures.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38329740
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Strange, but I find George Michael's unexpected passing more unsettling than Bowie's - perhaps it's the time of the year.
Mind you, a future marketing dream come true: "Last Christmas" anyone?
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George Michael post-mortem 'inconclusive'
A post-mortem examination into the cause of George Michael's death was "inconclusive" police have said.
More tests will now be carried out to determine what led to his death, Thames Valley Police said in a statement. The results of these tests are unlikely to be known for several weeks.
Michael's death is still being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38470678