Ex-Wham! Singer George Michael Passes Away at 53

Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in 1963 North London to a Greek Cypriot father and an English mother, Michael first achieved fame alongside his friend Andrew Ridgeley in 1981 as the pop duo Wham!.

As the news sinks in, fans of the singer are taking to Twitter to express their condolences. Me, his loved ones, his friends, the world of music, the world at large.

And in the hours after the singer’s death was announced TV presenter Richard Osman revealed that Michael had called a woman who appeared on Deal or No Deal to give her the money she needed for IVF treatment.

George Michael ” s sudden demise has left fans and everyone in the industry in shock. A brilliant artist & great songwriter. He was an absolute inspiration.

“George paved the way for people like Robbie Williams and Justin Timberlake to leave boy bands and then to go on to be taken seriously as solo acts, Robbie even covered George’s Freedom 90″, he wrote in the Courier Mail.

“Try to imagine that you fought with your own sexuality to the point that you’ve lost half of your twenties, and you’ve finally found a real love, and six months in it’s devastated”, Michael recalled.

This year’s X Factor victor Matt Terry wrote: “Noooooooooooooooo!” “I was just at his house the morning of the 23rd”.

And Little Britain costar David Walliams tweeted: “George Michael – “You Have Been Loved”. Please make him the last. In a statement issued by the artist’s publicist it was said that George Michael “Passed away peacefully at home”. “I’m really saddened.a lovely man”.

The Daily Star says winds of up to 90mph will batter Scotland on Boxing Day.

As his solo career took off and he became one of the 1980s’ most recognisable stars, George’s personal life came under huge scrutiny. According to the BBC, London police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Michael’s death. That sparked a legal fight over his contract with Sony Music that ended up taking a deep toll in his career and didn’t allow him to release another album until 1996.