Pop singer George Michael dies at 53

LOS ANGELES - George Michael, the pop artist and former member of the group Wham!, has died at the age of 53. The singer sold more than 100 million albums over a career spanning almost four decades.

Michael 'passed away peacefully at his home,” according to a statement from his publicist provided to the BBC.

'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,” read the statement.

'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 London-born singer, whose real name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, formed pop duo Wham! in the early 1980s with schoolfriend Andrew Ridgeley; their hits included 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” 'Club Tropicana” and 'Last Christmas.”

He later parted ways with Ridgeley, and his first solo album 'Faith” was a huge success. This was followed by 'Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1,” which outsold 'Faith,” but resulted in a legal dispute with U.S. record label Sony after Michael became frustrated with how they had handled the release.

Michael almost died from pneumonia in 2011 when he was on tour in Vienna. He was hospitalized, and later said it had been 'touch and go” whether he lived.

Tributes from friends and fans have started to flood onto Twitter.