British pop singer and songwriter George Michael, who rose to fame in the 1980s as the frontman of Wham! before pursuing a successful solo career, has died “peacefully” at his home in England at the age of 53.

英国流行歌手和作曲人乔治.迈克尔(George Michael)圣诞节（12月25日）在英格兰家中“平静”离世，享年53岁。上世纪80年代，他以威猛(Wham!)乐队主唱成名，随后追求独唱生涯并取得成功。

Michael, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, first made his name on the UK pop scene in the early 80s as one half of Wham!, with chart-topping hits such as “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go", "Club Tropicana" and “Last Christmas”.

迈克尔原名乔治斯.基里亚科斯.帕帕纳约图(Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou)，于上世纪80年代初作为威猛乐队两名成员之一、以《Wake Me Up Before You Go Go》、《Club Tropicana》和《Last Christmas》排行榜大热单曲，首次登上英国流行乐坛。

After the duo broke up in 1986, he forged a career as a solo artist, winning a Grammy award for his album Faith only a year later. He sold more than 100m albums during his lifetime.

1986年威猛乐队解散后，他以独唱歌手开始新的职业生涯，仅一年后便以专辑《Faith》赢得了一项格莱美奖(Grammy)。他生前总共卖出了超过1亿张专辑。

The pop icon’s death was confirmed by his publicist on Christmas Day. The cause of death was heart failure, according to his manager Michael Lippman.

这位流行偶像的公关代理在圣诞日证实了他的死讯。其经理迈克尔.李普曼(Michael Lippman)表示，死因是心脏衰竭。

"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," Michael’s publicist said in a statement.

“我们万分悲痛地证实，我们挚爱的儿子、兄弟、朋友乔治在圣诞节期间于家中平静离世，”迈克尔的公关代理在一份声明中表示。

"The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage," he said.

“在当下这种艰难和恸情的时刻，他的家人希望他们的隐私能够受到尊重。现阶段不会再有进一步的评论，”他称。

British police said they were treating the pop star’s death as “unexplained but not suspicious”.

英国警方称，他们认为这位流行歌手的死因“不明但并不可疑”。

Born in north London 1963 to Greek Cypriot immigrant parents, Michael played music on the London Underground before finding success alongside school friend Andrew Ridgeley as Wham! in 1981.

迈克尔于1963年出生于伦敦北部一个希腊裔塞浦路斯移民家庭，他曾在伦敦地铁演奏音乐，直到1981年与校园好友安德鲁.维治利(Andrew Ridgeley)一起以威猛乐队获得成功。

The pair went on to release a string of successful dance hits and ballads and built up a teenage fan base. After Wham! split, Michael launched his solo career, and would achieve global success with his work centring on themes of sexuality and desire.

他们二人接着发行了一系列成功的舞曲和民谣，构建了一个青少年粉丝群体。在威猛乐队解散后，迈克尔开始独唱生涯，以专注于性取向和欲望等主题的作品在全球取得了成功。

A pilot solo single “I Want Your Sex” was banned by daytime radio stations but became one of his most popular hits.

试播单曲《I Want Your Sex》曾被广播电台禁止在白天时段播出，但这首歌成为了他最受欢迎的单曲之一。

In the 1990s, Michael sought to distance himself from the pop industry with his album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. In the music video of his 1990 hit “Freedom ‘90”, supermodels lip-synced his lyrics while Michael himself did not appear.

上世纪90年代，迈克尔以专辑《Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1》试图告别流行音乐。在他1990年发行的《Freedom ‘90》畅销歌曲录影带中，超级名模假唱了他的歌词，而他本人没有出场。

His time in the spotlight was dogged by public discussion of his personal life, including his own sexuality and drug abuse.

站在聚光灯下的他，一直被公众对于他私人生活的讨论困扰着，其中包括他的性取向和吸毒。

In 1998, the singer disclosed that he was gay after being arrested by an undercover policeman in Los Angeles for engaging in a lewd act in a public toilet. He reacted by releasing the hit single “Let’s Go Outside”, the music video for which featured a bathroom transformed into a disco and Michael dancing dressed as a policeman.

1998年，在因参与公厕猥亵而遭洛杉矶一名卧底警察逮捕之后，这位歌手披露自己是同性恋。接着，他发布了流行单曲《我们去外面吧》(Let’s Go Outside)，这段音乐视频呈现一间由浴室改装的迪厅，迈克尔打扮成警察的样子跳舞。

"I feel stupid and reckless and weak for letting my sexuality be exposed that way," Michael told CNN at the time. "But I do not feel shame [about my sexuality], neither do I think I should.”

“以这种方式暴露性取向，让我感到愚蠢、鲁莽和弱势，”当时迈克尔告诉CNN。“但（我的性取向）没有让我感到羞耻，我也不认为自己该有羞耻的感觉。”

Fellow musicians wrote tributes to the singer following Sunday’s news. Former Wham! bandmate Mr Ridgeley said he was “heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog”, the nickname he used for Michael.

周日的消息传出后，音乐家们纷纷悼念这位歌手。威猛乐队前成员维治利说，他“对我亲爱的朋友Yog去世感到极度伤心”。Yog是他对迈克尔的昵称。

“I am in deep shock,” Sir Elton John wrote on Instagram, posting a photograph of himself and Michael. 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.”

“我深感震惊，”埃尔顿.约翰爵士(Sir Elton John)在Instagram上写道，并公布了一张自己跟迈克尔的合影。“我失去了一个亲爱的朋友——最善良、最慷慨的灵魂，一个才华横溢的艺术家。我对他的家人和所有歌迷深表同情。”

Pop star Madonna posted an undated video of herself on stage with Michael in a tribute on Twitter. In the clip, she makes reference to some of his best known lyrics: “George, I want your sex, so be my father figure and I will have faith if we have to live hand-to-mouth. The diva himself.”

流行歌星麦当娜(Madonna)在推特上发布了一段她跟迈克尔一起在舞台上的视频（未标日期），向迈克尔致敬。在这段剪辑中，她提到他一些最著名的歌词：“George, I want your sex, so be my father figure and I will have faith if we have to live hand-to-mouth. The diva himself.”

Michael's death comes at the end of a year in which several music icons have died, including David Bowie, Prince and Leonard Cohen. Rick Parfitt, guitarist of British rock band Status Quo, died on Saturday at 68.

今年还有几位音乐界偶像级人物离世，包括大卫.鲍伊(David Bowie)、普林斯(Prince)和莱昂纳德.科恩(Leonard Cohen)。英国摇滚乐队Status Quo的吉他演奏家里克.帕菲特(Rick Parfitt)于上周六（12月24日）去世，享年68岁。

Michael was in the process of relaunching his career after suffering from ill health over the past few years. In 2011, he postponed a number of concerts after time spent in hospital with pneumonia.

过去几年遭受健康折磨之后，迈克尔此前正在重启职业生涯。2011年，他因肺炎住院一段时间，之后推迟了一些音乐会。

Earlier this month, it was announced that he was working with producer and songwriter Naughty Boy on a new album. He had also recently been making a documentary named Freedom, focused on his rise to fame with Wham!, the protracted legal battle with Sony Music over his contract and the making of the “Freedom ‘90” music video.

本月早些时候有消息称，迈克尔正在与制作人和作曲家Naughty Boy合作筹划一张新专辑。他最近在制作一部名为《自由》(Freedom)的纪录片，核心主题是他在威猛乐队的崛起、他跟索尼音乐(Sony Music)围绕他的合同的漫长法律战，以及音乐视频《Freedom ‘90》的制作。