Singer-songwriter and record producer George Michael has died of heart failure, according to his longtime manager Michael Lippman.

The English celebrity who rose to fame with the group Wham! in the 1980s and continued his success as a solo performer "passed away peacefully at home" in Goring, Oxfordshire, said Lippman.

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

Thames Valley said: "At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. A post-mortem will be undertaken in due course.”