George Michael Death — Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

George Michael was found dead at his home in Goring-on-Thames, a village on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, on December 25, 2016. He was 53 years old. The coroner recorded a verdict of natural causes — dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver. He had been living at the riverside property for several years and had been in declining health. His death on Christmas Day shocked the music world and came at the end of a year that had already seen the loss of David Bowie and Prince.

George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou) was one of the most commercially successful and critically underrated artists of the 1980s and 90s. With Wham!, he produced some of the era's most joyous pop hits ('Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,' 'Last Christmas'), but his solo career — beginning with Faith (1987), which sold over 25 million copies — revealed a sophisticated songwriter and one of the great pop voices of his generation. 'Careless Whisper,' 'Father Figure,' and 'Freedom! 90' demonstrated a range that encompassed blue-eyed soul, pop-rock, and dance music.

Goring-on-Thames is a quiet, affluent village on the Oxfordshire-Berkshire border, and George Michael's home there was a private property. Following his death, fans created an impromptu memorial outside his London home at 5 The Grove, Highgate, which remained in place for months. He is buried at Highgate Cemetery (West) in London, near the grave of his mother Lesley Angold Harrison.