George Michael

During a career lasting more than 30 years, George Michael sold more than 100 million records worldwide. He first burst onto the pop music scene as a precociously talented young musician, both writing and performing as one half of Wham!, alongside his great school friend Andrew Ridgeley. In 1987, he went solo, and was rewarded with his first album, 'Faith' selling more than 20million copies. In total, he had seven number one singles in the UK, and eight more in the US. He was ranked by Billboard magazine in 2008 as the 40th most successful pop artist of all time. He died aged 53 of natural causes.