Pop Superstar George Michael Dies

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This year has simply been brutal. We lose lots of celebrities every year, but generally the majority of them are, for lack of a better term, "forgotten" from their heyday several decades earlier. That hasn't happened this year. Case in point, the latest music casualty of 2016: George Michael. Michael died Christmas day at his home in England. No official cause has been given yet, but police say there are no signs of suspicious or foul play causes to his death. Rumors have circulated for years that Michael had AIDS. He also had a long history of alcohol and drug abuse, and as recently as 2015 was in a treatment facility. The official cause won't be released until the postmortem is completed, but the suspected cause of death is heart failure. Rising to superstardom in the 1980s with Andrew Ridgeley as Wham! (originally called "Wham! UK"), George Michael was one of the biggest success stories of the 1980s. After Wham! broke up Michael went on to a successful solo career. He also did a number of guest appearances, such as filling in for the late Freddie Mercury in a Queen concert and dueting with Elton John on a remake of Elton's 1974 classic "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." George Michael was 53. My favorite Wham! song: