巨星隕落 英國流行歌手喬治邁克爾
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.
英國流行歌手和作曲人喬治.邁克爾(George Michael)聖誕節（12月25日）在英格蘭家中“平靜”離世，享年53歲。上世紀80年代，他以威猛(Wham!)樂隊主唱成名，隨後追求獨唱生涯並取得成功。
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”.
邁克爾原名喬治斯.基里亞科斯.帕帕納約圖(Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou)，於上世紀80年代初作爲威猛樂隊兩名成員之一、以《Wake Me Up Before You Go Go》、《Club Tropicana》和《Last Christmas》排行榜大熱單曲，首次登上英國流行樂壇。
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年威猛樂隊解散後，他以獨唱歌手開始新的職業生涯，僅一年後便以專輯《Faith》贏得了一項格萊美獎(Grammy)。他生前總共賣出了超過1億張專輯。
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.
這位流行偶像的公關代理在聖誕日證實了他的死訊。其經理邁克爾.李普曼(Michael Lippman)表示，死因是心臟衰竭。
"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.
“我們萬分悲痛地證實，我們摯愛的兒子、兄弟、朋友喬治在聖誕節期間於家中平靜離世，”邁克爾的公關代理在一份聲明中表示。
"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.
“在當下這種艱難和慟情的時刻，他的家人希望他們的隱私能夠受到尊重。現階段不會再有進一步的評論，”他稱。
British police said they were treating the pop star’s death as “unexplained but not suspicious”.
英國警方稱，他們認爲這位流行歌手的死因“不明但並不可疑”。
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.
邁克爾於1963年出生於倫敦北部一個希臘裔塞浦路斯移民家庭，他曾在倫敦地鐵演奏音樂，直到1981年與校園好友安德魯.維治利(Andrew Ridgeley)一起以威猛樂隊獲得成功。
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.
他們二人接着發行了一系列成功的舞曲和民謠，構建了一個青少年粉絲羣體。在威猛樂隊解散後，邁克爾開始獨唱生涯，以專注於性取向和慾望等主題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.
試播單曲《I Want Your Sex》曾被廣播電臺禁止在白天時段播出，但這首歌成爲了他最受歡迎的單曲之一。
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.
上世紀90年代，邁克爾以專輯《Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1》試圖告別流行音樂。在他1990年發行的《Freedom ‘90》暢銷歌曲錄影帶中，超級名模假唱了他的歌詞，而他本人沒有出場。
His time in the spotlight was dogged by public discussion of his personal life, including his own sexuality and drug abuse.
站在聚光燈下的他，一直被公衆對於他私人生活的討論困擾着，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，在因參與公廁猥褻而遭洛杉磯一名臥底警察逮捕之後，這位歌手披露自己是同性戀。接着，他發佈了流行單曲《我們去外面吧》(Let’s Go Outside)，這段音樂視頻呈現一間由浴室改裝的迪廳，邁克爾打扮成警察的樣子跳舞。
"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.”
“以這種方式暴露性取向，讓我感到愚蠢、魯莽和弱勢，”當時邁克爾告訴CNN。“但（我的性取向）沒有讓我感到羞恥，我也不認爲自己該有羞恥的感覺。”
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.
週日的消息傳出後，音樂家們紛紛悼念這位歌手。威猛樂隊前成員維治利說，他“對我親愛的朋友Yog去世感到極度傷心”。Yog是他對邁克爾的暱稱。
“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.”
“我深感震驚，”埃爾頓.約翰爵士(Sir Elton John)在Instagram上寫道，並公佈了一張自己跟邁克爾的合影。“我失去了一個親愛的朋友——最善良、最慷慨的靈魂，一個才華橫溢的藝術家。我對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.”
流行歌星麥當娜(Madonna)在推特上發佈了一段她跟邁克爾一起在舞臺上的視頻（未標日期），向邁克爾致敬。在這段剪輯中，她提到他一些最著名的歌詞：“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.
今年還有幾位音樂界偶像級人物離世，包括大衛.鮑伊(David Bowie)、普林斯(Prince)和萊昂納德.科恩(Leonard Cohen)。英國搖滾樂隊Status Quo的吉他演奏家裏克.帕菲特(Rick Parfitt)於上週六（12月24日）去世，享年68歲。
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.
過去幾年遭受健康折磨之後，邁克爾此前正在重啓職業生涯。2011年，他因肺炎住院一段時間，之後推遲了一些音樂會。
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.
本月早些時候有消息稱，邁克爾正在與製作人和作曲家Naughty Boy合作籌劃一張新專輯。他最近在製作一部名爲《自由》(Freedom)的紀錄片，核心主題是他在威猛樂隊的崛起、他跟索尼音樂(Sony Music)圍繞他的合同的漫長法律戰，以及音樂視頻《Freedom ‘90》的製作。
