George Michael died of heart and liver problems, coroner says

By News Staff

A British coroner says George Michael died of natural causes as the result of heart and liver problems.

Darren Salter, senior coroner for Oxfordshire, says a post-mortem has found that the singer died of “dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver.”

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart’s ability to pump blood is limited, while myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle.

The British pop superstar died at his home in Oxfordshire county, southern England, on Dec. 25. He was 53. An initial autopsy failed to determine the cause of death.

Salter said Tuesday that because Michael died of natural causes, no inquest will be held.

Michael reached early fame with WHAM! with their hit “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and weent on to have a solo career with a series of hits such as “Faith” and “Freedom.”

He sold well over 100 million albums globally, earned numerous Grammy and American Music Awards, and recorded duets with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti and Elton John among others.

Throughout his career, his drug use and taste for risky sex brought him into frequent brushes with the law, most famously in 1998 when he was arrested for public lewdness in Los Angeles. Yet, he managed to turn the incident into fodder for a popular song that poked fun at his behaviour, and his acknowledgment of his homosexuality at that time made him even more popular with his fans.

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