In a statement supplied to BBC, Michael's publicist said: "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.
British pop star George Michael, who was found dead by his partner on Christmas Day, was caught in a struggle with drugs in the years before his death.
The singer, who was just 53, died from heart failure at home and was working on a Showtime movie of his life, which was due to air next March.
But in recent months, life wasn't so rosy for the superstar with even his long-term partner Fadi Fawaz revealing things between the couple were complicated at the time Michael died.
The superstar also spoke openly of his battle with depression in recent years as well as his use of marijuana.
Just last year the Sun revealed how Michael had been in rehab for months battling an addiction to crack cocaine.
Jackie Georgiou, the wife of George's cousin Andros, said his family feared he was killing himself with crack, cocaine, alcohol and marijuana but he had finally listened to their pleas to get help.
"He was smoking crack," she told the paper. "Before he went away he got to the point where he would be shaking, saying 'I need it'.
"There were parties where he was taking drugs and collapsing and being picked up off the floor. Waking up in vomit, horrible things. He was so thin, so ill.
"It's crack, it's marijuana, it's drink, it's coke. It was pretty dark and things were getting darker. He was going to end up locked up or dead. I'm petrified he will die."
As recently as last year, he was forced to publicly deny new allegations about drug-taking, describing them as "highly inaccurate".
In a statement given to the BBC, a spokesman for Michael's family said: "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,"
"The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage."
UK police initially said his death was "unexplained but not suspicious".
Thames Valley Police said they were called to a property in Goring-on-Thames shortly before 2pm local time, adding: "Sadly, a 53-year-old man was confirmed deceased at the scene."
Meanwhile Michael's long-term partner Fadi Fawaz told the Telegraph of his shock at discovering Michael dead and revealed how the pair had planned to spend the day together.
"We were supposed to be going for Christmas lunch. I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone, lying peacefully in bed. We don't know what happened yet," he said.
"Everything had been very complicated recently, but George was looking forward to Christmas, and so was I.
"Now everything is ruined. I want people to remember him the way he was - he was a beautiful person."
DARK TIMES
Tributes are left outside the home of British musician George Michael in London. Photo / AP
Michael also once revealed how he suffered from two afflictions, "grief and self-abuse."
The star was open about his battle with depression, which was particularly bad following the 1993 death of his partner Anselmo Feleppa and then his mother in 1997.
"I lost my partner to HIV then it took about three years to grieve; then after that I lost my mother," he said. "I felt almost like I was cursed."
"So that's 12 years of depression and fear, and lots of other s***. I swear to God it was like I had a curse on me. I couldn't believe how much God was piling on at once. There was so much death around me, I can't tell you."
British singer George Michael leaves his house in north London, after recovering from a life-threatening bout with pneumonia. Photo / AP
The reclusive superstar was also reportedly struggling with his weight in the weeks leading up to his death.
The star was rarely spotted out in public in recent months, according to TMZ.
Just weeks before he died, a photo emerged of Michael dining at an Oxfordshire restaurant with friends on September 14, 2016.
He appeared tired and bloated, at a time when whispers had been circulating about his health.
Michael was dogged by health scares during the last decade of his life.
Michael nearly died from pneumonia in late 2011. After receiving treatment in a Vienna hospital, he made a tearful appearance outside his London home and said it had been "touch and go" whether he lived.
Doctors had performed a tracheotomy to keep his airways open and he was unconscious for some of his spell in hospital.
The star pulled out of a series of concerts due to his health issues and he later revealed the massive struggle he faced to recover, including learning to walk again.
"I didn't get myself checked out. I took it for granted that I'd just fought off flu," he said in a 2012 interview.
"I went and played for another three weeks in Europe.
"And then one afternoon I was having lunch and suddenly felt really odd and said to everyone that I need to go and lay down for half an hour on my own.
"And that's the last thing I remember for five weeks. It was three weeks of them trying to save my life and two weeks awake.
"I literally had to learn to walk again and weird stuff, because when they keep you sedated for that long your muscles literally atrophy at an incredible rate. And I just woke up like this feeble old man."
But that wasn't the end of his battle.
He returned to hospital just 18 months later with a head injury following a bizarre incident on the M1 motorway outside London when he fell from his car on to the road.
Tributes are left on the gate outside the home of British musician George Michael in London. Photo / AP
