Michael launched his solo career in 1984 with the song Careless Whisper, which was a global hit and became one of his signature tunes. He and Ridgeley were also among the performers at Live Aid in 1985.

Michael (far left) joined the Live Aid finale at Wembley Stadium alongside (left-right) promoter Harvey Goldsmith, Bono, Paul McCartney, Bob Geldof and Freddie Mercury.

In 2000, Michael joined Annie Lennox, right, and a host of other stars for a charity concert hosted by Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, centre, in Modena, Italy.

During his career, Michael had huge success collaborating with stars including Aretha Franklin (pictured), Elton John, Queen and Mary J Blige. His duet with Franklin, I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me), went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.

After Wham!, Michael's solo career truly took off with numerous awards and number one hits including Faith, Jesus To A Child and Fastlove.

His famous fans included Diana, Princess of Wales, and the pair became friends.

After the princess's death in 1997, Michael attended her funeral at Westminster Abbey along with Elton John, who performed a song in the service.

Following the success of the 1980s and early 1990s, Michael's life and image became dogged by trauma and controversy. In 1997, he was arrested for a sex act in a Los Angeles public toilet, which led to him publicly admitting he was gay.

Michael was devastated when his long-term partner Anselmo Feleppa died of a brain haemorrhage in 1993. Three years later, he met Kenny Goss (pictured) and they remained together until 2009.

In 2007, he poked fun at himself by appearing in Ricky Gervais's series Extras. He played himself, telling Gervais's character Andy Millman that he was serving community service for fly-tipping with Annie Lennox.

Michael received an eight-week prison sentence in September 2010 after an incident in which he crashed his car into a shop in north London. He admitted possessing cannabis and driving under the influence of drugs.

The star had medical issues in recent years including a life-threatening bout of pneumonia in 2011 that required a long stay in hospital in Vienna. He later told the media: "They spent three weeks keeping me alive. I'm incredibly fortunate to be here."

Michael's last tour was in 2012, following an appearance at the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony (pictured). It had been reported before his death that the star had been working on a new album, 12 years after his last studio release.