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.
George Michael's ex-boyfriend Fadi Fawaz has added to the confusion around the superstar's death.
One UK paper has now quoted friends of the singer calling Fawaz a "leech" who had actually been dumped by the singer 18 months ago.
The Queensland-born hairstylist has been making conflicting statements about George Michael'sdeath.
Fawaz initially said he had stayed at the superstar's house the night his body was found.
He has now changed his story to state he had slept in his car that night and arrived at Michael's country house to find the singer had died alone.
"I never saw him. I fell asleep in my car and I never saw him that night," Fawaz told UK paper the Mirror. "The police know everything. That's the most important thing."
Last week Fawaz was quoted by the same paper saying: "I stayed the whole weekend. I was there Friday night and then I found him Sunday."
It followed a series of alarming tweets on Fawaz's page declaring the superstar singer "wanted to die" and that his surprise death was actually a suicide.
Fawaz stated his Twitter page was hacked, denied he had posted them and promptly closed the entire account.
Now another UK paper, The Sun, has quoted an anonymous source saying Fawaz was a "leech" and had broken up with Michael 18 months ago.
"Fadi was a leech from the beginning," the source claimed.
"George realised this but I think he deliberately ignored it. He was grateful of the company. George relied on Fadi for many things.
"But they had been estranged for 18 months. Within hours of discovering his body, posts appeared on his Twitter account, and then within 12 hours he sold his story. Does this sound like a grieving partner?"
Fawaz is reportedly being interviewed by UK police over the death, which has been ruled to be 'unexplained', with more autopsy reports to come.
Fawaz and Michael had spent time together in Sydney, first stopped in February 2012.
The pair are believed to have started dating around 2009.
Little is known about Fawaz, whose age has been cited as 40, 43 and 46 in stories in the last week.
As well as a hairstylist to stars including Naomi Robson and Emily Blunt, he is also a photographer and has pictures, including self-portraits, on his Flickr site.
Michael previously dated American Kenny Goss from 1996 until 2009 and Brazilian Anselmo Feleppa from 1991 until he passed away in 1993.
