George Michael Latest: Mother Feared ‘Gay Gene,’ Family Suicides ‘Haunted’ Pop Icon

As the world continues to mourn the sudden death of pop music icon George Michael, more details about the 53-year-old’s personal life and how it may have come about have surfaced. Michael, who was found dead on Dec. 25, was reportedly afraid suicides by members of his immediate family would be premonitions of his own demise, the Daily Mirror reported Thursday.

Citing death by suicide of his uncle Colin on Michael’s birthday in 1963 and the subsequent suicide of his grandfather, the report states Michael purposely hid his homosexuality from his mother, who feared he had inherited the “gay gene.” Michael’s uncle was believed to be closeted, according to The Mirror.

“My mother had this fear of me being gay,” Michael said in an interview in 2007. “She had this definite fear that I was going to be like her brother. She thought it meant I wouldn’t cope with life.”

During the final six years of his life, Michael did find himself in potentially fatal car accidents and dealt with substance abuse problems. In 2010 he crashed his Range Rover into a local shop near his home in Hampstead, north London, and received an eight-week jail sentence for driving under the influence of drugs. Three years later he reportedly suffered head injuries after falling out of a car on a highway. Michael claimed he was “checking the door” of the car.

Michael’s cause of death has yet be revealed, and his family recently issued a joint statement Sunday saying they would not comment on Michael’s passing.

“In the week since his tragic death there has been much comment and speculation concerning George and the circumstances surrounding his death,” the statement to BuzzFeed News read. “There will inevitably be more in the future. The family remain devastated by his passing and have no wish to comment in relation to any such speculation, whether current or in the future.”