George Michael’s late sister Melanie Panayiotou left just $7.2M despite inheriting bulk of brother's fortune
HAMPSTEAD, LONDON: After dying without a will pop star, George Michael's sister left only $7.2 million (£6 million). Melanie Panayiotou, the music legend's older sister, was supposed to have received the most of his $117 million (£97 million) wealth. Melanie, a hairdresser, died on Christmas Day 2019 at the age of 59, precisely three years after George died on Christmas Day in 2016. Yioda, 63, located her at their late brother's property in Highgate, North London. Last Monday, November 28 the family received official probate from London's High Court.
Panayiotou, who never married and had no children, was confirmed to have died after falling into a diabetic coma while suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a serious condition when the body produces high levels of blood acids called ketones. It was only after seven months the confirmation came as many suggested that she had died of a broken heart. Following George Michael's death at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, in 2016, his sister Panayiotou shared the $117 million fortune left in his will with older sister Yioda.
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Her brother's untimely death, who publicized battle with drugs and alcohol, had broken Panayiotou's heart and she was in desperate pain as she failed to prevent him from being consumed by his demons, and she had become a recluse in her final years, the Daily Mail reported. Like her brother, she was devastated by the death of their mother Lesley in 1997. Panayiotou at the time of her death was to be buried alongside her brother's unmarked grave at Highgate Cemetery, where the late siblings' mother is also buried. Their father, Kyriacos 'Jack' Panayiotou, is still alive, along with his older sister Yioda.
A report said that Panayiota would be getting a headstone, unlike her brother, as the family did not want it to become a place for his fans to flock. Following Michael's demise in 2016, his two sisters and cousin Alex Georgiou got into a fight over his estate with the singer's boyfriend, 49-year-old Fadi Fawaz.
On December 25, 2016, Fawaz, 49, was the one who found the body and he based himself in his $6.3 million (£5 million) mews house in Regent's Park, central London. However, Fawaz received nothing from Michael, whose true name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, in his $116 million (£96.7 million) bequest. Fawaz posted a video of himself on Instagram in February 2021 raving about how much he enjoys taking crystal meth, a Class A narcotic. He received a £420 punishment in October 2021 for spray-painting a historic London church.
James Gavin in the biography revealed the late singer’s usual routine in his final years, according to Page Six. Gavin wrote, “He slept until mid-afternoon then stayed high on pot for almost every waking moment,” adding, “He sat at his computer playing video games, binge-watched TV, arranged GHB-fueled trysts and took midnight joints to [Hampstead] Heath” (one of the most notable gay cruising areas in Europe). According to reports, the “date rape” drug GHB made the singer crave fatty food which led to his weight gain and ultimately causing liver disease.