Fame Academy star Gary Phelan has died on the age of 42.
The BBC star rose to fame in the course of the second season of the expertise present, which was topped Alex Park.
In response to tributes on social media, Phelan died final month in Dubai.
The reason for loss of life has not but been decided, however a JustGiving web page has been set as much as assist his household carry his physique house.
A buddy wrote the next in reminiscence: 'Relaxation in peace Gary Phelan, my outdated music brother.
'We had a good time collectively after we had been twenty.
'I performed bass for him for five years. He took me on tour across the UK and recorded in high studios.
'We partied, performed and labored actually laborious.
“Gary opened up a complete new world for me, musically and professionally. We shared some distinctive moments collectively. I’ll at all times be grateful to him.”
The message mentioned that Phelan's household had been “desperately making an attempt to get him house from Dubai, which is costing a major sum of money,” and included a hyperlink to the donation web page.
Simon Hanning, Phelan's former supervisor, additionally paid tribute on Fb: 'I’m so unhappy to share the tragic information that my buddy, buddy and artist I managed, Gary Phelan, was discovered lifeless in his residence in Dubai over the weekend.
'I’m deeply shocked and nonetheless can not specific how this information has affected his household and pals.
'He was beloved by so many individuals and I already miss our conversations, the instances he would ship me his newest track he had written and the final jokes we had.
“We did some wonderful issues collectively, he was the whole lot you could possibly need in a buddy. I'm actually heartbroken.”
An replace on the JustGiving web page as we speak confirms that Phelan's physique was returned to the UK final weekend, after greater than £11,000 was raised.
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Phelan was the fourth singer to be dropped from the Fame Academy in 2003. After competing within the actuality competitors, he went on to document new music and tour the nation, earlier than lately transferring to Dubai.
Earlier this 12 months, he carried out on the What's On Dubai Awards and usually shared updates from his reveals on his Instagram web page.
His final publish was in July, when he shared 4 performances that week at an Irish pub in Abu Dhabi, McCafferty's Yas Island and celebrated the European Championship remaining: 'I believe there is likely to be some soccer within the pipeline 🤪 – Come on England.'
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