Will Young’s twin brother Rupert has died at the age of 41

The spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that Will’s brother has very sadly passed away. We would like to request privacy for Will and his family during this very difficult and sad time."

A friend of the family added to The Sun newspaper: “Will’s relationship with Rupert had been tough over the years at times, and they had both spoken about the mental health problems which had made it challenging.

“But there were hopes he had turned a corner and they are a very loving family - and utterly devastated by his passing.”

The ‘Leave Right Now’ hitmaker, also 41, is yet to comment on the devastating news, but had previously explained his brother’s battle with substance abuse had caused his family to “step away” until he got help.

He once said: "It was the family stepping away that actually got him better.

"It's very tough having a family member who is an addict. But when you're dealing with that you eventually have to just stop and look after yourself.

"Me, my parents, my older sister, everyone. We all just had to walk away. We had to leave him."

Will had said it was “very tricky” trying to deal with his brother’s struggles, and ended up throwing himself into his work so it wouldn’t “get on top” of him.

He added: "There was a moment I remember, when I had to go to some awards thing. I had an album out, I was in a film and I was having a great time professionally.

"I had to drive past the train station, and I knew that he'd been there for a day, just drinking.

"But I knew I had to leave him alone. That was tough, of course it was, but you have to get on.

"And in that respect being so involved in work was a great thing.

"Otherwise I would have just stopped and it would have got on top of me much more.

"It was very tricky."