George Michael resumes the Symphonica tour in Vienna tonight. Ten months ago, George was forced to postpone the remainder of the tour when he caught pneumonia and nearly died.
Austrian media reported that 300 hospital staff – from doctors to cleaning crews – will attend Tuesday evening’s show. With his permission, the hospital is selling another 700 concert tickets he donated to raise money for lung disease research.
George Michael posted on Twitter:
Hey everyone, it’s that time again! And I get to open the tour singing to the men and women who saved my life. And it’s a beautiful day!
Hey everyone, it's that time again! And I get to open the tour singing to the men and women who saved my life'
George Michael has been getting some criticism about performing his new single, “White Light,” at the closing ceremonies for the Olympics. The media is having a field day with this.
For a man that nearly died and had a tracheotomy that could have destroyed his singing career, it was awesome to watch him perform in front of a worldwide audience for the first time after his near-death experience. I am only saddened that those of us in the U.S. watching the closing ceremony on NBC were not able to see the triumphant return of George Michael singing such a positive, life-affirming song … “White Light.”
Here is what George Michael told his Twitter audience today:
Morning everyone! Had a GREAT time at the closing! I hope you are not bothered by the press reports of my scandalous ‘promotion’ !!!
Please join me in telling them to fuck off ! It was my one chance on tv to thank you all for your loyalty and prayers, and I took it. X
And I don’t regret it. Xxxx
Morning everyone! Had a GREAT time at the closing! I hope you are not bothered by the press reports of my scandalous 'promotion' !!!
A spokesperson for George Michael said he chose “White Light” because the lyrics address his battle with pneumonia, and he thought the message of overcoming adversity fit the Olympic theme.
“White Light is about the fact he nearly died last year,” said the spokesperson. “It’s the first song he wrote after it all happened and he wanted to perform it for fans as a celebration that he’s alive. It seemed quite appropriate.
“He doesn’t need to plug his new single — it was just nice for him to sing it. It’s a bit of a shame that it’s got this response because he was so excited to perform it.”
Organisers defended the choice of song choice, which they described as a “collaboration” between Michael and Kim Gavin, the artistic director of the closing ceremony. “One of the themes of the ceremony was endurance and physical endeavour, and Kim decided this song was appropriate,” said a spokesperson.
… as the chorus suggests it wasn’t my time to see that light, so thank goodness for that. What’s strange, though, is that so many people were expecting me to write a ballad about the whole experience. But I thought, how morbid would that be? I wanted the song to be a complete celebration of my surviving it.
Pneumonia
The doctors told me that I’d had untreated pneumonia for like three or four weeks and I’d been singing and doing five shows a week as my lungs slowly filled up with fluid. But strangely enough during all that time I’d actually felt fine.
Audience
My audiences are amazing. I can sort of feel their love and gratitude when I’m on stage. On this particular tour I was pretty impressed that they were so patient with the fact that often I was singing numbers they’d probably never heard of, rather than just my own songs.
Twitter
It’s lovely for me to read all the messages that people post because they’re generally very positive.
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As reported previously, George Michael will be performing in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London, England. The closing ceremony will be on August 12, 2012, at 9 p.m. BST (UK Time) or 2 p.m. EST.
George Michael told his Twitter followers today:
“Hey everyone, how are you. Spending most of the next week rehearsing like crazy for the Olympic closing ceremony…
Obviously a bit nervous not having played for nearly a year, but rehearsals sounding great so far!”
Hey everyone, how are you. Spending most of the next week rehearsing like crazy for the Olympic closing ceremony…..
The title of the ceremony is “A Symphony of British Music.” It will focus on the huge impact that Britain has had in music and will include some of today’s most well-known entertainers.
