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.
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
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.
George Michael has been doing quite a few interviews this week. George Michael’s interview with London’s LBC radio station is available here. Below is a quick recap of some of the things he has been talking about.
His Mum
George Michael revealed his mom encouraged him to fight for his life while he was in the hospital with pneumonia, he said during an interview for UK TV show Lorraine.
“I would like to focus on the fantastic good fortune I had in dodging the bullet, as it were,” he said. “In that strange place between life and death I was definitely feeling my mother kind of basically saying, ‘Don’t you dare come and meet me yet, I am not ready and you are not ready.'”
George explained why Kate Moss was his choice for the woman who saves his life in the “White Light” video.
“I wanted someone who would represent the most beautiful woman in the world,” he said. “and as far as I am concerned that is how I remember my mother, as being the most beautiful woman in the world. In a strange way, Kate represents my mother, you know.
“White Light is my way of thanking fate and my fans all at once, I suppose.”
Rupert Murdoch
George Michael talked about Rupert Murdoch, saying: “I’m delighted that the man has lived long enough to see what’s happened because I’ve actually been on Murdoch Watch since I was about 19, honestly, watching this man, believing he was truly the most evil character on the planet, and that he had worked his way through the media to become the most powerful yet unelected man in the world.”
Madonna
On London’s Heart 106.2 on Thursday, George Michael said of his first meeting with Madonna: “I will tell you the first time we ever met, we were both in this club in L.A. and it was very like being at the school canteen.
“Basically somebody came over to my table and said ‘Madonna would really like to meet you’… (I thought) that’d be nice, cheeky cow. I proceeded to follow this woman over to Madonna’s table where she was talking to Kevin Bacon at the time and I stood there and she just ignored me, which is kind of what you do at school when you fancy someone isn’t it? You pretend not to like them.
“She didn’t try to seduce me, no… I didn’t stand there for very long!”
Musical
George Michael revealed his dream of making his songs into a stage show during his interview with London’s Heart 106.2 radio station, and told listeners he is looking for a “good writer” to collaborate with on a musical.
He says, “I’m considering it right now actually, for the first time ever. I don’t know if it’s related to what I went through last year, but I’m considering it for the first time, handing my material over to some very good writer and finding a great storyline because so many people want it and it’s obviously a no-brainer in terms of whether I think it would do well.
“It would be a George Michael catalog and it would include a couple of Wham! things.”
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
George Michael revealed during his interview with Chris Evans on the BBC that he will release a new CD of new material this autumn.
Although he had planned to release a CD of songs from the Symphonica tour, he changed his mind when he realized how much material he had already written. The new CD will be his first studio CD since Patience in 2004.
“Work dragged me out of my malaise,” George Michael told Chris Evans this morning. “When I wrote ‘White Light’, I realized I had the energy to finish an album this summer.
“I had planned on putting out a ‘Symphonica’ album this year, because I felt so bad for those people who were looking forward [to the axed tour due to illness].
“I already mixed most of that album, then I wrote ‘White Light’ unexpectedly. Muse, bless their hearts, they gave us this couple of weeks in the studio I always use. They went somewhere else.”
He continued: “I realized how many songs I had lying around [from when I came out of prison]. I realized that if I really put my back into it that I could get an album out for autumn and give people a new record a year earlier than expected.”
Of his new album, he said: “So far I’m thrilled with it. It’s the most directly commercial record I’ve made since Faith. It’s not necessarily my best, I think that Older is my favorite record.
“But the songs I’ve written in the last 20 years haven’t slapped you in the face with their hooks.”
He added: “I’m always terrified that people won’t think it’s as good as I do, but if I didn’t have that approach I wouldn’t do what I do.”
George Michael was interviewed by Chris Evans of BBC Radio 2 this morning. The interview is available for download here.
In the interview, George Michael talks about his near-death experience last year. He also talks about his plans to release a new studio album next fall, and he has been working seven days a week to get the album done in time. In addition, he talks about the new video and Kate Moss. And he also talks about his view on God.
If you’d like to read more about the interview and the video release of “White Light,” check out these articles:
George Michael’s “White Light” video premieres today.
The MP3 for “White Light” is currently available from Amazon and iTunes. (Thanks, Alan!)
“White Light” will be released on August 13, 2012, in the UK. It is available from Amazon.co.uk. The import single for “White Light” will be available on August 21, 2012, from Amazon.com.
The CD contains:
White Light
Song to Siren
White Light – Voodoo Sonics Remix
White Light – Kinky Roland Mix
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
George Michael has released a trailer for “White Light,” his newest single. The video was completed today and will be released online on Tuesday, July, 17. The video includes Kate Moss, and George told his Twitter followers, “Oh and by the way, in the video, a certain supermodel (our Kate) saves my life.”
“White Light” has four new remixes, all of which are available on George Michael’s YouTube channel.
In case you missed the premiere of “White Light” on Heart this morning, you can catch the lyric video of “White Light.” The actual video has not been released yet.
George Michael has also posted a photo from the video on Twitter and Facebook, along with this comment:
Hey everybody "White Light " goes to radio on Friday, which is the 30th anniversary of Wham's first chart entry at 105 pic.twitter.com/5Cx0ZFBb
Hey everybody “White Light ” goes to radio on Friday, which is the 30th anniversary of Wham’s first chart entry at 105 pic.twitter.com/5Cx0ZFBb
George Michael on Twitter on June 26, 2012
“White Light” will be available on Aegean Records through Island/Universal on August 12, 2012. It was written, arranged, and produced by George Michael The track listing is as follows:
1. White Light 2. Song to the Siren 3. White Light – Voodoo Sonics Remix 4. White Light – Kinky Roland Remix
Make sure to follow Yours Only George on Facebook and X, and join our mailing list for the latest news on George Michael.
In celebration of George Michael’s 49th birthday, I have set up a Facebook page for Yours Only George. You can find the page at http://www.facebook.com/yogworld and follow the latest news on George Michael though your Facebook account. Please spread the word about the new page to any of your George Michael friends.
Yours Only George also has a Twitter account with nearly 400 followers. The Twitter account, in case you missed it, is available at http://twitter.com/yogworld.
Is there any interest in a Google+ or any other social media page?
Today, a spokesman for George Michael has issued a statement saying that no such reunion is being planned. ‘I wish I could say it was true but these are just rumours. George is touring on his own and he is releasing an album. Yes, this is a denial.’
The Hollywood Reporter is also reporting:
Michael’s longtime manager tells The Hollywood Reporter that the rumor is just that and there is “no truth” to the story.
The Mirror is saying that George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley are planning a “one-off pop extravaganza” to mark the 30th anniversary of their first hit, “Wham Rap.”
If you’ve been following George Michael for any length of time, you know that the Wham! reunion story comes around every few years and nothing comes of it. This story is probably a spinoff from George Michael’s comments yesterday about his new song “White Light” premiering on British radio on June 29, 2012, which is 30 years to the day when “Wham Rap” premiered on the British charts.
Still, the Mirror is saying:
“They probably won’t do a long tour or release new material like Take That but they do want to commemorate the event with a big gig… and an even bigger party afterwards!
“Things are still in the early stages but everybody is getting really excited about it.”
George Michael will be releasing “White Light” to radio on June 29, 2012,—30 years to the day that “Wham Rap” entered the British Charts.
George said:
Most of my fans realise that I dreamed of a career as a singer/songwriter from an early age, but never in my wildest imaginings could I have known that I would still be here thirty years later, healthy, happy, and feeling that I still have so much more music to give. It is miraculous in so many ways. Fate has been so kind to me, as have the millions of people that that have bought records and come to see me play year after year since 1982.
George’s entire statement is available at the official site.
“White Light” will be available on Aegean Records through Island/Universal on August 12, 2012. It was written, arranged, and produced by George Michael The track listing is as follows:
1. White Light 2. Song to the Siren 3. White Light – Voodoo Sonics Remix 4. White Light – Kinky Roland Remix
More news on the new George Michael video, most likely for “White Light,” the song about George’s near-death experience, is available, but of course not on George’s Twitter account.
The Daily Mail has a number of new photos from the video shoot, as well as additional information.
In one scene George appears to be shot by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and is seen falling to the ground.
George tried to keep warm with a big coat and a hot drink between takes. He was also with Fadi Fawaz on set.
According to the Daily Mail, George appeared to get very emotional and even tearful as the painful memories came flooding back.
As reported previously, George Michael has been working on a new video, possibly for the song “White Light.” George was shooting the promo in Canary Wharf in London this weekend.
According to the Sun, a zebra kept interrupting the shoot:
A source said: “The animal had the crew mesmerised as it kept walking into all the lights and cameras.
“It was a little bit spooked by the wind and had to be calmed down.
“George was shooting scenes with actors dressed up as policeman, but even that didn’t divert attention from the animal.”
” is currently available from Amazon and iTunes. (Thanks, Alan!)