George Michael Hit With Health Woes Again
Singer remains hospitalized, but sources say he's getting "better and better."
Nov. 29, 2011 — -- Things are on the up and up for George Michael. A source close to the British pop singer told ABCNews.com that after Michael was hospitalized in Vienna with pneumonia, he is "getting better and better."
But not well enough to get back on the road. Michael postponed the remainder of his 2011 tour dates on Friday after he was admitted to the hospital on Nov. 21. Despite reports that his health problems could be even more serious than pneumonia, his publicist maintains, "any other speculation regarding his illness is unfounded and untrue. He is receiving excellent medical care. He is responding to treatment and slowly improving."
He's been here before. The former Wham! frontman has sought treatment more than a few times, a result of failing health and substance abuse.
-- Michael actually attributes his stardom to an injury. In a 2007 interview with BBC Radio, he said that his decision to pursue a singing career happened after he had "quite a bad bang" of a head injury at age 8. "I had it stitched up and stuff, but all my interests changed, everything changed in six months," he said. "I had been obsessed with insects and creepy crawlies. … Suddenly, all I wanted to know about was music. It just seemed a very, very strange thing."
-- The next time he needed treatment was more grave. In August 2010, he announced on his website that he'd checked into a "detox program" after getting arrested for crashing his car into a building while under the influence. "On the day after the incident I checked into a clinic for a 14-day detox program here in London, which has been followed by ongoing outpatient drug counseling several times a week. Personal problems which I had tried to deal with myself had clearly got the better of me, and I am sorry that my pride has prevented me from seeking help before now."
Before that incident, Michael had twice been arrested for drug possession twice and once for driving while under the influence of drugs. In 2007, he told the BBC that he didn't consider his marijuana habit was "getting in the way of my life in any way."
-- In October 2010, Michael went to rehab again after spending four weeks in jail in connection with his drug-fueled car wreck. "I want to beat my drug addiction and lead a normal life," he told reporters assembled in front of England's Highpoint Prison, according to The Sun. ""I don't want to end up back in prison. It's a very horrible place to be."
-- He may have quashed his drug demons. But health problems continue to plague the 48-year-old singer. On Oct. 26, Michael canceled a performance at London's Royal Albert Hall because of a viral infection and a high temperature, according to a statement on his website. Less than a month later, he landed in the hospital with pneumonia and postponed the remainder of his European tour.
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