THE GUARDIAN

Jenny Booth
Thursday March 11, 2004
The Guardian

How much money is enough? The singer George Michael thinks that he has reached the magic figure, whatever it is.

The reclusive 40-year-old star has announced that his new album, Patience, his first album of original songs for eight years, will be the last he makes for sale through record shops, because he doesn't need the cash and is sick of the pressures of staying famous.

Any future songs he writes and records will be shared with everyone free on the internet. Fans will be invited to make an online donation, which he will pass on to charity.

"I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years so I really don't need the public's money," said George Michael, in an interview with the DJ Jo Whiley on Radio 1.

"I'd really like to have something on the internet with charitable donation optional, where anyone can download my music for free. I'll have my favourite charities up there and people will hopefully contribute to that."

The singer said he thought that his decision was unprecedented for a commercial star, but that it made sense to him.

"It takes the pressure off to have a collection of songs every so many years, which is what nearly killed me.

"I'm not pretending I won't be famous any more, but ... if you take yourself out of the financial aspect of things, ie you're not in anybody's chart, you're not making anybody any money, you're not losing anybody any money - believe me, I'll be of very little interest to the press in a certain number of years."

George Michael has always had a troubled relationship with celebrity. He launched a long and costly legal battle against his record company, Sony, accusing it of treating him like a "pop slave".

His private life has also been painfully rehearsed in public, culminating in 1998 with his arrest for exposing himself in a men's toilet in Los Angeles.

The last song on the new album runs: "I think it's over/See, everything has changed/And all this hatred may just make me strong enough/To walk away."

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