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| George Michael |
Currently touring the United States to promote his greatest hits album—a twenty-five year anniversary package aimed at reintroducing himself to the American audience—George Michael sat down with Good Morning America’s Chris Cuomo this morning to talk about losing his lover to AIDS, his ongoing battle with drugs and that public gay sex arrest.
Citing an ongoing bout with depression, Michael, who is known for taking multiple years between recording albums of original material, says in retrospect he thinks his arrest for public sex in that Beverly Hills bathroom was something he did deliberately.
“It was depression and shock that just went on for years… and then of course I got myself arrested,” Michael says of the 1998 arrest that essentially outed him to the world. “It was a huge relief, and it took me about a year to admit to myself that I’d done it deliberately.”
The arrest and subsequent outing followed the loss of his lover to AIDS and the death of his mother, leading Michael to question if he was cursed and doomed to lose those closest to him, the interview on GMA ponders.
The drug use that followed—including two arrests in 2006 for driving under the influence of prescription drugs—is no longer an issue, Michael says, adding that he felt having his license revoked was a fitting punishment that taught him a lesson.
Michael credits the decision to tour this year with finally and ultimately saving him from himself… a way to get back on the road and thank fans for bearing with him all these years, he says. More than a decade after having a number one hit stateside, Michael’s tour has sold out venues across the country.
