George wows fans on first tour date

from The Press Assoc.

George Michael wowed fans on the first date of his tour - and spoken of his troubled past.

Accompanied by a symphony orchestra, the star played a sell-out concert at the Prague State Opera House.

The intimate venue provided the backdrop for covers of My Baby Just Cares For Me and True Faith, the New Order classic which Michael recorded earlier this year for Comic Relief.

To loud cheers, Michael performed songs from his almost 30-year career, including Kissing a Fool and It Really Doesn't Matter, which he has never sung live before.

Michael welcomed the audience to "a very different evening with George Michael".

And he referred to his use of cannabis in the past, saying he once passed out on the phone to singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright while congratulating him on a new song.

"I was puffing and I passed out on the phone," he said, adding jokily: "I have no idea how that conversation ended."

There are currently 65 shows on the European leg of Symphonica - The Orchestral Tour, with 19 dates scheduled for Britain.

The first nine weeks will see him take in Spain, Germany, Italy and France before hitting British soil on October 25 for a performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

In the interview for the tour programme, the former Wham! star spoke of getting into trouble with the law, saying he deserved to be jailed last year for crashing his Range Rover after taking cannabis.