According to an AP report, pop singer George Michael told a Prague concert audience that he and long-time partner Kenny Goss — who established the Goss-Michael Foundation gallery in Dallas — have broken up. Michael — who has crashed a car while high on drugs — gave Goss’s “addiction to alcohol” as the reason. “This man has brought me a lot of joy and a lot of pain,’ Michael said.
The report appeared shortly after the Dallas Morning News profiled Goss as part of its ‘Dossier Dallas’ series. That story has since been pulled offline.
The AP story follows:
PRAGUE — George Michael made an emotional and introspective return to the stage on Monday, admitting mid-performance he’d split with long-term partner Kenny Goss and recalling his own troubled past with drugs.
The 48-year-old singer _ appearing at the Prague State Opera House on the opening night of his “Symphonica” tour _ told the audience: “Kenny and I haven’t been together for two and a half years … It’s time to be honest.”
The former Wham! singer had previously denied allegations he and Goss had separated.
“My love life has has been a lot more turbulent than I’ve let on,” he said, dedicating a new song “Where I hope you are” to Goss.
“This man has brought me a lot of joy and a lot of pain,” he said, his voice breaking up, referring to Goss’s alcohol addiction following the death of his parents as well as his own drug habit which landed him in jail last year.
The former Wham! star has scheduled 195 concerts across Europe. In a departure from his traditional style, he is being supported by a symphony orchestra as he sings some of his famous tracks in a more mellow, adapted fashion as well as a selection of covers from his favorite artists.
On Monday, he sang to a sell-out audience at the opulent opera house in Prague, combining tracks like “Kissing a Fool” and “It Really Doesn’t Matter” with “My Baby Just Cares For Me” and New Order‘s “True Faith.”
He referred to his troubled past with cannabis, describing how he once passed out while talking on the phone with singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright while congratulating him on a new song.
“I was puffing and I passed out on the phone,” he said, acknowledging dread at the thought he might one day find out how the conversation ended.
In the tour program, he said he deserved to be jailed in 2010 for crashing his car into a photo shop in London. Police found him slumped over the steering wheel, high on drugs.
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