Singer George Michael was discharged from a hospital in Vienna early on Thursday (December 22, 2011) after spending several weeks receiving treatment for severe pneumonia, according to the Austrian newspaper Oesterreich.
The report, found on the publication's website, claims the former Wham! frontman walked out of the hospital into a waiting limousine and was taken straight to the airport where he planned to catch a flight home to London. A spokeswoman for the Vienna General Hospital declined to comment on the report, instead referring questions to the singer's public relations agency - the original report cited hospital staff as saying, "He will be able to celebrate Christmas at home in London". The singer had been performing on his well-reviewed Symphonica tour in Europe when he fell ill with a serious case of pneumonia. His doctors Gottfried Locker and Christopoh Zielinski had previously stated George's condition was improving, telling the Press Association in a statement, "We are happy to announce that Mr Michael is improving steadily with an impressive regression of pneumonic symptoms and follows a steady rate of improvement as hoped". Following his hospitalization, the stricken singer was forced to cancel the remaining dates on his tour, including sold-out concerts in Manchester, Sheffield and London - the shows are likely to be re-scheduled for 2012.
The Grammy Award winner has reportedly sold 100 million albums worldwide and has a personal fortune of around $140 million.