No Rock And Roll Fun

YOG'S GONE OFF: Of course, it could just be a thing that he's saying as he promotes his new album, but George Michael claims that Patience will be his last album, and that he intends to retire from making records. His future plan, he says, will be to put his music on the web for free, and if people want to make a small donation to charity in return, well, that would be nice. If he really is going to adopt a Women's Institute Bake sale approach, that would be absolutely astonishing - a pop star saying "I've made enough money, now I just want to make music" isn't totally unprecedented, but for one with the profile - even now - of George Michael to do it, coupled with the web's ability to let him put any music he does make straight into his audience's hands, could really shake things up.

On the other hand: he's only just signed a new record deal with Sony, and we're not ready to believe that it was phrased in such a way to let him get away with that.