Charity Way to Go-Go for George Michael



LONDON - Pop singer George Michael's career has made him so wealthy he wants to donate all the money raised from any of his future releases to charity.





The singer's new album "Patience" will be the last fans can buy in record shops -- in future if they want to listen to his new songs Michael wants them to download them from the Internet and make a charitable donation.



"I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years so I really don't need the public's money," he told BBC Radio 1 on Wednesday.



"I'd really like to have something on the Internet which is a charitable donation optional site, where anyone can download my music for free. I'll have my favorite charities up there and people will hopefully contribute to that."



The singer, who in a career spanning nearly two decades has sold more than 75 million records, hopes his decision will also help reinvigorate his life.



"It takes the pressure off to have a collection of songs every so many years, which is what nearly killed me.



"I'm not pretending I won't be famous any more, but in the modern world if you take yourself out of the financial aspect of things, you're not making anybody any money, you're not losing anybody any money.



"Believe me, I'll be of very little interest to the press in a certain number of years."



Michael shot to fame in the early 1980s with Wham! In 1998 the singer was fined for lewd conduct after being arrested in a public toilet -- an event that prompted him to acknowledge publicly that he was gay.