George Michael sets recovery date

Los Angeles - George Michael is hoping his voice will be in good enough condition for him to sing again in September.

The Faith hitmaker - who came close to death last year after battling the life-threatening illness pneumonia - took to his Twitter account during a holiday in the Southern Hemisphere with boyfriend Fadi Fawaz to reveal he is "slowly recovering" and has set a date for his recovery.

In a series of tweets, George - who was forced to cancel a number of dates of his Symphonica European tour when he was struck by the illness last year - wrote: "Hi boyz n gelz, still enjoying a little time in the southern hemisphere, voice is slowly recovering, spent the afternoon writing in the sun."

Brand new tracks

"realistically I can't see my vocal cords being being ready till the summer, but then I have to think about people losing out if ....

"they are on their summer hols. So September seems the most likely. Sorry about that everyone. Rest assured I will use the time wisely...

"As in... working on improving the show, mixing the live tracks, finishing brand new tracks! (sic)".

The 48-year-old openly homosexual singer - who recently blasted a US Christian group who prayed for him to die - admitted his illness was a "bastard thing" to deal with, but he has put it down to being "God's little joke".

He tweeted: "Pneumonia may have been a bastard thing to go thru, but normally when I suffer you guys benefit somehow, don't you think :)

"That's just how it goes in GM world. God's little joke. Long may it continue :) (sic)"