George Michael Confirms Break-Up, Says Twitter Helped Him Quit Smoking

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from George Michael, so much so you can almost be forgiven for thinking first of Michael Cera on Arrested Development when his name is mentioned.

But the pop star is still very much active, playing a series of concerts- and announcing during one of the “emotional” performances that he had called it quits with long-term partner Kenny Goss. Michael seemed to abruptly announce the break-up, but claims it occurred more than two years ago. He made the admission as a lead-in to a song he’d written. “Where I Hope You Are.” The singer said:

“My battles with substances are well-documented and my partner went through similar problems with drink… The truth is my love life has been a lot more turbulent than I have let on. This is probably the first break-up song I’ve written.”

Last fall, Michael spent nearly a month in prison in Suffolk after he drunkenly crashed a car into a shopfront in North London. Although he said he didn’t love the experience, that it was “logical,” and that he felt after the incident he had to “pay a bill” to society. While the cooling-off jail time may have given the singer perspective, he also says it helped him pick up another old vice- nicotine.

However, he thinks he may have found a way to cut down again- using Twitter to replace smoke breaks. He said:

“Of course within a week, because there was barely anything else to do in there, I was back hooked on the nicotine. Now I’m trying not to smoke cigarettes – what I’ve found is tweeting gives me something to do.”

During the performance- the first on his new tour- Michael became visibly saddened when paying tribute to Amy Winehouse by performing a cover of “Love is a Losing Game.”