George Michael will pay his "respects" to his late pal Dame Elizabeth Taylor by dedicating one of his London concerts to the Hollywood actress later this year (11).
The British singer announced a set of European dates for his Symphonica: The Orchestral Tour on Wednesday (11May11), his first live shows in three years.
Michael is planning to use his gig at London's iconic Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in November (11) to help raise funds for Taylor's Aids Foundation and honour her memory following her death in March (11).
He tells WENN at a press conference, "At the moment there are four opera houses booked - two of them will be for charity. The one here in the Opera House here in Covent Garden will be for charity and hopefully in honour of Elizabeth Taylor and making some contributions to her foundation... I knew her and she was such a wonderful lady and she worked so tirelessly and completely selflessly. I'd like to pay my respects in some way."
Michael also reveals he will also be working with France's First Lady and former model, Carla Bruni, to raise funds for an Aids charity she works closely with.
He adds, "She's a spokesperson for an amazing charity called (Born Hiv Free) and it seems to be stunning statistics, but she assures me they're true, but because the French take care of people in terms of health - it's so much better than other nations, including ourselves (Britain) - there were only two babies registered in France last year that were born with Hiv... That's because of a massive treatment plan which, when I heard about this charity, I was blown away by how logical it was and how many lives it was saving and how easily it could be done. So I immediately was interested in trying to associate the Parisian Opera House show with her charity."
Michael will play at the Palais Garnier in Paris, France next April (12) and the show will mark the end of the first leg of his tour.