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" George Michael has admitted that he no longer makes long term plans after coming close to death last year. The 49-year-old told Austria&amp;#039;s Kurier.at that after being hospitalised with life-threatening pneumonia, he has decided to live in the moment.  &amp;quot;I felt horribly guilty and sorry that my family, my friends and my new partner Fadi had to witness what I went through,&amp;quot; he explained. &amp;quot;For two or three weeks, they did not know if I&amp;#039;d survive. &amp;quot;What I have learned from coming so close to death, is that it makes no sense to plan for the future in detail. You never know what lurks around the corner.&amp;quot; The singer also defended his decision to perform his new single &amp;#039;White Light&amp;#039; at the Olympics closing ceremony.  &amp;quot;[White Light] is a celebration of my recovery... pretty much everything I do is autobiographical,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;After I had come very close to death, I knew that something good would come out musically. Many people expected me to write a ballad, but I wanted something emergent [and] positive - hence the dance beat. &amp;quot;The lyrics seemed to me especially appropriate for the occasion. Of course they play on my fight with pneumonia, but the message can also accompany one of the overarching themes of the Olympic Games, namely overcoming adversity and physical stamina.&amp;quot;  Michael confirmed that he is still working on an as-yet untitled new album, which he hopes to release next year. He also admitted that recent events have restored his sense of fallibility and made him recognise how lucky he is. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m back in the studio working very hard and love it,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;I would say this album is in terms of content somewhere between Faith and Older and is perhaps the most radio-friendly music [I&amp;#039;ve produced] for a very long time. I&amp;#039;m sure my fans will like it.&amp;quot; He added: &amp;#039;&amp;#039;When you get complacent about your talent, then it can only drift. But that is far less likely to happen if [you] realise what a privilege it is, in this business, to be talented and successful. &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Success is something that slips away easily after a while. And not only the success but also the healthy self-doubt that [pushes you] to keep trying to be even better. On the day that I&amp;#039;m not worried about that anymore, I should stop [making music]... But I&amp;#039;m still here and my new single suggests somehow that I&amp;#039;m not ready to surrender.&amp;quot; Michael is currently performing shows across Europe as part of his &amp;#039;Symphonica&amp;#039; tour. He recently invited staff who monitored his recovery from pneumonia to a concert in Vienna that he had been forced to cancel after falling ill. Watch the video for George Michael&amp;#039;s latest single &amp;#039;White Light&amp;#039; below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a404662/george-michael-i-no-longer-plan-for-the-future/>