'Great to be alive' Michael is back

Chart star George Michael declared it was “great to be alive” as he made a triumphant return to the stage in Vienna after fighting for his life ten months earlier.

The 49-year-old, who performed at the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony, resumed his previously postponed Symphonica tour in Austria, where he spent weeks in hospital battling pneumonia last November.

Thousands of fans packed the Stadthalle Wien as the singer, whose real name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, took to the stage in a purple suit and his trademark sunglasses.

Tonight’s show – for which Michael has donated 1,000 tickets to the medical staff, as a thank you gift for saving his life – is the first of a number of rescheduled dates around Europe, including Paris and UK cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and London.