Private Gigs For The Super-Rich

Newspaper reports suggest George Michael has a recession-busting plan, as his latest accounts are said to show he made £48.5 million ($69.3 million) in a couple of years.

Rather than coming from 50-date runs at London O2 or perpetual global touring, much of the money was earned doing private gigs for the super-rich.

“I’m Your Man,” he must have sung when learning that Russian nickel magnate Vladimir Potanin had £1.5 million to pay an act to perform at a New Year’s Eve party and retail billionaire Sir Philip Green had about the same to spend on entertainment at his 55th birthday party.

He’s said to have performed a dozen songs at each show, which works out at an hourly rate of about £1.5 million.

He’s obviously got his costs, but Potanin is believed to have flown the drug-troubled singer and his 40-strong entourage to Moscow in a private jet, while Green laid on similar transport to get them to the Cayman Islands.