You Gotta Have Faith

After a 17 year absence (at least from the touring circuit and not from the tabloids - hey-o!) George Michael is finally returning to North America -- and in a big way. His massively successful 25 Live tour, which saw the former Wham! star perform more than 80 shows before 1.3 million fans in 12 countries will hit U.S. arenas this summer starting June 17 in San Diego. The show will come to the United Center on July 9 (but shows may be added depending on ticket sales -- there's a few days open on either side of the announced date) and go on sale Saturday, April 5 at 11 a.m. CST. Tickets range from $65 (nosebleeds) to $250, where if you're lucky George may sweat on you. Come to think of it, that may not be so lucky.

Also, on April 1, George will release his greatest hits collection, Twenty-Five, which will feature all of his hits plus new songs featuring collaborations with Paul McCartney and Mary J. Blige.

It's no big surprise that George could sell out the arenas throughout Europe and set ticket sales records (he sold more than 50,000 tickets in minutes for his shows at Copenhagen's Parken Stadium) but can he replicate that in the U.S., where is biggest hit was "Faith" and most people stopped paying attention to him after his video for "Freedom" featured the hottest supermodels at the time?

Is it too early to camp out in line?