News of George Michael battling a severe bout of pneumonia in a Vienna hospital zipped through the tendrils of social networking sites late Monday, early Tuesday morning, with comments reflecting sadness and shock.
In their comments, fans dreaded the possible demise of another '80s pop icon (though no official statements stated that the star was indeed dying).
The 48-year-old British singer fell ill late last week while on the European leg of his Symphonica tour, and all remaining dates have been called off. No statements have been released yet on his condition as of this writing (early Tuesday morning). Michael's immediate family and partner are by his side keeping vigil at Allgemeines Krankenhaus Wien Hospital (AKH), and he will require months of recovery and suffer potentially permanent damage to his vocal cords if he pulls through.
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2011.