George Michael announces N. American tour

NEW YORK, March 24 (UPI) -- British pop star George Michael is planning to kick off his first North American concert tour in 17 years this summer, his representatives announced Monday.

Michael performed 80 shows in Europe attended by an estimated 1.3 million fans during the past year.

The North American leg of his 25 LIVE tour is to begin June 17 in San Diego and will include stops in San Jose, Calif.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Seattle; Vancouver, British Columbia; Minneapolis; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; New York and several other major cities.

The concert series is in support of "Twenty-Five," Michael's new two CD retrospective, which features several new songs, including duets with Paul McCartney and Mary J. Blige.

The album is due for release April 1.

In addition, a companion two disc DVD of 40 videos will also be going on sale.

Tickets to the 25 LIVE tour will go on sale to the general public April 6.

Michael will also be seen Thursday on the ABC series "Eli Stone" in which each episode is named after one of his songs, his representatives said.