George Michael Cancels Australia Tour to Seek Treatment for Anxiety

"Faith" crooner says he's still reeling from the trauma brought on by his life-threatening bout with pneumonia last year

George Michael's fans will just need to have faith he'll rebound from this.

The British singer has announced that he'll be canceling his upcoming shows in Australia to undergo treatment for anxiety brought on by his life-threatening bout with pneumonia last year.

The 49-year-old spilled the news on his website and apologized to his Aussie fans for jettisoning his concert dates there, which he said "breaks my heart."

"I have tried in vain to work my way through the trauma that the doctors who saved my life warned me I would experience," he wrote. "I'm afraid I believed (wrongly) that making music and getting out there to perform for the audiences that bring me such joy would be therapy enough in itself."

The Grammy winner also admitted that he "seriously underestimated" his recovery and that he was "wrong to think I could work my way through the major anxiety that has plagued me."

"All that's left for me to do is apologise to my wonderful Australian fan base," he wrote, promising that "I will receive the treatment which is so long overdue."

Michael said he would complete the U.K. concert dates of his Symphonica Tour this October before going on hiatus. The Australian leg of his tour was to have kicked off in Perth on Nov. 10.

The "Faith" crooner, who played at the London Olympics closing ceremony last month, was hospitalized last November in Vienna with a serious case of pneumonia, forcing him to cancel several European tour dates.