George Michael always said he wasn't planning on going solo, but who knew Wham! lyrics could be so prophetic?
The Grammy-winning singer and his longtime partner, Kenny Goss, are following in the ball-and-chain footsteps of Elton John, announcing plans to tie the knot early next year under a new British law that legally recognizes gay unions.
"I'm sure Kenny and I will be doing the old legal thing, but we won't be doing the whole veil and gown thing," Michael, 42, said Tuesday at a screening of George Michael: A Different Story, a documentary about his career. "It'll be relatively soon after it comes in, probably early next year."
The U.K. legislation, officially known as the Civil Partnership Act, goes into effect Dec. 21 and allows for gay couples to formalize their unions in civil ceremonies and affords them the same tax and pension rights as other married couples.
"I'm not very romantic about it to be honest," the "Faith" purveyor said. "I think Kenny probably would be if I let him, but it's just not me.
"We want to do it, just in case," said Michael. "You never know, I could get hit by a bus and the poor man could have nothing."
The couple says they are planning on a small private ceremony.
Michael and the Texas-born Goss, 47, have been together for nearly 10 years, after the singer reportedly met the former flight attendant at a Los Angeles restaurant.
The "Careless Whisper" crooner also said he and Goss plan on attending Elton John's ceremony.
Earlier this week, John confirmed to British gay lifestyle magazine Attitude that he and longtime partner David Furnish plan to wed Dec. 21, the very day the new legislation goes into effect.
"Out of respect for [our family's] support, we want to just keep it small--not to make a ballyhoo of the ceremony," John told the magazine. "It'll be a very small family affair and then in the evening there'll be a soiree somewhere, which we have yet to work out."
"It is one of the defining issues of our times," John said. "And I applaud Britain for embracing the diversity of our society."