What's new here old hat in England

SAN DIEGO -- George Michael is a most happy fellow these days: He's kicking off his first North American tour in 17 years and same-sex marriage has just been legalized in California.

"It's way overdue," the 44-year-old English pop star told The Associated Press. "It's something that happened ... almost without a whisper in England, but it was basically because we weren't that concerned about the word 'marriage.' "

Michael, who is openly gay, said, "because this is a much more religious society, there are a huge number of people who want (their) unions to be part of something that they can place in their religion, so (marriage is) much more important here. I think that's why it's so long in arriving here, but I think it's fantastic, obviously."

Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples rushed to county clerks' offices throughout California this week to obtain marriage licenses and exchange vows as same-sex marriage became legal Monday afternoon.

The next day, Michael kicked off the multi-city "25 Live" tour at the San Diego Sports Arena. The tour comes to the United Center on July 9.