George Michael Arrested!

LONDON (Reuters) - Singer George Michael was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of possessing drugs after he was found slumped in a car in central London, a police source said.

Michael, 42, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide during a 25-year career, was arrested in the Hyde Park area of the capital early on Sunday, the source said.

A London police spokesman issued a statement saying a 42-year-old man had been held on suspicion of possessing Class C drugs, a group in British law that includes cannabis, tranquillisers and some painkillers.

"We were called by a member of the public to a man seen slumped over the steering wheel of a car," the statement said. "He was arrested on suspicion of possession of controlled substances."

He was bailed to return to a police station in late March pending a police investigation.

Michael's manager and publicist could not be reached for comment.

Under British law, anyone convicted of having Class C drugs can be jailed for up to two years and face an unlimited fine, according to the Home Office Web site.

In a front page report, the Sun said the singer was found in a dark-coloured Range Rover parked on Hyde Park Corner, one of central London's busiest intersections.

The unsourced report said he was taken into police custody and was examined by a doctor. He had his photograph and fingerprints taken and was released after more than seven hours, the report said.

It is not the star's first brush with the law.

Michael was arrested in April, 1998, for engaging in a "lewd act" in a public toilet in Los Angeles, after which he ended years of speculation by announcing that he was gay.

He told Reuters in an interview last year that he was giving up the world of pop, saying he found the media attention and celebrity "unbearable".

The singer had a string of hits in the 1980s with the band Wham! before forging a successful solo career with albums such as "Faith", "Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1" and "Patience".

His Brazilian boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa died of an AIDS-related condition in 1993, and Michael fought a legal battle with his record label Sony in the early 1990s before being bought out in a deal reported to be worth $40 million (23 million pounds).