Outside singer George Michael has hit back following Elton John's suggestion that he should "get out more".

In face of this criticism Michael has pointed out that "Elton knows nothing about me".

The issue was born of one of Elton John's periods on his soapbox when he announced that: "George is in a strange place. There seems to be a deep-rooted unhappiness in his life and it shows on the album.

"All I would say to George is: you should get out more."

For once someone is answering back to the angry Elton, as Michael wrote a letter to Heat magazine in which he claimed that Elton had been spreading gossip about him on the "gay grapvine".

He wrote: "He knows very little about George Michael, and that's a fact. Contrary to the public's impression, we have spoken rarely in the last 10 years.

"Sadly, I was always aware that Elton's circle of friends was the busiest rumour mill in town, and that respect for my privacy was not exactly guaranteed.

"And to this day, most of what Elton thinks he knows about my life is pretty much limited to the gossip he hears on what you would call the 'gay grapevine'.

"Other than that, he knows that I don't like to tour, that I smoke too much pot, and that my albums still have a habit of going to number one. In other words, he knows as much as most of my fans do."