It's nice work if you can get it - singer George Michael has pocketed a cool £1.5million for just an hour's 'graft'.

The rock star was paid the huge sum to play a private, 60-minute New Year's Eve gig for a mystery tycoon in Russia.

The 43-year-old singer even managed to fly back from Moscow and be home in Highgate, North London, by New Year's Day morning.

Michael's spokeswoman refused to say who hired him for the gig but said the concert meant he was now the 'highest paid entertainer in modern Russian history'.

The pay-out meant a bittersweet ending to 2006 for Michael, who was also charged by police with being unfit to drive.

He is due to appear before magistrates on Thursday next week after being found slumped over the steering wheel of his car last year. He could face up to six months in jail if convicted.

His latest gig proved even more lucrative than similar private concerts by Robbie Williams, Sir Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan.

Sir Paul received £550,000 to play a 90-minute set at a party for US TV executive Wendy Whitworth in 2003, but insisted the money went to the charity Adopt-a-Minefield.

The Rolling Stones are said to have received £4.4million for a gig to celebrate the birthday of US billionaire David Bonderman in 2002.