Monitor

SIGNED
Keeping the faith, George Michael, 32, inked a recording deal with DreamWorks, on July 13 in Los Angeles. ''We're extremely proud and fortunate to be able to sign him as our premier artist,'' DreamWorks partner David Geffen said in a statement. According to Geffen, Michael will release his first album under the new label early next year.... U.S. Air Force captain Scott O'Grady, 29, has signed with ICM. The talent agency will pursue a book deal and entertain other offers for the latest American hero, who was rescued from Bosnia on June 8, six days after his F-16 was shot down by Serb forces. Says his agent, ''Everyone in the world is interested in his story.''

RECOVERING
R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, 36, from abdominal surgery, on July 11 in Germany. The medical emergency forced the band to cancel dates on their current world tour for the second time (they resumed performing July 22 in Dublin). In March, drummer Bill Berry, 36, suffered a brain aneurysm, taking them off the road for six weeks. A spokeswoman stated: ''The band hopes that the surgical intrusions into the tour are now behind them.''... Les Paul, musician and father of the electric guitar, after collapsing from unknown causes July 13 at his home in Mahwah, N.J. Paul was preparing to leave for Nashville to celebrate his 80th birthday at a party sponsored by Gibson guitar.

PREGNANT
Pope-twitting Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, 27, is expecting her second child at the end of February. The unwed mother (of Jake, 8) dropped out of Lollapalooza on July 15, explaining, ''It's hard to sing when you want to throw up.'' O'Connor has not divulged the father's identity.

DEAD
Jazz balladeer Earl Coleman, 69, of cardiac arrest, July 12 in New York City. Coleman recorded with Charlie Parker, among others.... British poet Sir Stephen Spender, 86, of natural causes, July 16 in London. Spender, who was knighted in 1983, ushered in an era of socially conscious poetry.... Poet May Sarton, 83, of breast cancer, July 16 in York, Maine. Although she wrote more than 20 novels, Sarton, a lesbian and self-imposed recluse, was best known for her poetry about solitude, love, and feminist consciousness.... Character actor Harry Guardino, 69, of lung cancer, July 17 in Palm Springs, Calif. A former Navy gunner's mate, he made many guest appearances on such shows as Perry Mason and Murder, She Wrote.... Zenith Electronics, 77, the only surviving American television maker, announced July 17 that South Korea's LG Electronics, Inc. will pay more than $350 million for a controlling interest (57.7 percent) in the company. In the 1950s there were more than 90 American TV manufacturers, and now there are none.