In this paper, a new fuzzy adaptive control approach is developed for a class of SISO strict-feedback nonlinear systems with unmeasured states. Using fuzzy logic systems to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, a fuzzy adaptive observer is introduced for state estimation as well as system identification. Under the framework of the backstepping design, fuzzy adaptive output feedback control is constructed recursively. It is proven that the proposed fuzzy adaptive control approach guarantees the semi-global boundedness property for all the signals and the tracking error to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation studies are included to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.