<P> Michael performed this song, alongside his 2012 single "White Light", during the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics . </P> <P> By 1990, Michael had grown weary of the pressures of fame, telling the Los Angeles Times, "At some point in your career, the situation between yourself and the camera reverses . For a certain number of years, you court it and you need it, but ultimately, it needs you more and it's a bit like a relationship . The minute that happens, it turns you off...and it does feel like it is taking something from you ." He decided that he no longer wanted to do photo shoots or music videos, saying, "I would like to never step in front of a camera again ." </P> <P> Although he relented and decided to make a video for his new song, he still refused to appear in it . Instead, inspired by Peter Lindbergh's now - iconic portrait of Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford for the January 1990 cover of the British edition of Vogue, Michael asked the five models to appear in the video . While it was not uncommon at the time for models to appear in music videos, usually such models played the love interest of the singer, as with Christie Brinkley's appearance in her future husband Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" video, or Turlington's appearance in Duran Duran's "Notorious" video when she was 17 years old . For "Freedom!' 90", the five models would not portray Michael's on - screen girlfriends, but would lip - synch the song in his place . </P> <P> Evangelista took some persuading before agreeing to appear in the video, saying, "He thought it would make us into a big deal, that it would be good for us . I was like,' Please, we're here . We've already arrived!"' After speaking with Michael, she was convinced, and rearranged her schedule . In a 2015 Vanity Fair article, Evangelista reflected on her decision positively, saying, "Little did I know that to this day, when someone meets me for the first time, they bring up that video . That's what they remember . So yeah, George was right ." An initial disagreement over their salaries was resolved when Annie Veltri, who represented Crawford, Evangelista, Campbell, and Patitz at Elite Model Management, made it clear that all of her clients would receive the same compensation--$15,000 a day . </P>

Who's in george michael's freedom video