George Michael insisted on singing his new track White Light at the Olympics Closing Ceremony on Sunday night (12Aug12) to publicly celebrate winning his pneumonia battle last year (11).
The Faith hitmaker was hospitalised in Vienna, Austria at the end of November (11) after he was diagnosed with the killer lung infection.
He spent four weeks under doctors' care before returning home to Britain in time for the Christmas holidays, and he wrote White Light as a thank you to the fans who prayed for him during his hospitalisation.
Michael's decision to perform the new track in his set at the 2012 London Games finale concert drew accusations that he was promoting the tune ahead of its release, but the star's representative insists the song inclusion was a "celebration of being alive".
The spokesperson tells Britain's Daily Mail, "George wanted to perform his new single because it reflected everything he has been through in the last year. The song is a celebration of being alive because he was so close to death last year. It was his decision to perform a song from the past and song for the present."
His rep adds to Britain's Daily Telegraph, "He wanted to perform it for fans... it seemed quite appropriate. He doesn't need to plug his new single - it was just nice for him to sing it. It's a bit of a shame that it's got this response because he was so excited to perform it."