Robbie Williams regrets bowing to pressure for 'Freedom' cover

Singer Robbie Williams has revealed that he was wary of releasing a cover of George Micheal's song Freedom as his first single after leaving Take That because he'd vowed to write his own solo material.
 
The Angels hitmaker quit the boy band in 1995 and signed with Chrysalis Records to pursue a solo career.

Bosses at the label pushed him into releasing Michael's track Freedom and Williams regrets bowing to pressure from the music chiefs.

"To be honest, choosing a cover version after you've made such fanfare of leaving Take That - 'I don't wanna be in Take That, the constraints of being in a boy band and not writing my own stuff' - and there I am putting out Freedom by George Michael," the Daily Star quoted him as saying in an interview with the Magic 105.4 radio station.

"Not the best start to your solo career considering that you want to go off and be a different kind of artist so I recorded Freedom to kind of get the record company off my back," he added.