fbpx
Wikipedia

Boy George

George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, actor, DJ and lead singer of the English pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham and was part of the New Romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s to early 1980s. His look and style of fashion was greatly inspired by glam rock pioneers David Bowie and Marc Bolan. He formed the Culture Club with Roy Hay, Mikey Craig and Jon Moss in 1981. The band's second album Colour by Numbers (1983) sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Their hit singles include "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Time (Clock of the Heart)", "I'll Tumble 4 Ya", "Church of the Poison Mind", "Karma Chameleon", "Victims", "Miss Me Blind", "It's a Miracle", "The War Song", "Move Away" and "I Just Wanna Be Loved".

Boy George
Boy George in 2016
Born
George Alan O'Dowd

(1961-06-14) 14 June 1961 (age 62)
Barnehurst, Kent, England
Other namesGeorge, Angela Dust (Jesus Loves You)[1]
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • disc jockey
  • mixed media artist
  • actor
Years active1979 (1979)–present
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • turntables
DiscographyBoy George discography
Labels
Member ofCulture Club
Formerly of
Websiteboygeorgeandcultureclub.net

Boy George was the lead singer of Jesus Loves You between 1989 and 1992. He has performed with Culture Club in reunion shows since 1998, and began his career as a DJ in the late 1990s. Outside of music, Boy George has been involved in many activities, among them songwriting, DJing, writing books, designing clothes and photography. He has also made several appearances in television, most recently appearing as a contestant on the 22nd UK series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in November 2022, eventually finishing in 8th place.

As a solo artist, Boy George has released nine studio albums, five compilation albums and forty-eight singles. He has also released seven DJ albums, three EPs and a soundtrack album. His solo hit songs include "Everything I Own", "Bow Down Mister", "Generations of Love" and "Love Is Leaving" and "The Crying Game", from the soundtrack for the film of the same name. He was featured as a vocalist on the 1984 charity song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and was the last artist featured on the song to record his lines. Boy George's music features several genres, including pop, new wave, soul, soft rock, disco and reggae. He has received several awards as a solo artist and as a member of Culture Club. In 2001, he was voted 46th in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.[2] In 2015, Boy George received an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for Outstanding Services to British Music.[3]

Early life edit

Boy George was born George Alan O'Dowd at Barnehurst Hospital, Kent, England, on 14 June 1961 and raised in Eltham,[4] the second of five children born to builder Jerry O'Dowd (born Jeremiah; 1932–2004) and Dinah O'Dowd (born Christina Glynn; 1939–2023[5][6]). He was raised in a working-class Irish Catholic family; his father was born in England of Irish descent and his mother was from Dublin. He has one older brother, two younger brothers and a younger sister. He also has an older half-brother, who was born out of wedlock in Dublin in 1957 when his mother was just 18; she moved to London with him to start a new life and escape the stigma of being an unmarried mother.[7][8][9]

Boy George has compared his family history to a "sad Irish song." His maternal grandmother was permanently taken from her family at age six after being found outside the family home alone, and placed into an Industrial School. His great uncle Thomas Bryan was executed at Mountjoy Prison in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence.[10] According to Boy George's mother, who published a memoir in 2007, Jerry O'Dowd was physically and mentally abusive and beat her even when she was pregnant with Boy George.[8] Boy George said of his father, "He was a terrible father and a terrible husband."[7] In 1995, Boy George's youngest brother Gerald, who has schizophrenia, was convicted of killing his wife in an episode of paranoia.[8][11]

Boy George was a follower of the New Romantic movement, which was popular in the UK in the early 1980s. He lived in various squats around Warren Street in Central London.[12][13] He and his friend Marilyn were regulars at Blitz,[14] a London nightclub run by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan.[15] The pop artists that inspired him were Siouxsie and the Banshees, Roxy Music, Patti Smith,[16] and the two major glam rock pioneers, David Bowie, and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan.[17] On the impact of Bolan and Bowie on him, Boy George states,

They represented a kind of bohemian existence that I – at that point – could only imagine living. I loved the music. The first time I ever saw Marc Bolan really, properly was singing "Metal Guru" and just loved him. I don't think you can separate an artist from what they wear or what they sing – it's kind of the complete package. It's something which is very organic and individual[17]

Career edit

Culture Club edit

Boy George's androgynous style of dressing caught the attention of music entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren (previously the manager of the Sex Pistols), who arranged for Boy George to perform with the group Bow Wow Wow.[18] Going by the stage name Lieutenant Lush, his tenure with Bow Wow Wow proved problematic with lead singer Annabella Lwin.[19] Boy George eventually left the group and started his own band with bassist Mikey Craig. They were joined by Jon Moss (who had drumming stints with the Damned and Adam and the Ants) and then guitarist Roy Hay. Originally they were named Sex Gang Children,[20] but settled on the name Culture Club, referring to the various ethnic backgrounds of the members.[21]

Britain, home of the brave new world of pop, has kept lobbing them over. One need only look at the current charts, which are flecked with such dauntless new-music wunderkinds as Eurythmics and Madness, not to mention the unlikeliest pop scion of them all, by george: Boy George O'Dowd of Culture Club.

—Anglomania: The Second British Invasion, by Parke Puterbaugh for Rolling Stone, November 1983.[22]

The band recorded demos that were paid for by EMI Records, but the label declined to sign them. Virgin Records expressed interest in signing the group in the UK for European releases, while Epic Records handled the US and North American distribution. They recorded their debut album Kissing to Be Clever (UK No. 5, US No. 14,) and it was released in 1982. The single "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" became an international hit, reaching No. 1 in multiple countries around the world, plus top ten in several more countries (US No. 2). This was followed by the Top 5 hit "Time" in the US and UK, and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" which reached US No. 9. This gave Culture Club the distinction of being the first group since the Beatles to have three Top 10 hits in the US from a debut album.[23]

Their next album, Colour By Numbers, was an enormous success, topping the UK charts and reaching No. 2 in the US. The single "Church of the Poison Mind" became a Top 10 hit, and "Karma Chameleon" was an international hit, peaking at No. 1 in 16 countries, and the top ten in additional countries. In the US it hit No. 1, where it stayed for three weeks. It was the best-selling single of 1983 in the United Kingdom, where it spent six weeks at No. 1.[24] "Victims" and "It's a Miracle" were further Top 5 UK hits, while "Miss Me Blind" reached the Top 5 in the US.[25]

 
Reflecting his theatrical make-up and androgynous fashion, one of Boy George's outfits on display at the Hard Rock Cafe, Hollywood

The band's third album, Waking Up with the House on Fire (UK No. 2, US No. 26), was not as big a hit as its predecessors internationally, but still achieved chart success. The first single, "The War Song", was a No. 2 hit in the UK, but further singles performed below expectations. On 25 November 1984, Boy George provided a joint lead vocal role on the Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, west London. He was the last solo artist to deliver his lines, at 6 pm, having just arrived in the studio from Heathrow Airport after a Concorde transatlantic flight.[26] The song featured mostly British and Irish musical acts, with Boy George the second singer to feature after Paul Young sings the opening lines.[27] It became Christmas number one and the best-selling single of 1984 in the United Kingdom.[28][29] Proceeds from the song were donated to feed famine victims in Africa during the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia.[30] Unlike many of the bands featured on the single, Culture Club did not perform at Live Aid in July 1985.[31]

In 1986, Boy George performed a guest-starring cameo role in an episode of the television series The A-Team titled "CowBoy George". Also in 1986, Culture Club released their fourth album, From Luxury to Heartache (UK No. 10, US No. 32) which featured the hit single "Move Away". With Boy George's subsequent drug addiction, the underwhelming performance of their last two albums, a soured romance between band members shrouded in secrecy, and a wrongful death lawsuit looming, the group ultimately disbanded.[32]

Reunions edit

In July 1998, a reunited Culture Club performed three dates in Monte Carlo and then joined the Human League and Howard Jones in a "Big Rewind" tour of the US. The following month, the band appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and made an appearance in Britain, their first in 14 years. Later that year, the band hit the UK charts at No.4 with "I Just Wanna Be Loved" and later a top 25 hit with "Your Kisses are Charity". A new Culture Club album, Don't Mind If I Do, was released in 1999. In 2006, the band decided to again reunite and tour, but Boy George declined to join them. As a result, two members of Culture Club replaced him with vocalist Sam Butcher. Boy George expressed his displeasure.[33] After only one showcase and one live show, the project was shelved.

 
Boy George with Culture Club at the New Year's Eve concert in Sydney, Australia, December 2011

On 27 January 2011, Boy George announced to the BBC that there would be a 30th anniversary Culture Club reunion tour sometime later in the year, and that they would be releasing a new album in 2012.[34] Although the 2011 tour never took place, Culture Club did play two live concerts, in Dubai and Sydney, the latter being a New Year's Eve concert. On 20 May 2014, it was announced on Culture Club's official Facebook page the band were back together. A new picture of the four members was also posted, along with a list of 11 concert dates through the UK. Alison Moyet would be a special guest at the concerts. The band were scheduled to perform dates in America in 2014 before the UK tour in December.[35]

The band was scheduled to tour New Zealand in 2016. Tickets were sold for performances in Christchurch and Auckland. In November 2016, in a pre-tour interview on TVNZ, Boy George walked out after the interviewer asked him about his 2009 criminal conviction.[36][37] The band then cancelled its Christchurch performance, saying it was due to changes in its international touring schedule.[38] Later in November, the December performance in Auckland was also cancelled.[39]

Solo career: late 1980s edit

After the dissolution of Culture Club in 1986, Boy George entered treatment and was prescribed narcotics to treat his addiction to heroin. In 1987, Boy George released his first solo album, Sold, which garnered success in Europe. It spawned the UK singles "Everything I Own" (UK No. 1), "Keep Me in Mind" (UK No. 29), "To Be Reborn" (UK No. 13), and the title song, "Sold" (UK No. 24). The singles were also hits in various other European countries. The album's success, however, was not duplicated in America. This may have been due in part to the fact that Boy George was prohibited by US authorities from travelling to the United States for several years because of his British drug charges.[40] He was therefore unable to be in America to help promote the album.

Boy George did score his first solo US Top 40 hit with the single "Live My Life" (US No. 40) from the soundtrack to the film Hiding Out. Tense Nervous Headache (1988) and Boyfriend (1989) would be his next two internationally released albums; however, these two albums would not be distributed in the US. Instead, Virgin Records selected several songs from each of these albums for a North American-only release called High Hat (1989). High Hat scored a US Top 5 R&B hit in "Don't Take My Mind on a Trip", produced by Teddy Riley. Boy George's next single in the UK was "No Clause 28 (Emilio Pasqez Space Face Full Remix)", a protest song against a legal provision (Section 28) introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government that prohibited the "promotion" of homosexuality by local authorities such as schools.[41] The song was an underground acid house hit. In accepting the award for Best British Group from Boy George at the 1989 Brit Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Andy Bell of Erasure kissed Boy George on stage to cheers from the crowd, with Bell stating it was an act in protest against Section 28.[41]

Solo career: 1990s edit

In 1989, Boy George formed his own record label, More Protein, and began recording under the name Jesus Loves You, writing under the pseudonym Angela Dust, a word play on angel dust. He released several underground hits in the early 1990s; "After the Love", "Generations of Love" and "Bow Down Mister", the last giving him a UK Top 30 hit in 1991. Inspired by his involvement in the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON),[42] Boy George had written the song during a trip to India. Another single, "One on One", featured a remix by Massive Attack. From March 1990 to April 1991, Boy George presented a weekly chat and music show on the Power Station satellite channel called Blue Radio. In 1992, Boy George had a hit with the Pet Shop Boys produced song "The Crying Game", from the soundtrack for the film of the same name. The song reached number 22 in the UK Singles Chart, and number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Larry Flick from Billboard complimented Boy George's "genius reading" of the song.[43] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented, "It's been said again and again that all any performer needs is the right material to have a hit. Boy George is just the right singer to resurrect this song".[44]

He has also enjoyed a second career as a notable music DJ.[45] His first gig as a DJ was at Phillip Sallon's new nightclub, Planets, located in London's Piccadilly. In the 1990s he came to the attention of rave/house promoters Fantazia who asked him to mix 1 of the discs on the 2 volume in their new compilation series Fantazia The House Collection 2. This compilation was a success in the UK, going gold. The album was also sold to Sony for European-wide release. London nightclub Ministry of Sound hired him to compile one of their first CDs, which sold 100,000 copies. He then completed some compilations for them, four of them being the Annual I to IV. In 1993, Boy George was featured on the P.M. Dawn single "More Than Likely" which became a moderate hit in the UK and the US.[citation needed]

Boy George released the rock-driven album Cheapness and Beauty in 1995. The single "Same Thing in Reverse" became a minor US hit. The Unrecoupable One Man Bandit – Volume One was the next album release, first being sold on the internet only then distributed by independent labels. Another project from the time was a new group that would include Boy George and two long-time musicians, John Themis and Ritchie Stevens. Initially named 'Shallow', it was later renamed 'Dubversive'. The project took place in 1997 and was to include trip-hop, dub and reggae. The project was not picked up by any major labels but some of the songs were later included on the 2002 Culture Club Box Set.[citation needed]

On some other labels, several dance-oriented songs were released in various countries. For example, "Love Is Leaving" went Top 3 in Italy and "When Will You Learn" reached the top position in the Swiss charts. "When Will You Learn" was also nominated for the Best Dance Recording, at the Grammy Awards. In 1999, Boy George collaborated on songs with dance-oriented acts. For example, "Why Go?", a slow-paced track with Faithless, from their Sunday 8pm LP, was later released in a remixed form in some European countries and Australia. A track was done with Groove Armada, named "Innocence is Lost", but was only released on a promo 12" in 1999.

Solo career: 2000s edit

Boy George remained a figure in the public eye, starring in the London musical Taboo, based on the New Romantic scene of early 1980s England (Boy George did not play himself, opting instead to take on the persona of Australian-born performance artist Leigh Bowery). Boy George was nominated for a Tony Award for the "Best Musical Score" and Taboo was highly successful in London's West End, running for two years and receiving four Laurence Olivier Award nominations, though a heavily altered US production produced by Rosie O'Donnell in New York City was short-lived, running for 100 performances.[46]

 
Boy George performing at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London in 2001

In 2002, Boy George released U Can Never B2 Straight, an "unplugged" collection of rare and lesser known acoustic works. It contained unreleased tracks from previous years as well as some ballads from Cheapness and Beauty and the Culture Club album Don't Mind if I Do. From 2002 to 2004, under the pseudonym "The Twin", Boy George experimented in electronica, releasing limited edition 7" singles and promo records.[47] The limited releases included four 7" singles, one limited 12" single (for "Sanitised") and a promo CD, a 13-track album Yum Yum. Two years later, it was released via digital outlets such as iTunes. An album recorded in the spring of 2003 was also shelved. A collaboration with electronic combo T–Total, the album was a collection of covers of songs by David Bowie, John Lennon, Dusty Springfield, T. Rex and Eurythmics among others[citation needed].

During 2003, he presented a weekly show on London radio station LBC 97.3 for six months. He wrote the foreword for a feng shui book called Practical Feng Shui by Simon G. Brown (published in 1998). He also appeared as a guest on the British comedy-talk show The Kumars at No. 42. In March 2005 he was the guest host for an episode of The Friday Night Project, for Channel 4 television.

In 2005, Boy George released Straight, the second volume of his autobiography. On his "More Protein" website, he also announced another album, also named Straight, for mid-2005. The album was never released but a four-track sampler was released with the book of the same name. A reggaeton oriented EP was also planned for August 2006 but was never released. Some recent tracks were shared by Boy George himself in late 2006 and early 2007 on his YouTube account, his three Myspace pages and sometimes on his official site. In January 2007, Boy George released "Time Machine" on Plan A Records, a song co-written with Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter Amanda Ghost who also co-wrote "You're Beautiful" with James Blunt.[48]

Boy George has run his own fashion line for some years, called "B-Rude", which has shown at fashion shows in London, New York and Moscow.[when?] On 24 December 2006, Boy George appeared on a one-off BBC TV programme Duet Impossible in which he performed with himself from the 1980s and joked about his street cleaning.[citation needed]

 
Boy George performing as a DJ in Brazil, 2007

Later in 2007, two electronica/dance collaborations were released in limited editions. In the spring, the track "You're Not the One" was remixed from an old demo and released with the dance combo "Loverush UK" reaching the top 20 in the UK dance chart. It was a digital-only release, available in many digital retailers like iTunes. Also on iTunes, a new collaboration with trip-hop/electro band Dark Globe, called "Atoms", was released on 19 November. The single contains eight versions, from the slow original to electro remixes by Ariya and Henrik Schwarz. Also in late 2007, an EP titled "Disco Abomination" appeared on the internet, available for download on several underground outlets. It included new remixes of tracks like "You're Not the One" from U.S. DJ EddieD, "Turn 2 Dust", "Love Your Brother", and covers of "Don't Wanna See Myself" and "Go Your Own Way". Most of the versions are remixes done by German producer Kinky Roland.[citation needed]

On 25 February 2007, Boy George was special guest DJ at LGBT nightspot, the Court Hotel in Perth, Australia. On 4 March 2007, he performed as a DJ at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney for the Mardi Gras Festival. On 11 May 2007, he performed as a DJ at the launch party for the Palazzo Versace in Dubai, UAE. Boy George cancelled his planned 2007 October tour via an announcement on his official website. In 2007, he toured as a DJ, visiting many venues around the world.

Boy George played a special residency at the Shaw Theatre in London from 23 January 2008, followed by a full UK tour.[49] In April 2008, The Biography Channel featured a documentary on the life of Boy George. The American tour which was planned for July/August 2008 had to be cancelled because he had been denied a United States visa due to a pending London court case scheduled for November 2008. On 2 July six concert dates in South America were announced. Boy George participated in RETROFEST held in Scotland in August 2008,[50] and a 30-date UK tour took place in October/November 2008.

In 2009, he signed a new record deal subsequently releasing the album Ordinary Alien – The Kinky Roland Files in the autumn of 2010. The album consisted of previously recorded tracks mixed by long-time dance partner Kinky Roland. He took part in Night of the Proms, which is a series of concerts held yearly in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain which consist of a combination of pop music and popular classical music (often combined).

Solo career and Moulin Rouge: 2010–2020, 2024-present edit

 
Boy George during the Here and Now Tour in 2011

Boy George's 2012 appearances included the Melbourne International Arts Festival in October, both as featured guest DJ and also performing with Antony Hegarty in the festival's presentations of Swanlights, the Museum of Modern Art's musical artwork commission, which had only been performed one night previously, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.[51]

June 2013 saw the release of a new song, "Coming Home". Mikey Craig, former bandmate in Culture Club, co-wrote the song with Boy George. It was written during the song writing sessions for his album This Is What I Do released in October 2013. It has been remixed by the likes of Marc Vedo and Kinky Roland. The artist listed for the song is Dharma Protocol featuring Boy George. A video was released on YouTube shot and directed by Boy George, though he did not appear in the video. It was set on the Epping Ongar Railway and starred Danie Cox, lead singer and guitarist of London-based band the Featherz.[52]

On 19 August 2013, it was announced Boy George would release his new studio album of original material, This Is What I Do, his first in 18 years. The album was written by Boy George and long-time writing partners John Themis, Kevan Frost and Richie Stevens. Stevens produced the record at London's Cowshed Studios and it was released by Kobalt Label Services. The album also features writing collaborations with Youth, and a version of Yoko Ono's "Death of Samantha". It was mixed by Dave Bascombe and features a string of guest musicians including DJ Yoda, Kitty Durham, Ally McErlaine, MC Spee and Nizar Al Issa.[53]

In 2015, BBC Four showed Boy George and Culture Club: From Karma to Calamity a film about a 2014 reunion, a new album, and a planned UK—US tour.[54][55][56][57][58]

In January 2016, Boy George joined the fifth series of The Voice UK, replacing Tom Jones as a mentor.[59][60] His final act, Cody Frost, finished third place overall. Boy George left the series after just one season and later went on to join The Voice Australia as a coach for its sixth season to replace The Madden Brothers. His final contestant, Hoseah Partsch, was the runner-up. He returned for the show's seventh season, in 2018, its eighth season, in 2019 where his final contestant, Diana Rouvas won the competition, and its ninth season in 2020. Boy George did not return for the tenth season.[61]

In October 2016, Boy George performed David Bowie's "Starman" – nine months after his idol's death from liver cancer – along with the National Health Service choir, as part of Channel 4's Stand Up to Cancer UK programme.[62] In 2017, Boy George participated in the last season of The New Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, in which he supported the charity Safe Kids Worldwide and came in second place.[63] Also in 2017 he collaborated on Pitbull's album Climate Change.[64]

In August 2017, Boy George signed a recording deal with BMG, reuniting him with his songwriting catalogue, as BMG had acquired the Virgin Records songwriters in 2012.[65] In 2019, he joined Marc Almond and Chrissie Hynde as a vocalist on "Don't Go Changing Soho", a single by Jocasta's Tim Arnold for the Save Soho campaign.[66][67]

On 2 and 26 March 2020, through his YouTube channel, Boy George respectively released (as videos) 2 new solo songs entitled "Clouds" and "Isolation" taken from his forthcoming album Geminis Don't Read The Manual which was due to be released later in the year, but was postponed. On 6 April 2020 on his own record label BGP (Boy George Presents) he released the Isolation Limited Edition 2-track CD Single (Catalogue No: BGP015) including the title track and a new "Spatial Awareness Meets The Boy Uptown Dub" mix of the track "Clouds".[68][69] In 2021, he was a guest on the BBC's Paul Weller – Live at the Barbican, joining Paul Weller and conductor Jules Buckley for a version of The Style Council's "You're the Best Thing".[70][71][72][73][74] In September 2021, he became a judge on the Irish talent show The Big Deal.[75]

In 2024, he will be playing Harold Zidler in the Moulin Rouge Musical.[76]

2022: I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! edit

In November 2022, he appeared as a contestant on the 22nd UK series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. During his appearance on the show, Boy George expressed discomfort about appearing on the show with former UK health secretary Matt Hancock, mentioning that his mother had been in hospital while the country was under a COVID-19 lockdown. He said that he would have withdrawn from the show had his mother died in hospital.[77]

During a bush tucker eating trial that he and Hancock were voted to participate in, Boy George told Hancock that he has "never voted Tory."[78][better source needed] In a conversation with Seann Walsh, Boy George said that he found Hancock "slimy and slippery" and later told Hancock that he found it difficult to "separate" the politician from the person.[79][80][81] He was eliminated from the show on 22 November on the 17th day, finishing in 8th place.[82]

Personal life edit

Concurrently with developing his career as a DJ in the late 1990s, Boy George adopted a macrobiotic diet, which he had been attempting to follow since 1988. In 2001, he published the Karma Cookbook, a macrobiotic cookbook co-written with Dragana Brown,[83] whom Boy George met in 1986.[84]

Boy George appeared on an episode of BBC television genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? in 2018, on which it was revealed that he was related to executed Irish revolutionary Thomas Bryan, a member of the "Forgotten Ten".[85] As of 2012, Boy George has credited his practice of Nichiren Buddhism and chanting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō for his newfound spiritual strength to remain sober.[86][87] Boy George has said: "I'm Catholic in my complications and Buddhist in my aspirations."[88]

Boy George has multiple tattoos, including a Christian cross on the side of his face and a Jewish Star of David tattooed on the top of his head.[88] He has a tattoo of David Bowie on his right arm and one of Marc Bolan on his left,[89] next to one of Siouxsie Sioux.[90] Boy George said in 2013 he was "quite drunk" when his head was shaved and tattooed. He said when he stopped drinking alcohol he lost the desire to have further tattoos on his head, finding it "too painful".[89]

Sexuality edit

 
Boy George at the Pride London festival in 2012

In the 1980s, much was made of Boy George's androgynous appearance, and there was speculation about his sexuality. When asked by Joan Rivers in an interview on her show in 1983, "Do you prefer men or women?", Boy George replied, "Oh both." In 1985, when asked by Barbara Walters about his sexual orientation, Boy George said he was bisexual and had various girlfriends and boyfriends, in the past. He gave a famous, oft-quoted response to interviewer Russell Harty that he preferred "a nice cup of tea" to sex.[91]

In his 1995 autobiography Take It Like a Man, Boy George stated that he was gay, not bisexual, and that he had secret relationships with punk rock singer Kirk Brandon and Culture Club drummer, Jon Moss. He stated that many of the songs he wrote for Culture Club were about his relationship with Moss.[92] In a 2008 documentary Living with Boy George, he talked about his first realisation he was gay, when he first told his parents, and why men fall in love with one another as well as with women.[93]

As two of the biggest androgynous stars in music, Boy George and Annie Lennox appeared on the cover of Smash Hits magazine in December 1983,[94][95] followed by the cover of Newsweek magazine in January 1984.[96]

Drug abuse and legal troubles edit

 
Boy George pictured in 1988

By the late 1980s, Boy George had been struggling with heroin addiction for several years.[97] He attempted to perform concerts while under its influence. Addictions to other drugs soon followed. Determined to save Boy George's life, his younger brother David made an appearance on UK national television and discussed Boy George's drug habit, which Boy George had been publicly denying at that time. In 1986, Boy George was arrested for heroin possession as part of "Operation Culture".[98]

In 1986, keyboardist Michael Rudetsky, who co-wrote the song "Sexuality" on Culture Club's From Luxury to Heartache album, was found dead of a heroin overdose in Boy George's London home.[99] Boy George's friend, Mark Vaultier, died after an overdose of methadone and Valium at a party. In December 1986, another friend, Mark Golding, died of an overdose, with Scotland Yard police stating there was no suggestion of foul play.[100] During this period Boy George decided to seek treatment for his addiction.[40]

In 1995, Kirk Brandon sued Boy George for libel, claiming that Boy George mentioned a love affair between them in Boy George's autobiography, Take It Like a Man. Boy George won the court case and Brandon was ordered to pay £200,000 to Virgin Records, EMI Virgin Music and the book publisher in costs. Brandon declared himself bankrupt, which resulted in Boy George paying over £20,000 in legal fees.[101]

On 7 October 2005, Boy George was arrested in Manhattan on suspicion of cocaine possession and falsely reporting a burglary. Boy George denied that the drugs were his.[102] In court on 1 February 2006, the cocaine possession charge was dropped and Boy George pleaded guilty to falsely reporting a burglary. He was sentenced to five days of community service, fined US$1,000 and ordered to attend a drug rehabilitation programme.[103] On 17 June 2006, a Manhattan judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Boy George after he failed to appear in court for a hearing on why Boy George wanted to change his sentence for the false burglary report. Boy George's attorney informed the court that he had advised Boy George not to appear at that hearing.[104] On 14 August 2006, Boy George reported to the New York City Department of Sanitation for his court-ordered community service. As a result of the intense media coverage, he was allowed to finish his community service inside the Sanitation Department grounds.[105]

In March 2023, a settlement was reached by the four original members of Culture Club, who agreed that George, Hay, and Craig would pay Moss £1.75 million, after he had filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates for lost income due to having allegedly been "expelled" from the group in 2018.[106] The settlement required that Moss relinquish any and all rights to the Culture Club name and its use. Moss later filed bankruptcy proceedings against George and Craig, which were dismissed in June 2023.[107]

Assault and false imprisonment conviction edit

On 5 December 2008, Boy George was convicted in Snaresbrook Crown Court, London, of the April 2007 assault and false imprisonment of Audun Carlsen, a Norwegian model and male escort, who initially stood for a photography session with Boy George. Carlsen claimed that he had been handcuffed to a wall fixture and beaten with a metal chain during their next meeting, although Boy George has always maintained that only the handcuffing was true and that he never beat Carlsen.[108][109] Defence counsel presented the effects of his long-term drug use as a mitigating factor.[110] On 16 January 2009, Boy George was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for these offences.[111] He was initially incarcerated at HM Prison Pentonville in London, but was then transferred to HM Prison Highpoint North in Suffolk. He was given early release after four months on 11 May 2009. He was required to wear an ankle monitor and submit to a curfew for the remainder of his sentence.[112]

In December 2009, while still on licensed release from prison, Boy George made a request to the Probation Service that he be allowed to appear on the seventh series of Celebrity Big Brother (to be broadcast on Channel 4). His request was denied. Richard Clayton QC, representing the Probation Service, stated that Boy George's participation would pose "a high level of risk" to the service's reputation. Clayton argued that public confidence in the criminal justice system could be undermined if George earned "a lucrative sum" of money and used his appearance on the show to promote his status as a celebrity.[113]

Medical issues edit

In 2014, Boy George suffered from a haemorrhaged polyp on his vocal cords, resulting in the cancellation of a Culture Club reunion tour.[114][115] Several dates in Canada, UK and US were cancelled. On his Facebook page, George stated:

After having a series of cameras down my throat it transpires that I have a polyp on one of my vocal chords which has hemorrhaged and one of my vocal chords is unusually enlarged and won't close properly when I sing. In true British fashion I have ignored it thinking the problem might just be tiredness. I never thought to check my throat because I have spent a lifetime just "Getting on with it". I have been advised by doctors that to continue singing with this polyp would further damage my voice and could cause irreparable damage, it's a risk I just cannot take.[116]

Following months of resting his voice, spending some days in total silence, giving up coffee, and practicing vocal exercises, George recovered without needing surgery and was surprised that his vocal range had become an octave lower than before, which he described as a "kind of rich tenor" and suitable for singing "a little bit of rock."[117][118]

Memoirs edit

HarperCollins published Boy George's first autobiography, Take It Like a Man, in 1995, co-written with Spencer Bright. Both the book and his solo album, Cheapness and Beauty, were released simultaneously and dealt with the same themes. Take It Like a Man was a best-seller in the UK.

In 2005, Century published Straight, his second autobiography, this time co-written with author Paul Gorman. It was on The Sunday Times best-seller list for six weeks. Straight begins where Take It Like a Man had ended, though the two works are different in style, due to their different co-authors. All chapters in the 2005 book are titled, while chapters are only numbered in the 1995 work.

Awards edit

Year Awards Work Category Result
1993 MTV Video Music Awards "The Crying Game" Best Video from a Film Nominated
1994 Grammy Awards Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Nominated
1999 "When Will You Learn" Best Dance Recording Nominated
2004 Tony Awards Taboo Best Original Score Nominated
Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Music Nominated
Outstanding Lyrics Nominated
2005 Lunas del Auditorio Himself Espectaculo Alternativo Nominated
2010 Antville Music Video Awards "Somebody to Love Me" (ft. Mark Ronson) Best Art Direction Nominated
2011 Popjustice £20 Music Prize Best British Pop Single Nominated
UK Music Video Awards Best Pop Video (UK) Nominated
D&AD Awards Best Music Video Nominated
2015 Ivor Novello Awards Himself Outstanding Contribution to British Music Won
British LGBT Awards Best Music Artist[119] Nominated
2016 Celebrity[120] Nominated
International Dance Music Awards "Just Another Guy" (ft. Vanilla Ace & Katerina Themis) Best Indie Dance Track Nominated
2018 Attitude Awards Himself Music Icon[121] Won
2019 Classic Pop Readers' Awards Boy George & Culture Club Group of the Year[122] Nominated

Discography edit

Filmography edit

Year Title Role Notes
1986 The A-Team Himself; guest star as a member of Culture Club [123]
2002-2004 Taboo Leigh Bowery
2003 Hollyoaks Himself; guest star [124]
2016 The Voice UK Himself; host
2016-2020 The Voice Australia
2016 Stand Up to Cancer UK Himself; contestant
Project Runway All Stars Himself; guest star
2017 The New Celebrity Apprentice Himself; contestant
2018 Who Do You Think You Are? Himself
2021 The Big Deal Himself; host
2022 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Himself; contestant [125]

Bibliography edit

  • George, Boy (2007). Foreword. Cry Salty Tears. By O'Dowd, Dinah. Century. ISBN 9781846052361.

References edit

  1. ^ "7 Things You Might Not Know About Boy George". 14 June 2014. from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ . BBC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2002. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Boy George, The Ivors" 1 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine. The Ivors. Retrieved 31 December 2017
  4. ^ . Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  5. ^ Finn, Melanie (15 March 2023). "Boy George thankful for support after "devastating" death of mother Dinah (84)". Independent.ie. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  6. ^ Savage, Mark (27 January 2019). "Boy George: The things I've learned". from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b Egan, Barry (4 March 2007). "My life with a handsome bastard". The Irish Independent. from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Iley, Chrissy (16 January 2007). "Chrissy Iley talks to Boy George's mum Dinah O'Dowd". The Guardian. from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Boy George". Wilde Life. from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  10. ^ Crawley, Peter (26 July 2018). "Boy George: 'My Irish family's story is like a great Irish song, a lament'". The Irish Times. from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Brother of Boy George Convicted of Killing Wife". Associated Press. 21 December 1995. from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  12. ^ . Time Out. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  13. ^ Myers, Ben (3 September 2012). "Criminalising squatters will hurt British pop music". The Guardian. from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  14. ^ . The Blitz Kids. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  15. ^ Sweeting, Adam (13 February 2015). "Steve Strange obituary". from the original on 29 December 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  16. ^ Baltin, Steve (12 November 2015), "Boy George Picks His Top 5 Pop Bands of All Time", Billboard, from the original on 4 December 2015, retrieved 10 December 2015
  17. ^ a b Murray, Robin (30 October 2013), "Boy George: How To Make A Pop Idol", Clash, from the original on 20 December 2015, retrieved 10 December 2015
  18. ^ Trunk, Russell A. (2005). "'80s – Bow Wow Wow (2006)". Exclusive Magazine. from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  19. ^ "Boy George facts: Net worth, age, real name, songs and more". Smooth Radio. 19 June 2018. from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  20. ^ "Boy George". from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  21. ^ Prono, Luca (2008). Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Popular Culture. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313335990. from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  22. ^ "Anglomania: The Second British Invasion". Rolling Stone. from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  23. ^ "Culture Club the distinction of being the first group since The Beatles to have three Top Ten hits in America from a debut album". Electricsoulshow.com. from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  24. ^ Scaping, Peter, ed. (1984). "Top 100 singles: 1983". BPI Year Book 1984. British Phonographic Industry. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-906154-04-9.
  25. ^ "Culture Club chart history". Billboard. from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  26. ^ Presenter: Midge Ure (21 October 2004). Band Aid: The Song That Rocked the World. BBC (TV Documentary).
  27. ^ "Flashback: Band Aid Raises Millions With 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'". Rolling Stone. from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  28. ^ "Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Morgan-Grampian plc: 37. 26 January 1985.
  29. ^ Scaping, Peter, ed. (1985). "Top 100 singles: 1984". BPI Year Book 1985 (7th ed.). British Phonographic Industry. pp. 46–47. ISBN 0-906154-06-5.
  30. ^ "Looking Back At Live Aid, 25 Years Later" 19 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine. MTV. Retrieved 22 October 2016
  31. ^ Chiu, David (10 July 2015). "Goodbye Is Forever: Duran Duran, Live Aid & the End of the Second British Invasion". Medium. from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  32. ^ "Boy George Flirts with Tragedy and Faces a Lawsuit". People. from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  33. ^ "Boy George slams new Club singer". BBC News. London, England. 12 October 2006. from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  34. ^ "Boy George and His Sparkly Hat Promise Culture Club Reunion – Amplifier" 13 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Yahoo! Music.com (27 January 2011). Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  35. ^ "Boy George's band Culture Club are playing a one-off London show". Metro. 20 September 2016. from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  36. ^ "Toni Street: I won't get into a 'public slagging match'". Stuff. 4 November 2016. from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  37. ^ "Watch: Boy George walks out of Seven Sharp interview, Christchurch show later cancelled". The New Zealand Herald. 4 November 2016. from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  38. ^ Murphy, Emily (4 November 2016). "Boy George cancels Christchurch show". stuff. from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  39. ^ "Culture Club cancel New Zealand tour". Press. 21 November 2016. from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  40. ^ a b "Mr. Clean: Boy George Straightens Up His Act". Rolling stone. from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  41. ^ a b "Brit Awards 2021: From Geri to Jarvis - the biggest moments in show's history". Sky News. from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  42. ^ Boy George with Spencer Bright, Take It Like a Man (Harper Collins, First U.S. Edition, 1995) pp. 481–482. On page 482, he says, "I enjoy the rituals of offering obeisances to Krishna and chanting, especially when there are hundreds of devotees jumping and banging drums. At that moment it seems like the human ego is truly transcended. I do find the sexual attitudes far too rigid, though I admit the cycle of desire is fraught with anxiety and disappointment. I don't choose to cut off from it, maybe I enjoy the pain." On page 481 he says, "'Bow Down Mister' swept me up in a spiritual whirl and I became an unlikely queer envoy for Krishna Consciousness."
  43. ^ Flick, Larry (10 April 1993). "Dance Trax: D.C. Gets In Step With AIDS-Related Issues" (PDF). Billboard. p. 26. (PDF) from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  44. ^ Sholin, Dave (19 February 1993). "Singles" (PDF). Gavin Report. p. 52. (PDF) from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  45. ^ For example, in 2001 he toured the U.S. and Canada as part of the "Big DJ, Small Club" series, sponsored by Benson & Hedges. Michel Raphael, "Bean there". National Post, 14 August 2001: B1, B2.
  46. ^ McKinley, Jesse (14 January 2004). "'Taboo' to Close Next Month, At a Loss for Rosie O'Donnell". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  47. ^ "Boy George Biography". Musictory.com. from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  48. ^ "Boy George 'enjoyed' street sweep". BBC News. 7 September 2006. from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  49. ^ . Thelondonpaper.typepad.com. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  50. ^ "Fact File: Retrofest" 10 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Scotland on Sunday, 25 May 2008
  51. ^ Pareles, Jon (27 January 2012). "Antony and the Johnsons at Radio City Music Hall". The New York Times. from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  52. ^ . Davidbowie.com. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014.
  53. ^ "Boy George announces first new album in 18 years 'This Is What I Do' – Music News". Digital Spy. 29 August 2013. from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  54. ^ "Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity". BBC Four. BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  55. ^ Harsent, Barney (12 April 2018). "Boy George and Culture Club: From Karma to Calamity, BBC Four". theartsdesk.com. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  56. ^ "Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  57. ^ "BBC One – Strictly Come Dancing, Series 12, Week 5 Results". BBC.
  58. ^ Hogan, Michael (27 October 2014). "Thom Evans leaves Strictly Come Dancing in shock elimination, review". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  59. ^ Carpenter, Louise (2 January 2016). "How Boy George got a second chance". The Times. from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  60. ^ Glennie, Alasdair (14 August 2015). "Tom Jones heads for green, green grass of home after losing spot on The Voice". The Guardian. from the original on 17 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  61. ^ Digital Staff (15 December 2020). "The Voice Australia Replaces Boy George, Kelly Rowland, and Delta Goodrem". Seven Network. Australia: Seven West Media. from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  62. ^ "Boy George's David Bowie tribute moved fans to tears as he is urged to release Starman cover as charity Christmas single". Channel 4. from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  63. ^ "Vince Neil, Boy George Join 'Celebrity Apprentice'". Rolling Stone. 29 January 2016. from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  64. ^ . Klatsch-tratsch.de. 8 October 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016.
  65. ^ "Boy George signs to BMG". Music Week. from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  66. ^ "New Soho song features 80s pop legends". 3 December 2019. from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  67. ^ "A Tribute To Soho Through The Decades (By The People Who Were There)". We Are Cult. 27 November 2019. from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  68. ^ "Boy George – Isolation". Hottwerk. from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  69. ^ "Boy George drops new single Clouds". www.femalefirst.co.uk. from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  70. ^ "Paul Weller / An Orchestrated Songbook – SuperDeluxeEdition". Superdeluxeedition.com. 21 June 2021. from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  71. ^ "BBC Two – Paul Weller Live at the Barbican". BBC. from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  72. ^ "BBC Radio 2 – Paul Weller Live at the Barbican". BBC. from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  73. ^ "Paul Weller, Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra". BBC Music Events. from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  74. ^ "Celeste, Boy George and James Morrison to join Paul Weller live in concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley". bbc.com. from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  75. ^ "First look at Virgin Media's new show hosted by Vogue Williams". Independent.ie. 14 June 2021. from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  76. ^ Kuo, Christopher (6 November 2023). "Boy George Will Join 'Moulin Rouge!' on Broadway in 2024". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  77. ^ "I'm A Celebrity: Boy George not happy with Matt Hancock being on the show". 10 November 2022.
  78. ^ Amin, Meghna (11 November 2022). "Boy George hilariously tells Matt Hancock 'he's never voted Tory' mid-mouthful". Metro. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  79. ^ "Boy George tells Matt Hancock he has been 'hating on him' in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!". Sky News. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  80. ^ "I'm A Celebrity 2022: Mike Tindall, Boy George and Chris Moyles in line-up". BBC News. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  81. ^ Jeffries, Stuart (7 November 2022). "I'm a Celebrity review – two hours of sheer Matt Hancock-free hell". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  82. ^ "Boy George is the fourth contestant to be eliminated from I'm a Celeb". The Independent. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  83. ^ Profile of Dragana Brown 6 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine; HuffPost. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  84. ^ Mitchel Raphael, "Bean there". National Post, 14 August 2001: B1, B2.
  85. ^ McGreevy, R., "Boy George: The bits 'Who Do You Think You Are' didn't tell you about singer's Irish family 3 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine," The Irish Times, 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  86. ^ . StarPulse. 8 September 2013. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  87. ^ "A Successful Human Being". PunkGlobe. 3 May 2012. from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  88. ^ a b Sjoberg, Alice (8 November 2022). "Boy George opens up about religion from face tattoos to yoga and meditation". ok.co.uk.
  89. ^ a b Sjoberg, Alice (10 November 2022). "Boy George's tattoos explained from David Bowie to face inkings". ok.co.uk.
  90. ^ "Boy George's tattoo - Siouxsie". Boy George official. 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 18 August 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  91. ^ . Icons.org.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  92. ^ George O'Dowd; Spencer Bright (1995). Take It Like A Man, The Autobiography of Boy George. Pan Books (Macmillan Publishers Ltd). ISBN 0-330-32362-8.
  93. ^ Living with... Boy George (TV 2008) 6 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine, IMDb
  94. ^ "Smash Hits magazine - Boy George and Annie Lennox cover (Christmas 1983)". CrazyAboutMagazines. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022.
  95. ^ Steward, Sue (1984). Signed, Sealed, and Delivered: True Life Stories of Women in Pop. South End Press. p. 51.
  96. ^ "Boy George, The Man". The Washington Post. from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2021. Newsweek put Boy George and Eurythmic Annie Lennox on a cover heralding a second British Invasion, pop's gender benders
  97. ^ Boy George with Spencer Bright, Take it Like a Man, London, Sigwick & Jackson, 1995
  98. ^ Dugan, Emily (14 November 2007). "Boy George 'chained male escort to a wall in his flat'". The Independent. UK. from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  99. ^ "American Musician Dies In Boy George's Home". Chicago Tribune. from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  100. ^ "Friend of Singer Boy George Dies of Suspected Drug Overdose". AP News. from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  101. ^ Boy George (with Paul Gorman) Straight, London: Century, 2005
  102. ^ "Musician Boy George has appeared in court ..." 26 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 8 October 2008
  103. ^ "Singer Boy George has had a charge of possessing cocaine dropped by a New York court" 27 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 8 March 2006
  104. ^ "Boy George Angers NYC Judge" 29 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, wcbstv from AP report, 17 June 2006
  105. ^ "A feisty Boy George reports for garbage duty" 10 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Today.com, 14 August 2006
  106. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (22 March 2023). "Boy George and Culture Club members pay ex-drummer £1.75m after legal dispute". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  107. ^ Pilgrim, Tom (27 June 2023). "Bankruptcy proceedings against Culture Club members dismissed". The Independent. London, England. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  108. ^ Morgan Britton, Luke (16 February 2017). "Boy George opens up about 'psychotic episode' in which he chained male escort to a wall". NME Networks. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  109. ^ "Boy George opens up about his arrest". youtube.com. I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!. 16 November 2022.
  110. ^ Jones, Sam; Lewis, Paul (16 January 2009). "Boy George gets 15 months for falsely imprisoning male escort". The Guardian. London, England. from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  111. ^ "Boy George jailed for 15 months". BBC News. London, England. 16 January 2008. from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  112. ^ Swash, Rosie (12 May 2009). "Boy George released early from jail". The Guardian. London, England. from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  113. ^ "Boy George loses Big Brother plea". BBC News. 23 December 2009. from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  114. ^ Kennedy, John R. (13 November 2014). "Boy George throat issue forces Culture Club to cancel tour". Global News. Canada. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  115. ^ Zwecker, Bill (13 November 2014). "Culture Club tour canceled due to Boy George throat polyp". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, USA: Chicago Public Media. pp. n/a. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  116. ^ "Boy George & Culture Club". Facebook. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  117. ^ Olivier, Bobby (15 July 2015). "Boy George talks liberating album, voice change ahead of N.J. shows". NJ Advance Media. Iselin, NJ, USA. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  118. ^ Farber, Jim (2 July 2015). "Boy George talks reuniting with Culture Club: 'This whole comeback is one big amends'". New York Daily News. New York, NY, USA. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  119. ^ "LGBT+ Music artists 2015 – British LGBT Awards". Britishlgbtawards.com. from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  120. ^ "LGBT+ Celebrities 2016 – British LGBT Awards". Britishlgbtawards.com. from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  121. ^ "Check out all the winners and presenters from the Virgin Holidays Attitude Awards 2018, powered by Jaguar". Attitude.co.uk. 12 October 2018. from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  122. ^ "There's still time to vote in our 2018 Reader Awards!". 2 January 2019. from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  123. ^ "35 Years Ago: That Time Boy George Guest-Starred on 'The A-Team'". Ultimate Classic Rock. from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  124. ^ "Boy George to appear on British soap Hollyoaks". Advocate. 20 November 2002. from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  125. ^ "Meet Boy George: I'm a Celebrity 2022 contestant and singer". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 November 2022.

Further reading edit

  • De Graaf Kasper, Garret Malcolm (1983), When Cameras Go Crazy, London, UK, Virgin Books & New York, NY, USA, St. Martin's Press; ISBN 0-312-17879-4 (Culture Club's official biography)
  • Boy George with Spencer Bright (1995), Take It Like a Man, London, Sidgwick & Jackson (Boy George's first official autobiography)
  • Boy George with Paul Gorman (2004), Straight, London, Century (Boy George's second official autobiography – republished in 2007 with updates – first edition includes EP of the same name)

External links edit

george, george, alan, dowd, born, june, 1961, known, professionally, english, singer, songwriter, actor, lead, singer, english, band, culture, club, began, solo, career, 1987, grew, eltham, part, romantic, movement, which, emerged, late, 1970s, early, 1980s, l. George Alan O Dowd born 14 June 1961 known professionally as Boy George is an English singer songwriter actor DJ and lead singer of the English pop band Culture Club He began his solo career in 1987 Boy George grew up in Eltham and was part of the New Romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s to early 1980s His look and style of fashion was greatly inspired by glam rock pioneers David Bowie and Marc Bolan He formed the Culture Club with Roy Hay Mikey Craig and Jon Moss in 1981 The band s second album Colour by Numbers 1983 sold more than 10 million copies worldwide Their hit singles include Do You Really Want to Hurt Me Time Clock of the Heart I ll Tumble 4 Ya Church of the Poison Mind Karma Chameleon Victims Miss Me Blind It s a Miracle The War Song Move Away and I Just Wanna Be Loved Boy GeorgeBoy George in 2016BornGeorge Alan O Dowd 1961 06 14 14 June 1961 age 62 Barnehurst Kent EnglandOther namesGeorge Angela Dust Jesus Loves You 1 OccupationsSingersongwriterdisc jockeymixed media artistactorYears active1979 1979 presentMusical careerGenresPop new wave soul soft rock disco reggaeInstrument s Vocals turntablesDiscographyBoy George discographyLabelsEMI Virgin Epic Sire More Protein Plan A Records Very Me Records Kobalt BMGMember ofCulture ClubFormerly ofJesus Loves You Bow Wow Wow Band AidWebsiteboygeorgeandcultureclub wbr netBoy George was the lead singer of Jesus Loves You between 1989 and 1992 He has performed with Culture Club in reunion shows since 1998 and began his career as a DJ in the late 1990s Outside of music Boy George has been involved in many activities among them songwriting DJing writing books designing clothes and photography He has also made several appearances in television most recently appearing as a contestant on the 22nd UK series of I m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in November 2022 eventually finishing in 8th place As a solo artist Boy George has released nine studio albums five compilation albums and forty eight singles He has also released seven DJ albums three EPs and a soundtrack album His solo hit songs include Everything I Own Bow Down Mister Generations of Love and Love Is Leaving and The Crying Game from the soundtrack for the film of the same name He was featured as a vocalist on the 1984 charity song Do They Know It s Christmas and was the last artist featured on the song to record his lines Boy George s music features several genres including pop new wave soul soft rock disco and reggae He has received several awards as a solo artist and as a member of Culture Club In 2001 he was voted 46th in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons 2 In 2015 Boy George received an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors for Outstanding Services to British Music 3 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Culture Club 2 1 1 Reunions 2 2 Solo career late 1980s 2 3 Solo career 1990s 2 4 Solo career 2000s 2 5 Solo career and Moulin Rouge 2010 2020 2024 present 2 6 2022 I m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here 3 Personal life 3 1 Sexuality 3 2 Drug abuse and legal troubles 3 3 Assault and false imprisonment conviction 3 4 Medical issues 4 Memoirs 5 Awards 6 Discography 7 Filmography 8 Bibliography 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External linksEarly life editBoy George was born George Alan O Dowd at Barnehurst Hospital Kent England on 14 June 1961 and raised in Eltham 4 the second of five children born to builder Jerry O Dowd born Jeremiah 1932 2004 and Dinah O Dowd born Christina Glynn 1939 2023 5 6 He was raised in a working class Irish Catholic family his father was born in England of Irish descent and his mother was from Dublin He has one older brother two younger brothers and a younger sister He also has an older half brother who was born out of wedlock in Dublin in 1957 when his mother was just 18 she moved to London with him to start a new life and escape the stigma of being an unmarried mother 7 8 9 Boy George has compared his family history to a sad Irish song His maternal grandmother was permanently taken from her family at age six after being found outside the family home alone and placed into an Industrial School His great uncle Thomas Bryan was executed at Mountjoy Prison in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence 10 According to Boy George s mother who published a memoir in 2007 Jerry O Dowd was physically and mentally abusive and beat her even when she was pregnant with Boy George 8 Boy George said of his father He was a terrible father and a terrible husband 7 In 1995 Boy George s youngest brother Gerald who has schizophrenia was convicted of killing his wife in an episode of paranoia 8 11 Boy George was a follower of the New Romantic movement which was popular in the UK in the early 1980s He lived in various squats around Warren Street in Central London 12 13 He and his friend Marilyn were regulars at Blitz 14 a London nightclub run by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan 15 The pop artists that inspired him were Siouxsie and the Banshees Roxy Music Patti Smith 16 and the two major glam rock pioneers David Bowie and T Rex frontman Marc Bolan 17 On the impact of Bolan and Bowie on him Boy George states They represented a kind of bohemian existence that I at that point could only imagine living I loved the music The first time I ever saw Marc Bolan really properly was singing Metal Guru and just loved him I don t think you can separate an artist from what they wear or what they sing it s kind of the complete package It s something which is very organic and individual 17 Career editCulture Club edit Main article Culture Club Boy George s androgynous style of dressing caught the attention of music entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren previously the manager of the Sex Pistols who arranged for Boy George to perform with the group Bow Wow Wow 18 Going by the stage name Lieutenant Lush his tenure with Bow Wow Wow proved problematic with lead singer Annabella Lwin 19 Boy George eventually left the group and started his own band with bassist Mikey Craig They were joined by Jon Moss who had drumming stints with the Damned and Adam and the Ants and then guitarist Roy Hay Originally they were named Sex Gang Children 20 but settled on the name Culture Club referring to the various ethnic backgrounds of the members 21 Britain home of the brave new world of pop has kept lobbing them over One need only look at the current charts which are flecked with such dauntless new music wunderkinds as Eurythmics and Madness not to mention the unlikeliest pop scion of them all by george Boy George O Dowd of Culture Club Anglomania The Second British Invasion by Parke Puterbaugh for Rolling Stone November 1983 22 The band recorded demos that were paid for by EMI Records but the label declined to sign them Virgin Records expressed interest in signing the group in the UK for European releases while Epic Records handled the US and North American distribution They recorded their debut album Kissing to Be Clever UK No 5 US No 14 and it was released in 1982 The single Do You Really Want to Hurt Me became an international hit reaching No 1 in multiple countries around the world plus top ten in several more countries US No 2 This was followed by the Top 5 hit Time in the US and UK and I ll Tumble 4 Ya which reached US No 9 This gave Culture Club the distinction of being the first group since the Beatles to have three Top 10 hits in the US from a debut album 23 Their next album Colour By Numbers was an enormous success topping the UK charts and reaching No 2 in the US The single Church of the Poison Mind became a Top 10 hit and Karma Chameleon was an international hit peaking at No 1 in 16 countries and the top ten in additional countries In the US it hit No 1 where it stayed for three weeks It was the best selling single of 1983 in the United Kingdom where it spent six weeks at No 1 24 Victims and It s a Miracle were further Top 5 UK hits while Miss Me Blind reached the Top 5 in the US 25 nbsp Reflecting his theatrical make up and androgynous fashion one of Boy George s outfits on display at the Hard Rock Cafe HollywoodThe band s third album Waking Up with the House on Fire UK No 2 US No 26 was not as big a hit as its predecessors internationally but still achieved chart success The first single The War Song was a No 2 hit in the UK but further singles performed below expectations On 25 November 1984 Boy George provided a joint lead vocal role on the Band Aid charity single Do They Know It s Christmas recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill west London He was the last solo artist to deliver his lines at 6 pm having just arrived in the studio from Heathrow Airport after a Concorde transatlantic flight 26 The song featured mostly British and Irish musical acts with Boy George the second singer to feature after Paul Young sings the opening lines 27 It became Christmas number one and the best selling single of 1984 in the United Kingdom 28 29 Proceeds from the song were donated to feed famine victims in Africa during the 1984 1985 famine in Ethiopia 30 Unlike many of the bands featured on the single Culture Club did not perform at Live Aid in July 1985 31 In 1986 Boy George performed a guest starring cameo role in an episode of the television series The A Team titled CowBoy George Also in 1986 Culture Club released their fourth album From Luxury to Heartache UK No 10 US No 32 which featured the hit single Move Away With Boy George s subsequent drug addiction the underwhelming performance of their last two albums a soured romance between band members shrouded in secrecy and a wrongful death lawsuit looming the group ultimately disbanded 32 Reunions edit In July 1998 a reunited Culture Club performed three dates in Monte Carlo and then joined the Human League and Howard Jones in a Big Rewind tour of the US The following month the band appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and made an appearance in Britain their first in 14 years Later that year the band hit the UK charts at No 4 with I Just Wanna Be Loved and later a top 25 hit with Your Kisses are Charity A new Culture Club album Don t Mind If I Do was released in 1999 In 2006 the band decided to again reunite and tour but Boy George declined to join them As a result two members of Culture Club replaced him with vocalist Sam Butcher Boy George expressed his displeasure 33 After only one showcase and one live show the project was shelved nbsp Boy George with Culture Club at the New Year s Eve concert in Sydney Australia December 2011On 27 January 2011 Boy George announced to the BBC that there would be a 30th anniversary Culture Club reunion tour sometime later in the year and that they would be releasing a new album in 2012 34 Although the 2011 tour never took place Culture Club did play two live concerts in Dubai and Sydney the latter being a New Year s Eve concert On 20 May 2014 it was announced on Culture Club s official Facebook page the band were back together A new picture of the four members was also posted along with a list of 11 concert dates through the UK Alison Moyet would be a special guest at the concerts The band were scheduled to perform dates in America in 2014 before the UK tour in December 35 The band was scheduled to tour New Zealand in 2016 Tickets were sold for performances in Christchurch and Auckland In November 2016 in a pre tour interview on TVNZ Boy George walked out after the interviewer asked him about his 2009 criminal conviction 36 37 The band then cancelled its Christchurch performance saying it was due to changes in its international touring schedule 38 Later in November the December performance in Auckland was also cancelled 39 Solo career late 1980s edit After the dissolution of Culture Club in 1986 Boy George entered treatment and was prescribed narcotics to treat his addiction to heroin In 1987 Boy George released his first solo album Sold which garnered success in Europe It spawned the UK singles Everything I Own UK No 1 Keep Me in Mind UK No 29 To Be Reborn UK No 13 and the title song Sold UK No 24 The singles were also hits in various other European countries The album s success however was not duplicated in America This may have been due in part to the fact that Boy George was prohibited by US authorities from travelling to the United States for several years because of his British drug charges 40 He was therefore unable to be in America to help promote the album Boy George did score his first solo US Top 40 hit with the single Live My Life US No 40 from the soundtrack to the film Hiding Out Tense Nervous Headache 1988 and Boyfriend 1989 would be his next two internationally released albums however these two albums would not be distributed in the US Instead Virgin Records selected several songs from each of these albums for a North American only release called High Hat 1989 High Hat scored a US Top 5 R amp B hit in Don t Take My Mind on a Trip produced by Teddy Riley Boy George s next single in the UK was No Clause 28 Emilio Pasqez Space Face Full Remix a protest song against a legal provision Section 28 introduced by Margaret Thatcher s Conservative government that prohibited the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities such as schools 41 The song was an underground acid house hit In accepting the award for Best British Group from Boy George at the 1989 Brit Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall in London Andy Bell of Erasure kissed Boy George on stage to cheers from the crowd with Bell stating it was an act in protest against Section 28 41 Solo career 1990s edit nbsp Bow Down Mister A Small Portion 2 B Polite Mix excerpt source source An excerpt from Bow Down Mister A Small Portion 2 B Polite Mix Problems playing this file See media help In 1989 Boy George formed his own record label More Protein and began recording under the name Jesus Loves You writing under the pseudonym Angela Dust a word play on angel dust He released several underground hits in the early 1990s After the Love Generations of Love and Bow Down Mister the last giving him a UK Top 30 hit in 1991 Inspired by his involvement in the Hare Krishna movement ISKCON 42 Boy George had written the song during a trip to India Another single One on One featured a remix by Massive Attack From March 1990 to April 1991 Boy George presented a weekly chat and music show on the Power Station satellite channel called Blue Radio In 1992 Boy George had a hit with the Pet Shop Boys produced song The Crying Game from the soundtrack for the film of the same name The song reached number 22 in the UK Singles Chart and number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Larry Flick from Billboard complimented Boy George s genius reading of the song 43 Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented It s been said again and again that all any performer needs is the right material to have a hit Boy George is just the right singer to resurrect this song 44 He has also enjoyed a second career as a notable music DJ 45 His first gig as a DJ was at Phillip Sallon s new nightclub Planets located in London s Piccadilly In the 1990s he came to the attention of rave house promoters Fantazia who asked him to mix 1 of the discs on the 2 volume in their new compilation series Fantazia The House Collection 2 This compilation was a success in the UK going gold The album was also sold to Sony for European wide release London nightclub Ministry of Sound hired him to compile one of their first CDs which sold 100 000 copies He then completed some compilations for them four of them being the Annual I to IV In 1993 Boy George was featured on the P M Dawn single More Than Likely which became a moderate hit in the UK and the US citation needed Boy George released the rock driven album Cheapness and Beauty in 1995 The single Same Thing in Reverse became a minor US hit The Unrecoupable One Man Bandit Volume One was the next album release first being sold on the internet only then distributed by independent labels Another project from the time was a new group that would include Boy George and two long time musicians John Themis and Ritchie Stevens Initially named Shallow it was later renamed Dubversive The project took place in 1997 and was to include trip hop dub and reggae The project was not picked up by any major labels but some of the songs were later included on the 2002 Culture Club Box Set citation needed On some other labels several dance oriented songs were released in various countries For example Love Is Leaving went Top 3 in Italy and When Will You Learn reached the top position in the Swiss charts When Will You Learn was also nominated for the Best Dance Recording at the Grammy Awards In 1999 Boy George collaborated on songs with dance oriented acts For example Why Go a slow paced track with Faithless from their Sunday 8pm LP was later released in a remixed form in some European countries and Australia A track was done with Groove Armada named Innocence is Lost but was only released on a promo 12 in 1999 Solo career 2000s edit Boy George remained a figure in the public eye starring in the London musical Taboo based on the New Romantic scene of early 1980s England Boy George did not play himself opting instead to take on the persona of Australian born performance artist Leigh Bowery Boy George was nominated for a Tony Award for the Best Musical Score and Taboo was highly successful in London s West End running for two years and receiving four Laurence Olivier Award nominations though a heavily altered US production produced by Rosie O Donnell in New York City was short lived running for 100 performances 46 nbsp Boy George performing at Ronnie Scott s Jazz Club London in 2001In 2002 Boy George released U Can Never B2 Straight an unplugged collection of rare and lesser known acoustic works It contained unreleased tracks from previous years as well as some ballads from Cheapness and Beauty and the Culture Club album Don t Mind if I Do From 2002 to 2004 under the pseudonym The Twin Boy George experimented in electronica releasing limited edition 7 singles and promo records 47 The limited releases included four 7 singles one limited 12 single for Sanitised and a promo CD a 13 track album Yum Yum Two years later it was released via digital outlets such as iTunes An album recorded in the spring of 2003 was also shelved A collaboration with electronic combo T Total the album was a collection of covers of songs by David Bowie John Lennon Dusty Springfield T Rex and Eurythmics among others citation needed During 2003 he presented a weekly show on London radio station LBC 97 3 for six months He wrote the foreword for a feng shui book called Practical Feng Shui by Simon G Brown published in 1998 He also appeared as a guest on the British comedy talk show The Kumars at No 42 In March 2005 he was the guest host for an episode of The Friday Night Project for Channel 4 television In 2005 Boy George released Straight the second volume of his autobiography On his More Protein website he also announced another album also named Straight for mid 2005 The album was never released but a four track sampler was released with the book of the same name A reggaeton oriented EP was also planned for August 2006 but was never released Some recent tracks were shared by Boy George himself in late 2006 and early 2007 on his YouTube account his three Myspace pages and sometimes on his official site In January 2007 Boy George released Time Machine on Plan A Records a song co written with Ivor Novello Award winning songwriter Amanda Ghost who also co wrote You re Beautiful with James Blunt 48 Boy George has run his own fashion line for some years called B Rude which has shown at fashion shows in London New York and Moscow when On 24 December 2006 Boy George appeared on a one off BBC TV programme Duet Impossible in which he performed with himself from the 1980s and joked about his street cleaning citation needed nbsp Boy George performing as a DJ in Brazil 2007Later in 2007 two electronica dance collaborations were released in limited editions In the spring the track You re Not the One was remixed from an old demo and released with the dance combo Loverush UK reaching the top 20 in the UK dance chart It was a digital only release available in many digital retailers like iTunes Also on iTunes a new collaboration with trip hop electro band Dark Globe called Atoms was released on 19 November The single contains eight versions from the slow original to electro remixes by Ariya and Henrik Schwarz Also in late 2007 an EP titled Disco Abomination appeared on the internet available for download on several underground outlets It included new remixes of tracks like You re Not the One from U S DJ EddieD Turn 2 Dust Love Your Brother and covers of Don t Wanna See Myself and Go Your Own Way Most of the versions are remixes done by German producer Kinky Roland citation needed On 25 February 2007 Boy George was special guest DJ at LGBT nightspot the Court Hotel in Perth Australia On 4 March 2007 he performed as a DJ at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney for the Mardi Gras Festival On 11 May 2007 he performed as a DJ at the launch party for the Palazzo Versace in Dubai UAE Boy George cancelled his planned 2007 October tour via an announcement on his official website In 2007 he toured as a DJ visiting many venues around the world Boy George played a special residency at the Shaw Theatre in London from 23 January 2008 followed by a full UK tour 49 In April 2008 The Biography Channel featured a documentary on the life of Boy George The American tour which was planned for July August 2008 had to be cancelled because he had been denied a United States visa due to a pending London court case scheduled for November 2008 On 2 July six concert dates in South America were announced Boy George participated in RETROFEST held in Scotland in August 2008 50 and a 30 date UK tour took place in October November 2008 In 2009 he signed a new record deal subsequently releasing the album Ordinary Alien The Kinky Roland Files in the autumn of 2010 The album consisted of previously recorded tracks mixed by long time dance partner Kinky Roland He took part in Night of the Proms which is a series of concerts held yearly in Belgium the Netherlands Germany and Spain which consist of a combination of pop music and popular classical music often combined Solo career and Moulin Rouge 2010 2020 2024 present edit nbsp Boy George during the Here and Now Tour in 2011Boy George s 2012 appearances included the Melbourne International Arts Festival in October both as featured guest DJ and also performing with Antony Hegarty in the festival s presentations of Swanlights the Museum of Modern Art s musical artwork commission which had only been performed one night previously at Radio City Music Hall in New York City 51 June 2013 saw the release of a new song Coming Home Mikey Craig former bandmate in Culture Club co wrote the song with Boy George It was written during the song writing sessions for his album This Is What I Do released in October 2013 It has been remixed by the likes of Marc Vedo and Kinky Roland The artist listed for the song is Dharma Protocol featuring Boy George A video was released on YouTube shot and directed by Boy George though he did not appear in the video It was set on the Epping Ongar Railway and starred Danie Cox lead singer and guitarist of London based band the Featherz 52 On 19 August 2013 it was announced Boy George would release his new studio album of original material This Is What I Do his first in 18 years The album was written by Boy George and long time writing partners John Themis Kevan Frost and Richie Stevens Stevens produced the record at London s Cowshed Studios and it was released by Kobalt Label Services The album also features writing collaborations with Youth and a version of Yoko Ono s Death of Samantha It was mixed by Dave Bascombe and features a string of guest musicians including DJ Yoda Kitty Durham Ally McErlaine MC Spee and Nizar Al Issa 53 In 2015 BBC Four showed Boy George and Culture Club From Karma to Calamity a film about a 2014 reunion a new album and a planned UK US tour 54 55 56 57 58 In January 2016 Boy George joined the fifth series of The Voice UK replacing Tom Jones as a mentor 59 60 His final act Cody Frost finished third place overall Boy George left the series after just one season and later went on to join The Voice Australia as a coach for its sixth season to replace The Madden Brothers His final contestant Hoseah Partsch was the runner up He returned for the show s seventh season in 2018 its eighth season in 2019 where his final contestant Diana Rouvas won the competition and its ninth season in 2020 Boy George did not return for the tenth season 61 In October 2016 Boy George performed David Bowie s Starman nine months after his idol s death from liver cancer along with the National Health Service choir as part of Channel 4 s Stand Up to Cancer UK programme 62 In 2017 Boy George participated in the last season of The New Celebrity Apprentice on NBC in which he supported the charity Safe Kids Worldwide and came in second place 63 Also in 2017 he collaborated on Pitbull s album Climate Change 64 In August 2017 Boy George signed a recording deal with BMG reuniting him with his songwriting catalogue as BMG had acquired the Virgin Records songwriters in 2012 65 In 2019 he joined Marc Almond and Chrissie Hynde as a vocalist on Don t Go Changing Soho a single by Jocasta s Tim Arnold for the Save Soho campaign 66 67 On 2 and 26 March 2020 through his YouTube channel Boy George respectively released as videos 2 new solo songs entitled Clouds and Isolation taken from his forthcoming album Geminis Don t Read The Manual which was due to be released later in the year but was postponed On 6 April 2020 on his own record label BGP Boy George Presents he released the Isolation Limited Edition 2 track CD Single Catalogue No BGP015 including the title track and a new Spatial Awareness Meets The Boy Uptown Dub mix of the track Clouds 68 69 In 2021 he was a guest on the BBC s Paul Weller Live at the Barbican joining Paul Weller and conductor Jules Buckley for a version of The Style Council s You re the Best Thing 70 71 72 73 74 In September 2021 he became a judge on the Irish talent show The Big Deal 75 In 2024 he will be playing Harold Zidler in the Moulin Rouge Musical 76 2022 I m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here edit In November 2022 he appeared as a contestant on the 22nd UK series of I m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here During his appearance on the show Boy George expressed discomfort about appearing on the show with former UK health secretary Matt Hancock mentioning that his mother had been in hospital while the country was under a COVID 19 lockdown He said that he would have withdrawn from the show had his mother died in hospital 77 During a bush tucker eating trial that he and Hancock were voted to participate in Boy George told Hancock that he has never voted Tory 78 better source needed In a conversation with Seann Walsh Boy George said that he found Hancock slimy and slippery and later told Hancock that he found it difficult to separate the politician from the person 79 80 81 He was eliminated from the show on 22 November on the 17th day finishing in 8th place 82 Personal life editConcurrently with developing his career as a DJ in the late 1990s Boy George adopted a macrobiotic diet which he had been attempting to follow since 1988 In 2001 he published the Karma Cookbook a macrobiotic cookbook co written with Dragana Brown 83 whom Boy George met in 1986 84 Boy George appeared on an episode of BBC television genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are in 2018 on which it was revealed that he was related to executed Irish revolutionary Thomas Bryan a member of the Forgotten Ten 85 As of 2012 update Boy George has credited his practice of Nichiren Buddhism and chanting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō for his newfound spiritual strength to remain sober 86 87 Boy George has said I m Catholic in my complications and Buddhist in my aspirations 88 Boy George has multiple tattoos including a Christian cross on the side of his face and a Jewish Star of David tattooed on the top of his head 88 He has a tattoo of David Bowie on his right arm and one of Marc Bolan on his left 89 next to one of Siouxsie Sioux 90 Boy George said in 2013 he was quite drunk when his head was shaved and tattooed He said when he stopped drinking alcohol he lost the desire to have further tattoos on his head finding it too painful 89 Sexuality edit nbsp Boy George at the Pride London festival in 2012In the 1980s much was made of Boy George s androgynous appearance and there was speculation about his sexuality When asked by Joan Rivers in an interview on her show in 1983 Do you prefer men or women Boy George replied Oh both In 1985 when asked by Barbara Walters about his sexual orientation Boy George said he was bisexual and had various girlfriends and boyfriends in the past He gave a famous oft quoted response to interviewer Russell Harty that he preferred a nice cup of tea to sex 91 In his 1995 autobiography Take It Like a Man Boy George stated that he was gay not bisexual and that he had secret relationships with punk rock singer Kirk Brandon and Culture Club drummer Jon Moss He stated that many of the songs he wrote for Culture Club were about his relationship with Moss 92 In a 2008 documentary Living with Boy George he talked about his first realisation he was gay when he first told his parents and why men fall in love with one another as well as with women 93 As two of the biggest androgynous stars in music Boy George and Annie Lennox appeared on the cover of Smash Hits magazine in December 1983 94 95 followed by the cover of Newsweek magazine in January 1984 96 Drug abuse and legal troubles edit nbsp Boy George pictured in 1988By the late 1980s Boy George had been struggling with heroin addiction for several years 97 He attempted to perform concerts while under its influence Addictions to other drugs soon followed Determined to save Boy George s life his younger brother David made an appearance on UK national television and discussed Boy George s drug habit which Boy George had been publicly denying at that time In 1986 Boy George was arrested for heroin possession as part of Operation Culture 98 In 1986 keyboardist Michael Rudetsky who co wrote the song Sexuality on Culture Club s From Luxury to Heartache album was found dead of a heroin overdose in Boy George s London home 99 Boy George s friend Mark Vaultier died after an overdose of methadone and Valium at a party In December 1986 another friend Mark Golding died of an overdose with Scotland Yard police stating there was no suggestion of foul play 100 During this period Boy George decided to seek treatment for his addiction 40 In 1995 Kirk Brandon sued Boy George for libel claiming that Boy George mentioned a love affair between them in Boy George s autobiography Take It Like a Man Boy George won the court case and Brandon was ordered to pay 200 000 to Virgin Records EMI Virgin Music and the book publisher in costs Brandon declared himself bankrupt which resulted in Boy George paying over 20 000 in legal fees 101 On 7 October 2005 Boy George was arrested in Manhattan on suspicion of cocaine possession and falsely reporting a burglary Boy George denied that the drugs were his 102 In court on 1 February 2006 the cocaine possession charge was dropped and Boy George pleaded guilty to falsely reporting a burglary He was sentenced to five days of community service fined US 1 000 and ordered to attend a drug rehabilitation programme 103 On 17 June 2006 a Manhattan judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Boy George after he failed to appear in court for a hearing on why Boy George wanted to change his sentence for the false burglary report Boy George s attorney informed the court that he had advised Boy George not to appear at that hearing 104 On 14 August 2006 Boy George reported to the New York City Department of Sanitation for his court ordered community service As a result of the intense media coverage he was allowed to finish his community service inside the Sanitation Department grounds 105 In March 2023 a settlement was reached by the four original members of Culture Club who agreed that George Hay and Craig would pay Moss 1 75 million after he had filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates for lost income due to having allegedly been expelled from the group in 2018 106 The settlement required that Moss relinquish any and all rights to the Culture Club name and its use Moss later filed bankruptcy proceedings against George and Craig which were dismissed in June 2023 107 Assault and false imprisonment conviction edit On 5 December 2008 Boy George was convicted in Snaresbrook Crown Court London of the April 2007 assault and false imprisonment of Audun Carlsen a Norwegian model and male escort who initially stood for a photography session with Boy George Carlsen claimed that he had been handcuffed to a wall fixture and beaten with a metal chain during their next meeting although Boy George has always maintained that only the handcuffing was true and that he never beat Carlsen 108 109 Defence counsel presented the effects of his long term drug use as a mitigating factor 110 On 16 January 2009 Boy George was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for these offences 111 He was initially incarcerated at HM Prison Pentonville in London but was then transferred to HM Prison Highpoint North in Suffolk He was given early release after four months on 11 May 2009 He was required to wear an ankle monitor and submit to a curfew for the remainder of his sentence 112 In December 2009 while still on licensed release from prison Boy George made a request to the Probation Service that he be allowed to appear on the seventh series of Celebrity Big Brother to be broadcast on Channel 4 His request was denied Richard Clayton QC representing the Probation Service stated that Boy George s participation would pose a high level of risk to the service s reputation Clayton argued that public confidence in the criminal justice system could be undermined if George earned a lucrative sum of money and used his appearance on the show to promote his status as a celebrity 113 Medical issues edit In 2014 Boy George suffered from a haemorrhaged polyp on his vocal cords resulting in the cancellation of a Culture Club reunion tour 114 115 Several dates in Canada UK and US were cancelled On his Facebook page George stated After having a series of cameras down my throat it transpires that I have a polyp on one of my vocal chords which has hemorrhaged and one of my vocal chords is unusually enlarged and won t close properly when I sing In true British fashion I have ignored it thinking the problem might just be tiredness I never thought to check my throat because I have spent a lifetime just Getting on with it I have been advised by doctors that to continue singing with this polyp would further damage my voice and could cause irreparable damage it s a risk I just cannot take 116 Following months of resting his voice spending some days in total silence giving up coffee and practicing vocal exercises George recovered without needing surgery and was surprised that his vocal range had become an octave lower than before which he described as a kind of rich tenor and suitable for singing a little bit of rock 117 118 Memoirs editHarperCollins published Boy George s first autobiography Take It Like a Man in 1995 co written with Spencer Bright Both the book and his solo album Cheapness and Beauty were released simultaneously and dealt with the same themes Take It Like a Man was a best seller in the UK In 2005 Century published Straight his second autobiography this time co written with author Paul Gorman It was on The Sunday Times best seller list for six weeks Straight begins where Take It Like a Man had ended though the two works are different in style due to their different co authors All chapters in the 2005 book are titled while chapters are only numbered in the 1995 work Awards editYear Awards Work Category Result1993 MTV Video Music Awards The Crying Game Best Video from a Film Nominated1994 Grammy Awards Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Nominated1999 When Will You Learn Best Dance Recording Nominated2004 Tony Awards Taboo Best Original Score NominatedDrama Desk Awards Outstanding Music NominatedOutstanding Lyrics Nominated2005 Lunas del Auditorio Himself Espectaculo Alternativo Nominated2010 Antville Music Video Awards Somebody to Love Me ft Mark Ronson Best Art Direction Nominated2011 Popjustice 20 Music Prize Best British Pop Single NominatedUK Music Video Awards Best Pop Video UK NominatedD amp AD Awards Best Music Video Nominated2015 Ivor Novello Awards Himself Outstanding Contribution to British Music WonBritish LGBT Awards Best Music Artist 119 Nominated2016 Celebrity 120 NominatedInternational Dance Music Awards Just Another Guy ft Vanilla Ace amp Katerina Themis Best Indie Dance Track Nominated2018 Attitude Awards Himself Music Icon 121 Won2019 Classic Pop Readers Awards Boy George amp Culture Club Group of the Year 122 NominatedDiscography editMain article Boy George discography See also Culture Club discography Sold 1987 Tense Nervous Headache 1988 Boyfriend 1989 The Martyr Mantras 1991 Cheapness and Beauty 1995 The Unrecoupable One Man Bandit 1999 U Can Never B2 Straight 2002 Yum Yum 2004 Ordinary Alien 2010 This Is What I Do 2013 This Is What I Dub Vol 1 2020 Cool Karaoke Vol 1 2021 Filmography editYear Title Role Notes1986 The A Team Himself guest star as a member of Culture Club 123 2002 2004 Taboo Leigh Bowery2003 Hollyoaks Himself guest star 124 2016 The Voice UK Himself host2016 2020 The Voice Australia2016 Stand Up to Cancer UK Himself contestantProject Runway All Stars Himself guest star2017 The New Celebrity Apprentice Himself contestant2018 Who Do You Think You Are Himself2021 The Big Deal Himself host2022 I m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Himself contestant 125 Bibliography editGeorge Boy 2007 Foreword Cry Salty Tears By O Dowd Dinah Century ISBN 9781846052361 References edit 7 Things You Might Not Know About Boy George 14 June 2014 Archived from the original on 28 June 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 The Top 100 Great Britons 11 100 BBC Archived from the original on 4 December 2002 Retrieved 30 December 2023 Boy George The Ivors Archived 1 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine The Ivors Retrieved 31 December 2017 Boy George Biography Singer 1961 Biography com FYI A amp E Networks Archived from the original on 14 January 2016 Retrieved 28 January 2016 Finn Melanie 15 March 2023 Boy George thankful for support after devastating death of mother Dinah 84 Independent ie Retrieved 15 March 2023 Savage Mark 27 January 2019 Boy George The things I ve learned Archived from the original on 6 April 2020 Retrieved 7 June 2019 a b Egan Barry 4 March 2007 My life with a handsome bastard The Irish Independent Archived from the original on 6 April 2020 Retrieved 10 January 2019 a b c Iley Chrissy 16 January 2007 Chrissy Iley talks to Boy George s mum Dinah O Dowd The Guardian Archived from the original on 6 April 2020 Retrieved 10 January 2019 Boy George Wilde Life Archived from the original on 6 April 2020 Retrieved 18 July 2018 Crawley Peter 26 July 2018 Boy George My Irish family s story is like a great Irish song a lament The Irish Times Archived from the original on 27 July 2018 Retrieved 10 January 2019 Brother of Boy George Convicted of Killing Wife Associated Press 21 December 1995 Archived from the original on 6 April 2020 Retrieved 10 January 2019 Boy George s old squat It happened here Time Out Archived from the original on 28 June 2018 Retrieved 29 December 2013 Myers Ben 3 September 2012 Criminalising squatters will hurt British pop music The Guardian Archived from the original on 31 July 2017 Retrieved 29 December 2013 Boy George The Blitz Kids Archived from the original on 30 August 2011 Retrieved 25 August 2011 Sweeting Adam 13 February 2015 Steve Strange obituary Archived from the original on 29 December 2015 Retrieved 28 January 2016 Baltin Steve 12 November 2015 Boy George Picks His Top 5 Pop Bands of All Time Billboard archived from the original on 4 December 2015 retrieved 10 December 2015 a b Murray Robin 30 October 2013 Boy George How To Make A Pop Idol Clash archived from the original on 20 December 2015 retrieved 10 December 2015 Trunk Russell A 2005 80s Bow Wow Wow 2006 Exclusive Magazine Archived from the original on 10 May 2019 Retrieved 27 June 2018 Boy George facts Net worth age real name songs and more Smooth Radio 19 June 2018 Archived from the original on 28 June 2018 Retrieved 27 June 2018 Boy George Archived from the original on 3 June 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 Prono Luca 2008 Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Popular Culture ABC CLIO ISBN 9780313335990 Archived from the original on 23 June 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 Anglomania The Second British Invasion Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 30 April 2019 Retrieved 29 April 2019 Culture Club the distinction of being the first group since The Beatles to have three Top Ten hits in America from a debut album Electricsoulshow com Archived from the original on 9 March 2017 Retrieved 8 March 2017 Scaping Peter ed 1984 Top 100 singles 1983 BPI Year Book 1984 British Phonographic Industry pp 42 43 ISBN 0 906154 04 9 Culture Club chart history Billboard Archived from the original on 14 November 2021 Retrieved 14 November 2021 Presenter Midge Ure 21 October 2004 Band Aid The Song That Rocked the World BBC TV Documentary Flashback Band Aid Raises Millions With Do They Know It s Christmas Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 27 November 2021 Retrieved 27 November 2021 Top 100 Singles Music Week London England Morgan Grampian plc 37 26 January 1985 Scaping Peter ed 1985 Top 100 singles 1984 BPI Year Book 1985 7th ed British Phonographic Industry pp 46 47 ISBN 0 906154 06 5 Looking Back At Live Aid 25 Years Later Archived 19 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine MTV Retrieved 22 October 2016 Chiu David 10 July 2015 Goodbye Is Forever Duran Duran Live Aid amp the End of the Second British Invasion Medium Archived from the original on 10 January 2017 Retrieved 15 January 2017 Boy George Flirts with Tragedy and Faces a Lawsuit People Archived from the original on 25 June 2018 Retrieved 24 June 2018 Boy George slams new Club singer BBC News London England 12 October 2006 Archived from the original on 6 December 2008 Retrieved 1 October 2009 Boy George and His Sparkly Hat Promise Culture Club Reunion Amplifier Archived 13 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine Yahoo Music com 27 January 2011 Retrieved 27 March 2011 Boy George s band Culture Club are playing a one off London show Metro 20 September 2016 Archived from the original on 27 January 2018 Retrieved 26 January 2018 Toni Street I won t get into a public slagging match Stuff 4 November 2016 Archived from the original on 24 April 2019 Retrieved 19 May 2019 Watch Boy George walks out of Seven Sharp interview Christchurch show later cancelled The New Zealand Herald 4 November 2016 Archived from the original on 6 April 2020 Retrieved 19 May 2019 Murphy Emily 4 November 2016 Boy George cancels Christchurch show stuff Archived from the original on 15 April 2019 Retrieved 19 May 2019 Culture Club cancel New Zealand tour Press 21 November 2016 Archived from the original on 22 April 2019 Retrieved 19 May 2019 a b Mr Clean Boy George Straightens Up His Act Rolling stone Archived from the original on 30 July 2019 Retrieved 30 July 2019 a b Brit Awards 2021 From Geri to Jarvis the biggest moments in show s history Sky News Archived from the original on 14 November 2021 Retrieved 14 November 2021 Boy George with Spencer Bright Take It Like a Man Harper Collins First U S Edition 1995 pp 481 482 On page 482 he says I enjoy the rituals of offering obeisances to Krishna and chanting especially when there are hundreds of devotees jumping and banging drums At that moment it seems like the human ego is truly transcended I do find the sexual attitudes far too rigid though I admit the cycle of desire is fraught with anxiety and disappointment I don t choose to cut off from it maybe I enjoy the pain On page 481 he says Bow Down Mister swept me up in a spiritual whirl and I became an unlikely queer envoy for Krishna Consciousness Flick Larry 10 April 1993 Dance Trax D C Gets In Step With AIDS Related Issues PDF Billboard p 26 Archived PDF from the original on 17 December 2021 Retrieved 8 October 2020 Sholin Dave 19 February 1993 Singles PDF Gavin Report p 52 Archived PDF from the original on 8 March 2021 Retrieved 16 October 2020 For example in 2001 he toured the U S and Canada as part of the Big DJ Small Club series sponsored by Benson amp Hedges Michel Raphael Bean there National Post 14 August 2001 B1 B2 McKinley Jesse 14 January 2004 Taboo to Close Next Month At a Loss for Rosie O Donnell The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on 27 November 2021 Retrieved 1 April 2021 Boy George Biography Musictory com Archived from the original on 29 March 2017 Retrieved 28 March 2017 Boy George enjoyed street sweep BBC News 7 September 2006 Archived from the original on 26 July 2009 Retrieved 1 October 2009 Review Boy George live last night thelondonpaper Thelondonpaper typepad com 24 January 2008 Archived from the original on 27 January 2008 Retrieved 1 October 2009 Fact File Retrofest Archived 10 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine Scotland on Sunday 25 May 2008 Pareles Jon 27 January 2012 Antony and the Johnsons at Radio City Music Hall The New York Times Archived from the original on 31 March 2017 Retrieved 26 October 2018 See Danie Cox and The Feathers in London For Free David Bowie Latest News Davidbowie com 24 May 2013 Archived from the original on 10 January 2014 Boy George announces first new album in 18 years This Is What I Do Music News Digital Spy 29 August 2013 Archived from the original on 31 August 2013 Retrieved 29 August 2013 Boy George and Culture Club Karma to Calamity BBC Four BBC Retrieved 21 February 2023 Harsent Barney 12 April 2018 Boy George and Culture Club From Karma to Calamity BBC Four theartsdesk com Retrieved 21 February 2023 Boy George and Culture Club Karma to Calamity Radio Times Retrieved 21 February 2023 BBC One Strictly Come Dancing Series 12 Week 5 Results BBC Hogan Michael 27 October 2014 Thom Evans leaves Strictly Come Dancing in shock elimination review telegraph co uk Retrieved 21 February 2023 Carpenter Louise 2 January 2016 How Boy George got a second chance The Times Archived from the original on 6 January 2016 Retrieved 6 January 2016 Glennie Alasdair 14 August 2015 Tom Jones heads for green green grass of home after losing spot on The Voice The Guardian Archived from the original on 17 August 2015 Retrieved 17 August 2015 Digital Staff 15 December 2020 The Voice Australia Replaces Boy George Kelly Rowland and Delta Goodrem Seven Network Australia Seven West Media Archived from the original on 15 December 2020 Retrieved 15 December 2020 Boy George s David Bowie tribute moved fans to tears as he is urged to release Starman cover as charity Christmas single Channel 4 Archived from the original on 30 July 2019 Retrieved 30 July 2019 Vince Neil Boy George Join Celebrity Apprentice Rolling Stone 29 January 2016 Archived from the original on 30 January 2016 Retrieved 29 January 2016 Pitbull bereut Wechsel zur Popmusik nicht Klatsch tratsch de 8 October 2016 Archived from the original on 4 November 2016 Boy George signs to BMG Music Week Archived from the original on 4 November 2018 Retrieved 26 October 2018 New Soho song features 80s pop legends 3 December 2019 Archived from the original on 28 June 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 A Tribute To Soho Through The Decades By The People Who Were There We Are Cult 27 November 2019 Archived from the original on 1 July 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 Boy George Isolation Hottwerk Archived from the original on 23 June 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 Boy George drops new single Clouds www femalefirst co uk Archived from the original on 23 November 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 Paul Weller An Orchestrated Songbook SuperDeluxeEdition Superdeluxeedition com 21 June 2021 Archived from the original on 30 June 2021 Retrieved 16 August 2021 BBC Two Paul Weller Live at the Barbican BBC Archived from the original on 19 August 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 BBC Radio 2 Paul Weller Live at the Barbican BBC Archived from the original on 30 June 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 Paul Weller Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra BBC Music Events Archived from the original on 30 June 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 Celeste Boy George and James Morrison to join Paul Weller live in concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley bbc com Archived from the original on 12 July 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 First look at Virgin Media s new show hosted by Vogue Williams Independent ie 14 June 2021 Archived from the original on 16 August 2021 Retrieved 16 August 2021 Kuo Christopher 6 November 2023 Boy George Will Join Moulin Rouge on Broadway in 2024 The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 24 November 2023 I m A Celebrity Boy George not happy with Matt Hancock being on the show 10 November 2022 Amin Meghna 11 November 2022 Boy George hilariously tells Matt Hancock he s never voted Tory mid mouthful Metro Retrieved 19 November 2022 Boy George tells Matt Hancock he has been hating on him in I m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Sky News Retrieved 19 November 2022 I m A Celebrity 2022 Mike Tindall Boy George and Chris Moyles in line up BBC News 31 October 2022 Retrieved 12 November 2022 Jeffries Stuart 7 November 2022 I m a Celebrity review two hours of sheer Matt Hancock free hell The Guardian Retrieved 12 November 2022 Boy George is the fourth contestant to be eliminated from I m a Celeb The Independent 22 November 2022 Retrieved 22 November 2022 Profile of Dragana Brown Archived 6 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine HuffPost Retrieved 5 March 2017 Mitchel Raphael Bean there National Post 14 August 2001 B1 B2 McGreevy R Boy George The bits Who Do You Think You Are didn t tell you about singer s Irish family Archived 3 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine The Irish Times 25 July 2018 Retrieved 25 January 2020 Buddhism Has Kept Me Sober StarPulse 8 September 2013 Archived from the original on 14 October 2013 Retrieved 13 October 2013 A Successful Human Being PunkGlobe 3 May 2012 Archived from the original on 15 April 2014 Retrieved 13 October 2013 a b Sjoberg Alice 8 November 2022 Boy George opens up about religion from face tattoos to yoga and meditation ok co uk a b Sjoberg Alice 10 November 2022 Boy George s tattoos explained from David Bowie to face inkings ok co uk Boy George s tattoo Siouxsie Boy George official 24 April 2020 Archived from the original on 18 August 2023 Retrieved 29 April 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Becoming an Icon A Cup of Tea Icons of England Icons org uk Archived from the original on 30 September 2009 Retrieved 1 October 2009 George O Dowd Spencer Bright 1995 Take It Like A Man The Autobiography of Boy George Pan Books Macmillan Publishers Ltd ISBN 0 330 32362 8 Living with Boy George TV 2008 Archived 6 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine IMDb Smash Hits magazine Boy George and Annie Lennox cover Christmas 1983 CrazyAboutMagazines Archived from the original on 11 November 2022 Steward Sue 1984 Signed Sealed and Delivered True Life Stories of Women in Pop South End Press p 51 Boy George The Man The Washington Post Archived from the original on 28 February 2019 Retrieved 14 November 2021 Newsweek put Boy George and Eurythmic Annie Lennox on a cover heralding a second British Invasion pop s gender benders Boy George with Spencer Bright Take it Like a Man London Sigwick amp Jackson 1995 Dugan Emily 14 November 2007 Boy George chained male escort to a wall in his flat The Independent UK Archived from the original on 2 April 2009 Retrieved 5 April 2009 American Musician Dies In Boy George s Home Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 24 June 2018 Friend of Singer Boy George Dies of Suspected Drug Overdose AP News Archived from the original on 30 July 2019 Retrieved 30 July 2019 Boy George with Paul Gorman Straight London Century 2005 Musician Boy George has appeared in court Archived 26 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 8 October 2008 Singer Boy George has had a charge of possessing cocaine dropped by a New York court Archived 27 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 8 March 2006 Boy George Angers NYC Judge Archived 29 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine wcbstv from AP report 17 June 2006 A feisty Boy George reports for garbage duty Archived 10 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine Today com 14 August 2006 Beaumont Thomas Ben 22 March 2023 Boy George and Culture Club members pay ex drummer 1 75m after legal dispute The Guardian London England Retrieved 4 August 2023 Pilgrim Tom 27 June 2023 Bankruptcy proceedings against Culture Club members dismissed The Independent London England Retrieved 4 August 2023 Morgan Britton Luke 16 February 2017 Boy George opens up about psychotic episode in which he chained male escort to a wall NME Networks Retrieved 7 March 2023 Boy George opens up about his arrest youtube com I m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here 16 November 2022 Jones Sam Lewis Paul 16 January 2009 Boy George gets 15 months for falsely imprisoning male escort The Guardian London England Archived from the original on 10 January 2017 Retrieved 11 December 2016 Boy George jailed for 15 months BBC News London England 16 January 2008 Archived from the original on 18 January 2009 Retrieved 16 January 2008 Swash Rosie 12 May 2009 Boy George released early from jail The Guardian London England Archived from the original on 18 June 2018 Retrieved 17 May 2018 Boy George loses Big Brother plea BBC News 23 December 2009 Archived from the original on 17 December 2021 Retrieved 26 April 2010 Kennedy John R 13 November 2014 Boy George throat issue forces Culture Club to cancel tour Global News Canada Retrieved 4 August 2023 Zwecker Bill 13 November 2014 Culture Club tour canceled due to Boy George throat polyp Chicago Sun Times Chicago USA Chicago Public Media pp n a Retrieved 4 August 2023 Boy George amp Culture Club Facebook 13 November 2014 Retrieved 4 August 2023 Olivier Bobby 15 July 2015 Boy George talks liberating album voice change ahead of N J shows NJ Advance Media Iselin NJ USA Retrieved 4 August 2023 Farber Jim 2 July 2015 Boy George talks reuniting with Culture Club This whole comeback is one big amends New York Daily News New York NY USA Retrieved 4 August 2023 LGBT Music artists 2015 British LGBT Awards Britishlgbtawards com Archived from the original on 31 March 2019 Retrieved 16 August 2021 LGBT Celebrities 2016 British LGBT Awards Britishlgbtawards com Archived from the original on 21 July 2021 Retrieved 16 August 2021 Check out all the winners and presenters from the Virgin Holidays Attitude Awards 2018 powered by Jaguar Attitude co uk 12 October 2018 Archived from the original on 11 July 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 There s still time to vote in our 2018 Reader Awards 2 January 2019 Archived from the original on 24 January 2019 Retrieved 17 December 2021 35 Years Ago That Time Boy George Guest Starred on The A Team Ultimate Classic Rock Archived from the original on 14 November 2021 Retrieved 14 November 2021 Boy George to appear on British soap Hollyoaks Advocate 20 November 2002 Archived from the original on 16 November 2021 Retrieved 17 December 2021 Meet Boy George I m a Celebrity 2022 contestant and singer Radio Times Retrieved 19 November 2022 Further reading editDe Graaf Kasper Garret Malcolm 1983 When Cameras Go Crazy London UK Virgin Books amp New York NY USA St Martin s Press ISBN 0 312 17879 4 Culture Club s official biography Boy George with Spencer Bright 1995 Take It Like a Man London Sidgwick amp Jackson Boy George s first official autobiography Boy George with Paul Gorman 2004 Straight London Century Boy George s second official autobiography republished in 2007 with updates first edition includes EP of the same name External links editBoy George at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Data from Wikidata Official website Boy George at IMDb Boy George at the Internet Broadway Database nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Boy George amp oldid 1193622902, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.