Boy George
Boy George | |
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![]() Boy George in 2016 | |
Born | George Alan O'Dowd 14 June 1961 Barnehurst, Kent, England |
Other names |
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Occupations |
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Years active | 1979 | –present
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instruments |
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Discography | Boy George discography |
Labels | |
Member of | Culture Club |
Formerly of | |
Website | boygeorgeandcultureclub |
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band
Boy George was the lead singer of
As a solo artist, Boy George has released eleven studio albums, five
Early life
Boy George was born George Alan O'Dowd at
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
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.[13][14] He and his friend Marilyn were regulars at Blitz,[15] a London nightclub run by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan.[16] The pop artists that inspired him were Siouxsie and the Banshees, Roxy Music, Patti Smith,[17] and the two major glam rock pioneers, David Bowie, and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan.[18] On the impact of Bolan and Bowie on him, Boy George said:
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.[18]
Career
Culture Club
Boy George's
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.
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,
The band's third album,
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
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.

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

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
Solo career: 1990s
In 1989, Boy George formed his own record label,
Boy George has also enjoyed a second career as a notable music DJ.
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
Boy George remained a figure in the public eye, starring in the London musical

In 2002, Boy George released
During 2003, Boy George presented a weekly show on London radio station
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 along with a book titled Straight. 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
Later in 2007, two electronica/dance collaborations were released in limited editions. On 25 February 2007, Boy George was special guest DJ at LGBT nightspot the Court Hotel in
Boy George played a special residency at the Shaw Theatre in London from 23 January 2008, followed by a full UK tour.
Solo career: 2010–2021

Boy George's 2012 appearances included the
In June 2013, a new song was released called "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,
In January 2016, Boy George joined the
In October 2016, Boy George performed David Bowie's "
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 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]
2022–2024: I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and Moulin Rouge!
In November 2022, Boy George appeared as a contestant on the
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.[77][78][79] He was eliminated from the show on 22 November on the seventeenth day, finishing in 8th place.[80] During February–May 2024, and again from March-May 2025, Boy George portrayed Harold Zidler in the Moulin Rouge! musical.[81][82]
In 2024, Boy George was among over 400 artists and public figures who signed an open letter supporting Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. The letter urged the event's organisers to maintain the contest's non-political nature and to allow Israeli entrant Eden Golan to perform her song "Hurricane".[83][84]
Personal life
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,[85] whom Boy George met in 1986.[86] 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".[87]
As of 2012[update], Boy George has credited his practice of Nichiren Buddhism and chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō for his newfound spiritual strength to remain sober.[88][89] Boy George has said: "I'm Catholic in my complications and Buddhist in my aspirations."[90] 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.[90] He has a tattoo of David Bowie on his right arm and one of Marc Bolan on his left.[91] 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".[91]
Sexuality

In the 1980s, much was made of Boy George's
In his 1995 autobiography Take It Like a Man, Boy George stated that he was in fact gay, not bisexual, and that he had 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.[93] In the 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.[94] 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,[95][96] followed by the cover of Newsweek magazine in January 1984.[97]
Drug abuse and legal troubles
By the late 1980s, Boy George had been struggling with heroin addiction for several years.[98] 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,[99] which Boy George had been publicly denying at that time. In 1986, Boy George was arrested for heroin possession as part of "Operation Culture".[100]
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.
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.[103]
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.[104] 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.[105] 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.[106] 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.[107]
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.[108] 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.[109]
Assault and false-imprisonment conviction
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.[110][111][112] Defence counsel presented the effects of his long-term drug use as a mitigating factor.[113] On 16 January 2009, Boy George was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for these offences.[114] 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.[115]
In December 2009, while still on licensed release from prison, Boy George made a request to the
Medical problems
In 2014, Boy George suffered from a haemorrhaged polyp on his vocal cords, resulting in the cancellation of a Culture Club reunion tour.[117][118] Several dates in Canada, the UK and the US were cancelled. Following months of resting his voice, spending some days in total silence, giving up coffee, and practicing vocal exercises, Boy 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."[119][120]
Memoirs
Awards
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 | |
2002 | BT Digital Music Awards | Himself | People's Choice Award[122] | 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[123] | Nominated | ||
2016 | Celebrity[124] | Nominated | ||
International Dance Music Awards | "Just Another Guy" (ft. Vanilla Ace & Katerina Themis) | Best Indie Dance Track | Nominated | |
2018 | Attitude Awards | Himself | Music Icon[125] | Won |
2019 | Classic Pop Readers' Awards | Boy George & Culture Club | Group of the Year[126] | Nominated |
Discography
- Sold (1987)
- Tense Nervous Headache (1988)
- Boyfriend (1989)
- The Martyr Mantras (1991)
- Cheapness and Beauty (1995)
- The Unrecoupable One Man Bandit (1998)
- 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)
- SE18 (2025)
Filmography
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1986 | The A-Team | Himself; guest star as a member of Culture Club in "Cowboy George", episode 16 season 4.[127] |
2002–2004 | Taboo | Leigh Bowery |
2003 | Hollyoaks | Himself; guest star[128] |
The Kumars at No. 42 | Himself; guest star (Episode 3.6) | |
2016 | The Voice UK | Himself; judge/coach |
2017–2020 | 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[129] |
Bibliography
- George, Boy (2007). Foreword. Cry Salty Tears. By O'Dowd, Dinah. ISBN 9781846052361.
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Newsweek put Boy George and Eurythmic Annie Lennox on a cover heralding a second British Invasion, pop's gender benders
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In what might be the most entertaining music memoir since Elton John's Me, Boy George's Karma weaves a meandering path through several decades' of fame, success, crash and burn, before delivering him into a kind of autumnal meditative serenity, aged 62. That it is all wildly discursive, spectacularly catty and occasionally quite mad merely confirms its authenticity. This is George O'Dowd in all his exhausting glory.
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Further reading
- De Graaf Kasper, Garret Malcolm (1983), When Cameras Go Crazy, London, UK, 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 a sampler EP)
External links
- Official website
- Boy George at IMDb
- Boy George at the Internet Broadway Database