Boy George
(Read all about Boy George after the video)
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, fashion designer and photographer. He is the lead singer of the Grammy and Brit Award-winning pop band Culture Club. At the height of the band's fame, during the 1980s, they recorded global hit songs such as "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Time (Clock of the Heart)" and "Karma Chameleon" and George is known for his soulful voice and androgynous appearance. He was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s to the early 1980s.
His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by rhythm and blues and reggae. He was lead singer of Jesus Loves You during the period 1989–1992. His 1990s and 2000s-era solo music has glam influences, such as David Bowie and Iggy Pop.
More recently, he has released fewer music recordings, splitting his
time between songwriting, DJing, writing books, designing clothes, and
photography.
Career
Early life and career
Boy George was born George Alan O'Dowd in Eltham, London, on 14 June 1961, to Jeremiah and Dinah O'Dowd, and has four brothers and one sister.[2] George was a follower of the New Romantic movement which was popular in Britain in the early 1980s. He lived in various squats around Warren Street in Central London.[3][4] He and his friend Marilyn were regulars at Blitz,[5] a London nightclub run by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan.[6] The pop artists that inspired him were Siouxsie and the Banshees, David Bowie, T. Rex, Roxy Music and Patti Smith.[7]
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 George to perform with the group Bow Wow Wow. Going by the stage name Lieutenant Lush, his tenure with Bow Wow Wow proved problematic with lead singer Annabella Lwin. 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.
Realising they had a cross-dressing Irish singer (George), a
black-Briton (Craig), a Jewish drummer (Moss) and an ethnic Englishman
(Hay), they settled on the name Culture Club, referring to the various ethnic backgrounds of the members.
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 a dozen 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.[8]
Their next album, Colour By Numbers was an enormous success, topping the UK charts and hit No. 2 in the US. The single "Church of the Poison Mind" became a Top 10 hit, and "Karma Chameleon"
became an international hit, peaking at No. 1 in sixteen countries, and
the top ten in additional countries. It hit No. 1 in the US where it
stayed for three weeks. It was the best-selling single of the year in
the United Kingdom, where it spent six weeks at No. 1. "Victims" and "It's a Miracle" were further Top 5 UK hits, while "Miss Me Blind" reached the Top 5 in the US.
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. Although the first single, "The War Song", was a No.2 hit in the UK, further singles performed below expectations. George then provided a lead vocal role on the Band Aid international hit single "Do They Know It's Christmas". The single featured mostly British and Irish musical acts, and proceeds from the song were donated to feed famine victims in Africa during the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. Unlike many of the bands featured on the single, Culture Club did not perform at Live Aid in July 1985.
In 1985 George performed backing vocals to Feargal Sharkey's number one hit "A Good Heart". In 1986, George performed a guest-starring cameo role in an episode titled "Cowboy George" of the television series The A-Team. 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".
However, word shortly began circulating in tabloids that George was
addicted to drugs. He was arrested in Britain for possession of
cannabis. Shortly thereafter, 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 George's London home.
Rudetsky's parents filed a wrongful death suit in Britain against
George, seeking financial damages for their son's death. With George's
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. George won the
court case against the Rudetskys and was not required to pay any
monetary damages. He would agree to seek treatment for his addiction.
George, however, would lose another friend, Mark Vaultier, who overdosed
on methadone and Valium at a party. George never made it to the party. He had been arrested en route to the party on suspicion of carrying drugs.
As of 2012, Boy George has credited his practice of Nichiren Buddhism and chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for his newfound spiritual strength to remain sober.[9][10]
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 but was a commercial failure.
In 2006, the band decided to again reunite and tour; however, George
declined to join them for this tour. As a result, two members of Culture
Club replaced George with vocalist Sam Butcher. George expressed his
displeasure.[11] Finally, after one showcase and one live show, that project was shelved.
On 27 January 2011, 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.[12] 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. In interviews given shortly
before the concerts, the group confirmed that they were indeed recording
new material though this has yet to surface.
On 20 May 2014, it was announced on several Boy George pages on Facebook,
as well as the official Culture Club site on the same social network,
that the band is 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 on the concerts. The band was scheduled to
perform selected dates in America in autumn 2014 before the UK tour in
December.
According to the sales tickets service, prior to these live dates
Culture Club would be going into the studio to record new material, with
producer Youth, who had previously worked with Paul McCartney, the Verve and Embrace
among others, for a new album meant to be released in early 2015. The
release date was later changed to "early 2016" but as of September of
that year, pre-orders were still being taken and the album (titled
"Tribes") was unreleased.
Solo career: late 1980s
After
the dissolution of Culture Club in 1986, Boy George entered treatment
for his addiction. He was prescribed narcotics to treat his addiction to
heroin. In kicking his heroin addiction, he then became addicted to the
prescription narcotics that were used during his treatment. In 1987, he
released his first solo album, Sold,
which garnered mild 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 be due in part
to the fact that George was prohibited by US authorities from
travelling to the United States for several years because of his British
drug charges. He was therefore unable to be in America to help promote
the album.
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. George's following single in the UK was "No Clause 28 (Emilio Pasqez Space Face Full Remix)", a protest song against a legal provision banning local authorities from promoting homosexuality. The song was an underground acid house hit.
Solo career: 1990s
In 1989, 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),[13] 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, George presented a weekly chat and music show on the Power Station satellite channel called Blue Radio. In 1992, George had a major US and UK hit with the song "The Crying Game", from the soundtrack for the film of the same name.
The film became a surprise hit and the single reached the No. 15 in the
US. Although he had had several solo hits in Europe, this would be Boy
George's biggest US hit since Culture Club's "Move Away" reached the US
Top 20.
He has also enjoyed a second career as a notable music DJ.[14] 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 legendary 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, and it promptly sold
100,000 copies. He then completed some compilations for them, five of
them being the Annual I to V.
In 1993, George was featured on the P.M. Dawn single "More Than Likely" which became a moderate US and UK hit.
George released the rock-driven album Cheapness and Beauty in 1995, but the album was not successful, although 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, and some others appeared on eBay in 2004.
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: 2000–present
Boy George remained a figure in the public eye, starring in the London musical Taboo,
based on the New Romantic scene of the early 1980s (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 a great success in London's West End, though a heavily altered American production produced by Rosie O'Donnell in New York City was short-lived (100 performances, versus the two-year run in London).
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.
It received the best reviews of Boy George's solo career, many of them
highlighting his strong song writing abilities. The record was only
released in the UK and Japan, and received almost no promotion from
Virgin Records, only rising to No. 147 on the UK album charts.
From 2002 to 2004, under the pseudonym "The Twin", Boy George experimented in electronica, releasing limited edition 7" singles and promo records.[15] 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 Jefferson Airplane, David Bowie, John Lennon, Dusty Springfield, T. Rex and Eurythmics among others.
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, 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 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.
"Time Machine" was co-written by double Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter Amanda Ghost who also co-wrote "You're Beautiful" with James Blunt.[16]
Boy George has run his own fashion line for some years, called
"B-Rude". B-Rude has shown at fashion shows in London, New York and
Moscow. On 24 December 2006, 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.
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 "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.
On 25 February 2007, 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.
George cancelled his planned 2007 October tour via an announcement on
his official website. In 2007, he toured as a DJ, visiting many venues
in locations such as Stuttgart, Rotterdam, Auckland, Brisbane,
Melbourne, Sydney, Dubai, Montreal, Toronto, London, Blackpool,
Coventry, Munich, Lyon, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Moscow.[citation needed]
In January 2009, George was sentenced to 15 months in prison for
falsely imprisoning a male escort (Auden Carlsen) by handcuffing him to a
wall and beating him with a metal chain. The incident, which happened
in April 2007, stemmed from George's belief that Carlsen had attempted
to hack into his computer while he was visiting George's flat for a nude
photo session.[17]
After being released from prison, George resumed his DJ career
embarking on a worldwide tour of clubs. He played a special residency at
the Shaw Theatre in London from 23 January 2008, followed by a full UK
tour.[18] 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 the 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,[19] 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 longtime 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).
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,[20] the Museum of Modern Art's musical artwork commission, which had only ever been performed one night previously, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
June 2013 saw the release of a new song, "Coming Home". Mikey Craig, former bandmate in Culture Club, co-wrote the song with 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.[21]
On 19 August 2013, it was announced 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 George and longtime 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.[22]
In January 2016, George joined the fifth series of The Voice UK,[23] replacing Tom Jones[24] as a mentor. His final act, Cody Frost, finished third place overall. George left The Voice UK after just one season. He later joined The Voice Australia as a coach for its sixth season.
Boy George participated in the 8th season of The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, in which he came in second place.[25] He collaborated on Pitbull's upcoming album Climate Change, released in 2017.[26]
Legal troubles
By the late 1980s, George had been struggling with heroin addiction for many years.[27]
He attempted to perform concerts while under its influence. Addictions
to other drugs soon followed. Determined to save George's life, his
younger brother David made an appearance on UK national television and
discussed George's drug habit, which George had been publicly denying at
that time. In 1986, Boy George was arrested for heroin possession as
part of "Operation Culture." [28]
In 1995, Kirk Brandon sued George for libel claiming that George mentioned a love affair between them in George's autobiography, Take It Like a Man. 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.[29]
On 7 October 2005, George was arrested in Manhattan on suspicion of cocaine possession and falsely reporting a burglary. George denied that the drug was his.[30]
In court on 1 February 2006, the cocaine possession charge was dropped
and 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.[31]
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
George wanted to change his sentence for the false burglary report.
George's attorney informed the court that he had advised George not to
appear at that hearing.[32]
On 14 August 2006, George reported to the New York City Department of
Sanitation for his court-ordered community service. As a result of the
swarming media coverage, he was allowed to finish his community service
inside the Sanitation Department grounds.[33]
In a February 2007 interview, the performer explained: "People have
this idea of Boy George now, particularly the media: that I'm tragic,
fucked up. I mean, I'm all those things, but I'm also lots of other
things. Yes, I've had my dark periods, but that isn't all I am."[34]
Conviction
On 5 December 2008, George was convicted in Snaresbrook Crown Court, London, of the assault and false imprisonment
of Audun Carlsen—a Norwegian who initially stood for a photography
session with George, but on their next meeting George handcuffed him to a
wall fixture, traumatising him, and subjected him to violence. George's
defence gave the effects of his long-term drug use as a mitigating
factor.[35] On 16 January 2009, George was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for these offences.[36] George was initially incarcerated at HM Prison Pentonville but was then transferred to HM Prison Highpoint North.
He was given early release after four months for good behaviour on 11
May 2009. George was required to wear an ankle monitor and submit to a
curfew for the remainder of his sentence.[37]
On 23 December 2009, George had his request to appear on the final series of Celebrity Big Brother (to be broadcast on Channel 4) turned down by the Probation Service.
Richard Clayton QC, representing the Probation Service, said George's
participation would pose "a high level of risk" to the service's
reputation. Clayton argued that if he used the show to promote his
status as a celebrity and earn "a lucrative sum of money" it could
undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system.[38]
Personal life
When George was with Culture Club, much was made of his androgynous
appearance, and there was speculation about his sexuality. Although he
never flatly denied that he was gay, when asked in interviews about his
sexual orientation, George gave various answers. He gave a famous,
oft-quoted response to an interviewer that he preferred "a nice cup of
tea" to sex.[39]
In Take It Like a Man, George stated that he had secret relationships with punk rock singer Kirk Brandon and Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. He stated many of the songs he wrote for Culture Club were about his relationship with Moss.[40]
In 2006, in an episodic documentary directed by Simon George titled The Madness of Boy George, George declared on camera he was "militantly gay".[41] In a 2008 documentary Living with Boy George,
he talks about his first realisation he was gay, and when he first told
his parents. He discloses that he understands why men fall in love with
one another as well as with women.[42]
Concurrently with developing his career as a DJ in the late 1990s, George adopted a macrobiotic diet, which he had been attempting to follow since 1988. In 2001, he published the Karma Cookbook, co-written with Dragana Brown,[43] a private macrobiotic cook and teacher, whom George had first met in 1986.[44]
Transfer of icon to Church of Cyprus
In January 2011, George transferred an 18th-century icon of Christ to the Church of Cyprus.[45] The icon, which had adorned his home for 26 years, had been looted from the church of St Charalampus from the village of New Chorio, near Kythrea. George had originally purchased the icon from a London art dealer eleven years after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. He returned the icon at the Saints Anargyroi Church, Highgate, North London.[45][46]
Memoirs
Harper Collins published his first autobiography, Take It Like a Man, in 1995, written with Spencer Bright. The book was released at the same time as George's solo album Cheapness and Beauty and dealt with the same themes, including a number of photographs. Take It Like a Man was a best-seller in the UK.
In 2005, Century published Straight, his second autobiographical book, this time written with author Paul Gorman. It was in The Sunday Times
best-seller list for six weeks. This latter autobiography starts off
where the former had stopped, though the two works are different in
style, due to their different co-authors, and all of the chapters have a
title in the 2005 book, while the 1995 autobiography only featured
numbered sections.
Gorman has also ghost-written Cry Salty Tears, the memoirs of George's mother Dinah O'Dowd, which was published by Arrow Books, in January 2007. The same year also saw the publication of Straight in paperback.
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