Boy George

At 63 years old, Boy George has this physical status:

Boy George (born George Alan O'Dowd, 1960) is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, and fashion designer.

He is the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club.

They released hit songs like "Karma Chameleon," "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" and "Time (Clock of the Heart)" during the band's popularity in the 1980s.

George is well-known for his deep voice and his androgynous appearance.

He was active in the English New Romantic movement, which exploded in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. His music has often been described as blue-eyed soul, and it is influenced by rhythm, blues, and reggae.

He was the lead singer of Jesus Loves You from 1989 to 1992.

His 1990s and 2000s solo music has glam influences, including David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

He has fewer music albums, divided his time between songwriting, DJing, writing books, designing clothes, and photography.

Boy George was given the Ivor Novello Award by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors for Outstanding Contributions to British Music in 2015.

Personal life and sexuality

Much was made of George's androgynous appearance when he first joined Culture Club, and rumors of his sexuality were also present. "Do you prefer males or women?" Joan Rivers asked in an interview in 1983. "Oh, both," George said. When Barbara Walters asked George about his sexual orientation in 1985, he said he was bisexual and had many girlfriends and boyfriends in the past. To an interviewer, he replied with a tense, oft-quoted answer that he preferred "a nice cup of tea" to sex.

George wrote that he was gay, not bisexual, and that he had secret relationships with punk rock musician Kirk Brandon and Culture Club drummer Jon Moss in his 1995 autobiography Taking It Like a Man. He said that several of the songs he wrote for Culture Club were about his friendship with Moss. He discussed his first realisation he was gay when he first told his parents, and how men fall in love with one another as well as with women.

Boy George and Annie Lennox, two of the most popular androgynous celebrities in music, appeared on the front of Smash Hits magazine in December 1983, with the headline "Who is the boy?" "The front page of Newsweek magazine in January 1984 was followed by the front page."

George adopted a macrobiotic diet, which he had been following since 1988, as he began his career as a DJ in the late 1990s. He published the Karma Cookbook in 2001, co-written with Dragana Brown, a private macrobiotic cook and instructor who George met in 1986. After years of occasionally trying the diet, George became a raw vegan by 2014.

Who Do You Think You Are? An episode of BBC television genealogy television series Who Do You Think You Are? On the day, it was revealed that he was connected to executed Irish revolutionary Thomas Bryan, a member of the "Forgotten Ten," who was a contributor to the "Forgotten Ten." Boy George has credited Nichiren Buddhism and chanting Nam Myh Renge Kyh for his newfound spiritual vigor in remaining sober as of 2012.

George had been struggling with heroin use for several years by the late 1980s. He attempted to perform concerts when it was still under its influence. Addictions to other medications were soon followed. Determined to save George's life, his younger brother David appeared on UK national television and addressed George's drug use, which George had previously denied openly. Boy George was arrested in 1986 for heroin use as part of "Operation Culture."

Michael Rudetsky, co-wrote the song "Sexuality" on Culture Club's From Luxury to Heartache album, was discovered dead in George's London home in 1986. At a party, George will miss Mark Valiant, who overdosed on methadone and Valium. Mark Golding, a fellow survivor of an overdose in December 1986, died of an overdose, but Scotland Yard police said there was no suggestion of foul play. During this time, George decided to seek medical attention for his heroin use.

Kirk Brandon sued George for libel in 1995, claiming that George referred to a love affair between them in George's autobiography, Take it Like a Man. George was granted the court hearing, and Brandon was charged £200,000 to Virgin Records, EMI Virgin Music, and the book publisher in fees. Brandon declared himself bankrupt, resulting in Boy George's payment of over £20,000 in legal fees.

George was arrested in Manhattan on suspicion of cocaine use and incorrectly reporting a robbery on October 7, 2005. George denied that the drugs were his. The cocaine possession charge was dismissed in court on February 1, 2006, and George pleaded guilty to falsely reporting a robbery. He was sentenced to five days of community service, fined US$1,000, and ordered to complete a drug rehabilitation program. A Manhattan judge issued a warrant for Boy George's detention after he failed to appear in court for a hearing about why George decided to change his sentence for the false burglary report on June 17, 2006. George's counsel told the court that he had advised George not to attend the hearing. On August 14, 2006, George obtained a court-ordered community service from the New York City Department of Sanitation. He was allowed to complete his community service inside the Sanitation Department grounds as a result of the swarm of media coverage.

George was found guilty of the murder and false arrest of Audun Carlsen, a Norwegian model and male escort, in Snaresbrook Crown Court, London, on December 5th, 2008, but George had him handcuffed to a wall fixture and beat him with a metal chain in April 2007. George's defense outlined the consequences of his long-term drug use as a deterrent factor. George was sentenced to 15 months in jail for these offences on January 16, 2009. He was first arrested at HM Prison Pentonville in London, but he was later transferred to HM Prison Highpoint North in Suffolk. On May 9, 2009, he was released after four months for good conduct. For the remainder of his term, he was expected to wear an ankle monitor and report to a curfew.

George had his request to appear on the last series of Celebrity Big Brother (to be broadcast on Channel 4) on December 23, 2009, although he was still on licensed release from jail following an assault conviction earlier this year. George's participation, according to Richard Clayton, QC, the Probation Service's chief, would put the service's reputation in jeopardy. Clayton argued that if he used the show to advertise his fame as a celebrity and bring "a large sum of money" to the criminal justice system, it would undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system.

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Career

On June 14, 1961, George Alan O'Dowd, a boy from Barnehurst Hospital, Kent, England, was born George Alan O'Dowd, the second of five children born to builder Jerry O'Dowd (born Jeremiah; 1932–2004) and Dinah O'Dowd (born Christina Glynn; 1939). He was raised in a working-class Irish Catholic family; his father was born in England of Irish descent; his mother is from Dublin. Kevin, his older brother, two younger brothers Gerald and David, as well as a younger sibling Siobhán, are among his younger brothers. George has an older half-brother Richard, who was born out of wedlock in Dublin in 1957 when his mother was just 18 years old; she and him moved to London to begin a new life and avoid the stigma of being an unmarried mother.

George likened his family's past to a "sad Irish song." Since being discovered outside the family's house alone and enrolled in an Industrial School, his maternal grandmother was permanently removed from her family at age six. During the Irish War of Independence, his great uncle Thomas Bryan was executed by the British in 1921. Jerry O'Dowd was physically and mentally abused while beating her even when she was pregnant with George, according to George's mother, who wrote a memoir in 2007. "He was a terrible father and a horrible husband," George recalled of his father. Gerald, George's youngest brother, who suffers from schizophrenia, was found guilty of murdering his mother during a bout of psychosis in 1995.

George was a follower of the New Romantic movement, which was particularly popular in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. He lived in several squats off Warren Street in Central London, which was central London's Warren Street. Marilyn and Steve Strange and Rusty Egan were regulars at Blitz, a London nightclub run by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Roxy Music, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, and David Bowie and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan were among the pop stars who inspired him. George states, Bolan and Bowie had an effect on him.

Boy George's androgynous style of dressing attracted the attention of music entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren (previously the Sex Pistols' chief), who arranged for George to appear with the group Bow Wow Wow Wow. Lieutenant Lush's time with Bow Wow Wow Wow was rocky with lead singer Annabella Lwin. George eventually left the band and formed his own band with bassist Mikey Craig. Jon Moss (who had drumming stints with the Damned and Adam and the Ants) and then guitarist Roy Hay joined them, then guitarist Roy Hay. They were originally named Sex Gang Children but then decided on Culture Club, referring to the members' various ethnic backgrounds.

The band recorded demos that were paid for by EMI Records, but the band declined to sign them. Virgin Records expressed keen interest in signing the company in the United Kingdom for European premieres, while Epic Records handled US and North American distribution. They released Kissing to Be Clever, their first album (UK No. 14). No. 5 in the United States No. 5 is ranked No. 5. It was first published in 1982 and it was released on October 14,) and it was released in 1982. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" says the artist. With a top-ranked world hit, he became the world's best-selling celebrity. In many nations around the world, the top ten in several other nations (US No. 1). 2). "Time" in the United States and the United Kingdom was followed by "Time" and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya," which reached the No. 1 spot in the United States and United Kingdom. 9. Culture Club received the distinction of being the first group since the Beatles to have three Top Ten hits in the United States from a debut album.

Colour By Numbers, the band's newest album, was a huge success, with many of the UK charts and reaching No. 1 position. In the United States, there are two. The single "Church of the Poison Mind" became a Top-ten hit, and "Karma Chameleon" was a worldwide phenomenon, peaking at No. 10. In new countries, 1 in 16 countries and the top ten in new countries. It hit No. 1 in the United States. It stayed for three weeks on the 1st. It was the best-selling single of 1983 in the United Kingdom, where it spent six weeks at No. 58. 1. "Victims" and "It's a Miracle" were two more Top 5 UK hits, while "Miss Me Blind" reached the Top 5 in the United States, with "Miss Me Blind" reaching the Top 5 in the country.

Waking Up with the House on Fire, the band's third album (UK No.) No. 2 in the United States No. 2 was ranked No. 2 in the United States. The 26th century's greatest hits were not as big a hit as its predecessors, but the chart was nonetheless a hit, with widespread success. "The War Song," the first single, was a No. 1 hit. Two hits in the UK, but further singles did not do well, as expected. George played a joint lead vocal role on the Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" on November 25, 1984. Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, west London, was filmed. He was the last solo artist to deliver his lines at 6 p.m., having just arrived in the studio from Heathrow Airport after a Concorde transatlantic flight. After Paul Young's appearances in the opening lines, the song featured mostly British and Irish musical acts, with George as the second artist to appear after Paul Young sings the opening lines. It was Christmas number one and the nation's best-selling single of 1984. During the 1984-1985 Ethiopian famine, proceeds from the song were donated to help famine victims. Culture Club did not appear at Live Aid in July 1985, unlike many of the bands on the single.

George appeared in a guest-starring cameo in an episode of the television series "The A-Team" titled "Cowboy George" in 1986. Culture Club also released their fourth album, From Luxury to Heartache, in 1986 (UK No. 6) No. 94). No. 10 in the United States No. 10 is the No. 10. The hit song "Move Away" was on display on 32), which also included the hit song "Move Away." With George's return to heroin use, the band members' underwhelming results of their last two albums, a shrouded in secrecy, and a wrongful death case looming, the group was disbanded.

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 United States. The band appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman in the United Kingdom for the first time in 14 years. The band debuted on the UK charts at No.4 with "I Just Want to Be Loved" and then debuted on "Your Kisses are Charity" later that year. Don't Worry If I Do was released in 1999. The band decided to reunite and tour in 2006, but George declined to join them. As a result, two members of Culture Club were replaced by vocalist Sam Butcher. George expressed his displeasure with his cyny. The initiative was shelved after just one showcase and one live display.

George revealed to the BBC on January 27th that a 30th Anniversary Culture Club reunion tour would be held later this year, and that a new album will be released in 2012. Despite the fact that the 2011 tour didn't take place, Culture Club did perform two live concerts in Dubai and Sydney, the former being a New Year's Eve concert. The band were back together on May 20, 2014, according to Culture Club's official Facebook page. A new snapshot of the four members was also released, as well as a rundown of 11 concert dates around the United Kingdom. Alison Moyet will appear at the concerts as a special guest. In 2014, the band had been scheduled to appear in America before the UK tour in December.

In 2016, the band was supposed to tour New Zealand. Tickets for shows in Christchurch and Auckland were also available. Boy George walked out after the interviewer inquired about his 2009 criminal arrest in November 2016. The band postponed its Christchurch show, citing disruptions in the band's international touring schedule. The December performance in Auckland was also postponed late in November.

Boy George went back to rehab after the dissolution of Culture Club in 1986 and was given narcotics to treat his heroin use. George's first solo album, Sold, debuted in 1987, and it has had a huge success in Europe. It was the creator of "Everything I Own" in the United Kingdom. (UK No. 1) 1) "Keep Me in Mind" (UK No. 1). "To Be Reborn" (UK No. 29) "To Be Reborn" (UK No. 39). "Sold" was the title song, and it was not released in the United Kingdom. 24. The singles were also popular in other European countries. The album's success, on the other hand, was not duplicated in America. This may have been due in large part to the fact that George was refused by US authorities from traveling to the US for several years as a result of his British drug convictions. He was also unable to be in America to help promote the album.

With the single "Live My Life," George scored his first solo US Top 40 hit (US No. 1). (40) From the soundtrack to the film Hiding Out. His next two internationally released albums, Tense Headache (1988) and Boyfriend (1989), will be his next two albums; however, these two albums will not be available in the United States. Rather, Virgin Records picked several songs from each of these albums for a North American-only release named High Hat (1989). In "Don't Take My Mind on a Trip," produced by Teddy Riley, High Hat scored a top-five R&B hit. "No Clause 28 (Emilio Pasqez Space Face Remix)," a reaction song to Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government's ban on "promotion" of homosexuality in local authorities such as schools, was George's next hit song in the United Kingdom. It was a hit in an underground acid house. Andy Bell of Erasure, the British Academy of British In accepting the award for Best British Group from Boy George at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1989, the crowd applauded it, with Bell claiming that it was an act of resistance against Section 28.

George founded More Protein in 1989 and began recording under the name Jesus Loves You, a play on angel dust. "After the Love," "Generations of Love," and "Bow Down Mister," the last two hits for him in the UK Top 30 in 1991, he had several underground hits in the early 1990s; "After the Love," "Generations of Love," and "Bow Down Mister." George wrote the song during a trip to India inspired by his involvement in the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON). Massive Attack's "One on One" was another hit on one. On the Power Station satellite channel, George hosted a weekly chat and music show from March 1990 to April 1991. George had a minor success with the Pet Shop Boys' song "The Crying Game," which was released on the back of the same name. The song debuted at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100, ranked 15th. George's "genius reading" of the song was praised by Billboard's Larry Flick. "It's been said again and again that all a performer needs is the right stuff to have a hit," Gavin Report founder Dave Sholin commented. Boy George is just the right artist to revive this album.

He has also worked as a well-known music DJ for a second time. Planets, Phillip Sallon's newest nightclub, was based in Piccadil, London. He was first a DJ. He attracted the interest of legendary rave/house promoters Fantazia, who begged him to mix 1 of the discs on the 2nd volume in their latest compilation series Fantazia The House Collection 2 in the 1990s. This compilation was a hit in the United Kingdom, winning gold. The album was also sold to Sony for European-wide distribution. Ministry of Sound, a London nightclub, had him compile one of their first CDs, and it immediately sold 100,000 copies. He then assembled some compilations for them, four of which being the Annual I to IV. George appeared on the P.M. in 1993. "More Than Likely," a dawn track that has been a moderate success in the United Kingdom and the United States, has become a moderate success in the United Kingdom and the United States.

In 1995, George released Cheapness and Beauty, a rock-driven album. The single "Same Thing in Reverse" became a minor US hit. Volume One, the Unrecoupable One Man Bandit, was the first album to be released, but only then by independent companies. Boy George and two long-time musicians, John Themis and Ritchie Stevens, were among the new group's next project from the time. It was originally referred to as 'Shallow,' but later renamed to 'Dubversive.' The trip took place in 1997 and included trip-hop, dub, and reggae. The project was not picked up by any major retailers, but several of the songs were later released on the 2002 Culture Club Box Set, and some others were sold on eBay in 2004.

Several dance-oriented songs were released in various countries on various websites, on some other labels. For example, "Love Is Leaving" made it to the top three in Italy, while "When Will You Learn" reached the top spot in the Swiss charts. At the Grammy Awards, "When Will You Learn" was also voted for the Best Dance Recording category. Boy George performed with dance-oriented performers in 1999.

For example, "Why Go?

Faithless's slower-paced track "was later revealed in several European countries and Australia in a redesigned form. Groove Armada's "Innocence is Lost" was a track, but it was only around in 1999 that it was announced on a promo 12.

Boy George remained a figure in the public eye, appearing in the London musical Taboo, based on the early 1980s New Romantic period (George did not play himself, instead choosing to take on the persona of Australian-born performance artist Leigh Bowery). Boy George was nominated for a Tony Award for his "Best Musical Score" and Taboo was a huge success in London's West End, running for two years and winning four Laurence Olivier Award nominations, but Rosie O'Donnell's heavily redesigned US version ran for 100 performances.

Boy George introduced U Can Never B2 Straight, a "unplugged" series of rare and lesser-known acoustic works in 2002. It featured unreleased songs from previous years as well as some ballads from Cheapness and Beauty, as well as other Culture Club tracks Don't Care if I Do. Boy George experimented in electronicsa from 2002 to 2004, releasing limited edition 7" singles and promo records. There were four 7" singles, one limited 12" single (for "Sanitized"), and a promo CD, as well as a 13-track album Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum. It was announced in digital stores such as iTunes two years ago. An album that was released in the spring of 2003 was also shelved. The album, which was a joint effort with electronic group T–Total, was a compilation of songs by David Bowie, John Lennon, Dusty Springfield, T. Rex, and Eurythmics among others.

During 2003, he hosted a weekly show on London radio station LBC 97.3 for six months. He wrote the introduction to Simon G. Brown's Practical Feng Shui (published in 1998). At No. 1, he appeared on the British comedy-talk show The Kumars. 42 years old. He appeared on Channel 4 television in March 2005 as the guest host for an episode of The Friday Night Project.

George released Straight, his second volume of his autobiography, in 2005. He also announced another album, this time called Straight, on his "More Protein" website, which was also released in mid-2005. The album was never released, but a four track sampler was also released with the same name. For August 2006, a reggaeton focused EP was also planned, but it was never announced. George himself, in late 2006 and early 2007, posted some of his latest songs on his YouTube account, his three Myspace pages, and occasionally on his official website. Boy George introduced "Time Machine" on Plan A Records in January 2007, a song co-written with Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter Amanda Ghost, who co-wrote "You're Beautiful" with James Blunt.

Boy George has been running his own fashion business for some years, dubbed "B-Rude." B-Rude has appeared at fashion shows in London, New York, and Moscow. George appeared on BBC television show Duet Impossible, a one-off BBC television show in which he performed with himself from the 1980s and joked about his street cleaning.

In limited editions, two electronica/dance collaborations were published later in 2007. "You're Not the One" was remixed from an old demo and launched in the spring, with the dance combo "Loverush UK" reaching the top 20 in the UK dance chart. It was a digital-only launch that was available in a variety of digital stores like iTunes. "Atoms," a new trip-hop/electro band, was also on iTunes, was announced on November 19th. The single includes eight versions, from the slow original to electro remixes by Ariya and Henrik Schwarz. Also in late 2007, an EP named "Disco Abomination" appeared on the internet, and several underground stores are available for download. It featured new remixes of songs like "You're Not the One" from US DJ EddieD, "Turn 2 Dust," "Love Your Brother," and "Don't Want to See Yourself" and "Go Your Own Way" from U.S. DJ EddieD. The bulk of the versions are remixed by German producer Kinky Roland.

On February 25, 2007, George was the special guest DJ at the Court Hotel in Perth, Australia. He appeared as a DJ at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on March 4, 2007, the Mardi Gras Festival's first Sunday. He appeared at the Palazzo Versace's launch party in Dubai, UAE, on May 11, 2007. George has postponed his planned tour in October 2007 as a result of an announcement on his official website. He appeared at numerous venues around the world in 2007 as a DJ.

George performed a special residency at the Shaw Theatre in London from January 23, 2008, which was followed by a complete tour of the United Kingdom. Boy George's life was chronicled on the Biography Channel in April 2008. Due to a pending London court lawsuit slated for November 2008, the American tour, which was supposed to take place in July/August 2008, had to be postponed due to a suspended London court lawsuit. Six concert dates in South America were announced on July 2nd. Boy George took part in RETROFEST, which took place in Scotland in August 2008, and a 30-date UK tour took place in October/November 2008.

He signed a new record contract in 2009, then releasing the album Ordinary Alien – The Kinky Roland Files in the fall of 2010. The album was made up of previously recorded songs mixed by long-time dance partner Kinky Roland. He appeared in Night of the Proms, a series of concerts held annually in Belgium, Germany, and Spain, that feature a blend of pop music and popular classical music (often combined).

In October, George appeared in the Melbourne International Arts Festival as featured guest DJ and then performing with Antony Hegarty in the festival's presentations of Swanlights, the Museum of Modern Art's musical artwork commission, which had only been on view one night before at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

"Coming Home" was a new song on June 2013. Mikey Craig, a former bandmate of Culture Club, co-wrote the song with George. It was written during his album This Is What I Do's first album, which was released in October 2013. It has been reimagined by Marc Vedo and Kinky Roland. Boy George is the artist featured on the song, Dharma Protocol. Boy George's video of a video was posted on YouTube and directed by him, but he did not appear in the film. It was filmed on the Epping Ongar Railway and starred Danie Cox, lead singer and guitarist of the London-based band the Featherz.

It was announced on August 19th that George would debut This Is What I Do, his first in 18 years. George and his long-time writing partners John Themis, Kevan Frost, and Richie Stevens contributed to the album. Stevens wrote the piece at Cowshed Studios in London, and Kobalt Label Services sold it. Along with writing collaborations with Youth, and a Yoko Ono rendition of "Death of Samantha," the album also includes writing collaborations with Youth. It was mixed by Dave Bascombe and features a lineup of local musicians, including DJ Yoda, Kitty Durham, Ally McErlaine, MC Spee, and Nizar Al Issa.

George appeared in The Voice UK's fifth series in January 2016, replacing Tom Jones as a mentor. Cody Frost, his final act, came in third place overall. George left the series after just one season and later joined The Voice Australia as a mentor for its sixth season to replace The Madden Brothers. Hoseah Partsch, the runner-up in his last contestant, was the runner-up. He returned for the show's seventh season, 2018-19, his eighth season, and the show's ninth season, Diana Rouvas, the competition's last contestant, was defeated in the tournament, and its ninth season in 2020. George did not return for the tenth season of the Royal Ballet.

Boy George appeared on "Starman" in October 2016, nine months after his idol's death from liver cancer, as part of Channel 4's Stand Up to Cancer UK campaign. Boy George appeared on NBC in 2017 during the last season of The New Celebrity Apprentice, which included the charity Safe Kids Worldwide and came in second place. He appeared on Pitbull's album Climate Change in 2017 and again in 2017.

Boy George, reuniting him with his songwriting catalogue in August 2017, as BMG purchased the Virgin Records songwriters in 2012. He appeared on "Don't Go Changing Soho," a Jocasta's Tim Arnold single for the Save Soho campaign in 2019.

George and Pauline performed "Clouds" and "Isolation," two new solo songs from his forthcoming album Geminis Don't Read The Manual, which was supposed to be published later this year, but was postponed. On April 6, 2020, BGP's own record label (Boy George Presents) unveiled the Isolation Limited Edition 2-track CD Single (Catalogue No. BGP015), which includes the title track and a new "Spatial Awareness Meets" mix of the track "Clouds."

In 2021, he appeared on the BBC's Paul Weller – Live at the Barbican, as well as Paul Weller and conductor Jules Buckley for a streamlined version of The Style Council's "You're the Greatest Thing." He became a judge on the Irish talent show The Big Deal in September 2021.

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