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George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his
androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singer of the pop band
Culture Club since the group's formation in 1981. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George's music is often classified as
blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
.
Boy George grew up in
Eltham
Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of E ...
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
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...
pioneers
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
and
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted in ...
. He formed the Culture Club with
Roy Hay,
Mikey Craig
Michael Emile "Mikey" Craig (born 15 February 1960) is a British musician and DJ of Jamaican descent, best known as the bassist of the pop/soul/new wave group Culture Club.
Craig's group Culture Club became one of the most successful bands of t ...
and
Jon Moss in 1981. The band's second album ''
Colour by Numbers
''Colour by Numbers'' is the second album by the British new wave group Culture Club, released in October 1983. Preceded by the hit single "Karma Chameleon", which reached number one in several countries, the album reached number one in the UK ...
'' (1983) sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Their hit singles include "
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" is a song written and performed by English new wave band Culture Club. Released as a single in September 1982 from the group's platinum-selling debut album, '' Kissing to Be Clever'' (1982), it was the band's fir ...
", "
Time (Clock of the Heart)
"Time (Clock of the Heart)" is a song by the British new wave band Culture Club, released as a stand-alone single in most of the world and as the second single from their debut album '' Kissing to Be Clever'' in North America. Following on the ...
", "
I'll Tumble 4 Ya
"I'll Tumble 4 Ya" was a hit single from Culture Club's Platinum-plus debut album '' Kissing to Be Clever''.
The 7" single was released only in North America, peaking at #9 in the U.S. and #5 in Canada. In Australia, it was released in Septem ...
", "
Church of the Poison Mind
"Church of the Poison Mind" is a 1983 hit single by the British new wave band Culture Club. It was released as the lead single from their second, and most successful, album '' Colour by Numbers''.
The song reached #2 in the United Kingdom, b ...
", "
Karma Chameleon
"Karma Chameleon" is a song by English band Culture Club, featured on the group's 1983 album ''Colour by Numbers''. The single was released in the United Kingdom in September 1983 and became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of th ...
", "
Victims", "
Miss Me Blind
"Miss Me Blind" is a song by English new wave band Culture Club. Known for an iconic guitar solo midway through the song, it was the third single released from the album '' Colour by Numbers'' in North America, peaking at number 5 on the US ...
", "
It's a Miracle", "
The War Song
"The War Song" is a song by British band Culture Club, featuring background vocals from Clare Torry. It was released as the lead single from the band's third album, ''Waking Up with the House on Fire'' (1984), in September 1984. The song becam ...
", "
Move Away
"Move Away" is a song by British band Culture Club, issued as the lead single from their fourth album, '' From Luxury to Heartache'' (1986). The song was produced by Lew Hahn and Arif Mardin. Released in March 1986, it became the group's eight ...
" and "
I Just Wanna Be Loved
"I Just Wanna Be Loved" is the first single from English new wave band Culture Club's fifth album, '' Don't Mind If I Do'' (1999). The song was serviced to US radio in August 1998 to promote the band's reformation US tour and the live album and ...
". 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
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
, five
compilation albums and forty-eight
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
. He has also released seven DJ albums, three
EPs and a
soundtrack album. His solo hit songs include "
Everything I Own
"Everything I Own" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates. It was originally recorded by Gates's soft rock band Bread for their 1972 album ''Baby I'm-a Want You.'' The original reached No. 5 on the American ''Billboard'' ...
", "
Bow Down Mister
"Bow Down Mister" is a song written by English singer Boy George, under the pseudonym "Angela Dust", and recorded by his first musical group following his departure from Culture Club, Jesus Loves You. Inspired by a trip George took to India, th ...
", "
Generations of Love
"Generations of Love" is a song by British band Jesus Loves You, founded by singer Boy George, and was released as the second single from their only album, '' The Martyr Mantras'' (1990). It also features raggamuffin toaster MC Kinky and made the ...
" and "
Love Is Leaving". He was featured as a vocalist on the 1984 charity song "
Do They Know It's Christmas?
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...
" 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
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
,
soft rock,
disco and reggae. He has received several awards as a solo artist and as a member of Culture Club. In 2002, he was voted 46th in a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
poll of the
100 Greatest Britons. In 2015, Boy George received an
Ivor Novello Award
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...
from the
British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...
for Outstanding Services to British Music.
Early life
Boy George was born George Alan O'Dowd at
Barnehurst
Barnehurst is a town and electoral ward in South East London within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north east of Bexleyheath, and 13.0 miles (20 km) east south-east of Charing Cross. It is separated from North Bexleyheath by the A2 ...
Hospital,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England, on 14 June 1961 and raised in
Eltham
Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of E ...
,
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
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Catholic family; his father was born in England of Irish descent and his mother is from
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
. He has one older brother Kevin, as well as two younger brothers Gerald and David and a younger sister Siobhán. Boy George also has an older half-brother Richard, 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.
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 by the British in 1921 during the
Irish War of Independence. 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.
Boy George said of his father, "He was a terrible father and a terrible husband."
In 1995, Boy George's youngest brother Gerald, who has schizophrenia, was convicted of killing his wife in an episode of paranoia.
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
Squat, squatter or squatting may refer to:
Body position
* Squatting position, a sitting position where one's knees are folded with heels touching one's buttocks or back of the thighs
* Squat (exercise), a lower-body exercise in strength and co ...
around Warren Street in
Central London. He and his friend
Marilyn were regulars at
Blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
, a London nightclub run by
Steve Strange
Stephen John Harrington (28 May 1959 – 12 February 2015), known professionally as Steve Strange, was a Welsh singer. From the late 1970s he was a nightclub host and promoter. He became famous as the leader of the new wave synth-pop group ...
and
Rusty Egan
Rusty Egan (born 19 September 1957 in London) is the former drummer for the British new wave band Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock (bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals), with Steve New ( ...
. The pop artists that inspired him were
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Roxy Music
Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone ...
,
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946)
is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''.
Called the "punk poet ...
, and the two major
glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...
pioneers,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, and
T. Rex frontman
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted in ...
.
On the impact of Bolan and Bowie on him, Boy George states,
Career
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
Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...
. Going by the stage name Lieutenant Lush, his tenure with Bow Wow Wow proved problematic with lead singer
Annabella Lwin
Annabella Lwin (born Myant Myant Aye, , 31 October 1966) is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow.
Early life, family and education
Lwin was born in Rangoon, Burma to a Burmese fat ...
. Boy George eventually left the group and started his own band with bassist
Mikey Craig
Michael Emile "Mikey" Craig (born 15 February 1960) is a British musician and DJ of Jamaican descent, best known as the bassist of the pop/soul/new wave group Culture Club.
Craig's group Culture Club became one of the most successful bands of t ...
. They were joined by
Jon Moss (who had drumming stints with
the Damned and
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...
) and then guitarist
Roy Hay. Originally they were named Sex Gang Children, but 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
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...
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
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
" 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
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
to have three Top 10 hits in the US from a debut album.
Their next album, ''
Colour By Numbers
''Colour by Numbers'' is the second album by the British new wave group Culture Club, released in October 1983. Preceded by the hit single "Karma Chameleon", which reached number one in several countries, the album reached number one in the UK ...
'', was an enormous success, topping the UK charts and reaching No. 2 in the US. The single "
Church of the Poison Mind
"Church of the Poison Mind" is a 1983 hit single by the British new wave band Culture Club. It was released as the lead single from their second, and most successful, album '' Colour by Numbers''.
The song reached #2 in the United Kingdom, b ...
" became a Top 10 hit, and "
Karma Chameleon
"Karma Chameleon" is a song by English band Culture Club, featured on the group's 1983 album ''Colour by Numbers''. The single was released in the United Kingdom in September 1983 and became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of th ...
" 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. "Victims" and "It's a Miracle" were further Top 5 UK hits, while "Miss Me Blind" reached the Top 5 in the US.
![Boy George's outfit, Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Boy_George%27s_outfit%2C_Hard_Rock_Cafe_Hollywood.JPG)
The band's third album, ''
Waking Up with the House on Fire
''Waking Up with the House on Fire'' is the third album by the English new wave group Culture Club, released on 22 October 1984. The album peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the band's third top five album.
Overview
The first ...
'' (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
"The War Song" is a song by British band Culture Club, featuring background vocals from Clare Torry. It was released as the lead single from the band's third album, ''Waking Up with the House on Fire'' (1984), in September 1984. The song becam ...
", 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?
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...
" recorded at
Sarm West Studios
Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...
in
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...
, 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
The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
Studies started in 1954, and France an ...
transatlantic flight. The song featured mostly British and Irish musical acts, with Boy George the second singer to feature after
Paul Young
Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...
sings the opening lines. It became
Christmas number one
In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...
and the
best-selling single of 1984 in the United Kingdom. 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 1986, Boy George performed a guest-starring cameo role in an episode of the television series ''
The A-Team
''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court ma ...
'' titled "CowBoy George". Also in 1986, Culture Club released their fourth album, ''
From Luxury to Heartache
''From Luxury to Heartache'' is the fourth album by the British pop group Culture Club, released in April 1986. It was the last studio album released by Culture Club until 1999's ''Don't Mind If I Do''.
Background
''From Luxury to Heartache'' ...
'' (UK No. 10, US No. 32) which featured the hit single "
Move Away
"Move Away" is a song by British band Culture Club, issued as the lead single from their fourth album, '' From Luxury to Heartache'' (1986). The song was produced by Lew Hahn and Arif Mardin. Released in March 1986, it became the group's eight ...
". 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.
Reunions
In July 1998, a reunited
Culture Club performed three dates in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
and then joined
the Human League
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...
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
''Don't Mind If I Do'' is the fifth album by the British new wave band Culture Club, released in 1999 by Virgin Records. The album was released only in Europe and Japan, though some promo copies also circulated in Australia.
Overview
''Don't ...
'', 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. After only one showcase and one live show, the project was shelved.
![Boy George, Culture Club2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Boy_George%2C_Culture_Club2.jpg)
On 27 January 2011, Boy George announced to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
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. Although the 2011 tour never took place, Culture Club did play two live concerts, in