Boy George

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Boy George
Background information <tr><td>Born</td><td colspan="2">June 14 1961 (age 48)</td></tr><tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Eltham, Kent, England</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Pop</td></tr><tr><td>Occupation(s)</td><td colspan="2">Singer, songwriter</td></tr><tr><td>Instrument(s)</td><td colspan="2">Vocals</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1982 – present</td></tr><tr><td>Website</td><td colspan="2">BoyGeorgeUk.Com</td></tr>

George Alan O'Dowd, better known as Boy George, (born June 14, 1961, in Eltham, Kent, England) is an English singer-songwriter. George grew up in a large, working-class Irish family.

1 Career
2 Personal life
- 2.1 Substance abuse
- 2.2 Resurgence of drug charges
3 Memoirs
4 Sexuality
5 Recent activity
6 Miscellaneous facts
7 Discography
- 7.1 Albums
- 7.2 Singles
8 External links

[edit] Career

George gained fame with his group Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, since he was heavily influenced by R&B and reggae. His solo work has also touched on glam rock influences, particularly David Bowie. Early recordings with Culture Club with George's vocals had an emotional quality which was reminiscent of American soul music of the 1960s and 1970s.

[edit] Discovery

George was a visible figure in the London club scene; his androgynous style caught the attention of music executive Malcolm McLaren, of Sex Pistols fame, who arranged for George to perform with the group Bow Wow Wow, featuring Annabella Lwin, at various shows. He was christened Lieutenant Lush and he nearly stole the spotlight from Lwin.

[edit] Culture Club

George's association with Bow Wow Wow ended soon afterwards, with George starting his own group with bassist Mikey Craig. The group was to be called In Praise Of Lemmings, but the name was later abandoned. Jon Moss (who had drummed with The Damned, Adam and the Ants and London) joined the group and became George's lover, followed shortly thereafter by Roy Hay, after the group's association with another guitarist, Slade, proved unsatisfactory. The group abandoned another name, Sex Gang Children, and settled on the name Culture Club after realising that the group consisted of an Irish singer, a Jamaican-Briton on bass, a Jewish drummer, and an Englishman on guitar.

The band signed with Virgin Records in the UK and with Epic Records in America, and released its debut album Kissing To Be Clever in 1982. The album's third single, "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?", enjoyed massive success. It reached #1 in sixteen countries (#2 U.S.), and the group became a staple on American radio and the new MTV network. This single was followed by "Time (Clock Of The Heart)" (not on the UK LP), which reached #2, and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya", which reached #9. This gave Culture Club the distinction of being the first group since the Beatles to amass at least three top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 from a début album. Their next album, Colour By Numbers was also a success. The single "Church Of The Poison Mind" (featuring Helen Terry) became a Top 10 hit, and "Karma Chameleon" became a #1 single in numerous countries around the world, including the U.S., where it stayed at #1 for four weeks, and the UK, where it was the best-selling single of the year, spending six weeks at #1. It stands as the group's biggest hit. "Miss Me Blind" and "It's A Miracle" were Top 10 and Top 20 hits respectively, and "Victims" was another UK hit.

By 1985, Boy George had become a household name in many countries around the world. That year, he appeared in a lead vocal role on the Band Aid single. In 1986 he guest-starred on an episode of the A-Team entitled "Cowboy George". However, with George becoming severely addicted to heroin, two subsequent Culture Club albums (Waking Up With The House On Fire and From Luxury To Heartache) were not as successful as earlier efforts, and the group disbanded.

[edit] Solo career

George's first solo album after the breakup of the band was entitled Sold. It was very successful in the UK, spawning many hit singles (including the #1 UK hit "Everything I Own"), but he could not duplicate that success in the U.S., though he did score a moderate hit with the song "Live My Life" (#40 U.S.) from the Hiding Out soundtrack. George would eventually kicked his heroin addiction and his next U.S album would be High Hat, comprised of songs from two of his solo British albums released after Sold. High Hat was critically acclimed, but had disappointing sales, although the R&B dance number "Don't Take My Mind On A Trip", produced by Teddy Riley, became a top 10 R&B hit.

Many of his following releases were songs to protest against the UK's proposed legal restrictions on sex education relating to homosexuality, (known as Clause 28). In 1989, George formed his own label, More Protein. He also recorded under the name Jesus Loves You, (writing under the pseudonym Angela Dust), releasing an underground club hit "Generations Of Love", and "Bow Down Mister", which would become a signature song, inspired by his involvement in the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON).

In 1992, George scored a hit with a version of the song "The Crying Game" (produced by the Pet Shop Boys), which was featured on the movie of the same name, and reached the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100. Although he'd had solo hits in the UK, this would be his first and only big U.S. pop hit since Culture Club's 1986 single "Move Away". He released a rock-driven Cheapness And Beauty in 1995, but the album was not successful.

In 2006, George is slated to release a new single, "Time Machine", his first commercial single in several years. He performs on the track with Amanda Ghost. [1]

[edit] Culture Club reunions

In July 1998, a reunited Culture Club performed three dates in Monte Carlo and then joined Human League and Howard Jones in a "Big Rewind" tour of the US. The following month, the band appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and made an appearance in Britain, their first in 14 years. Later that year, the band had a Top Ten hit in the UK with "I Just Wanna Be Loved" and later a top 30 hit with "Your Kisses are Charity".

[edit] Without George

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 has expressed his displeasure at the turn of events. [2]

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Substance abuse

With George's relationship with Moss over, and with a poor reaction to the band's third album, George suffered several setbacks, and ultimately turned to drugs. This caused the downward spiral of the group, and they eventually disbanded, as George could no longer work with Moss.

George struggled against his severe heroin addiction for many years. He would appear in public under the influence of the drug, and even attempted to do concerts in such a state. Addictions to other drugs followed, and George's younger brother David, in an attempt to save his famous sibling from death, went on UK national television and blew the whistle on George. Some of George's associates had died of overdoses, but when an American musician he was working with named Michael Rudetsky was found dead at George's London mansion from an overdose, he stopped using drugs.

[edit] Resurgence of drug charges

On October 7, 2005, he was arrested in Manhattan on suspicion of possessing cocaine, (BBC Online Report) and appeared in court on 1 February, 2006 (BBC News report).

On June 17, 2006, a Manhattan judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Boy George after the former Culture Club singer failed to appear in court. After another court date was set, George was fined US$1000 and required to perform community service.

On August 14, 2006, Boy George reported for garbage duty, picking up trash for the New York City Department of Sanitation as part of his community service. As a result of the media frenzy[3], he was allowed to perform his community service inside the Sanitation Department grounds.

[edit] Memoirs

Harper Collins published the autobiography of Boy George, Take It Like A Man, in 1995. The book was released to coincide with the timing of George's solo record, Cheapness And Beauty.

In 2005 Century published Straight, his second autobiographical book, written with author Paul Gorman. This stayed in the Sunday Times bestseller list for six weeks and a paperback version with new material covering his experiences since publication of the hardback is being readied for Spring 2007. Gorman has also ghostwritten Cry Salty Tears, the memoirs of mother Dinah O'Dowd, which is published by Arrow in January 2007.

[edit] Sexuality

When George was with Culture Club, much was made of his androgynous appearance, and there was speculation about his sexuality. When asked the question in interviews, George gave various answers. At times he suggested he was bisexual. He gave a famous, oft-quoted response to an interviewer that "I prefer a nice cup of tea to sex". [4]

In George's memoirs, he disclosed his homosexuality.

George wrote of his relationship with Kirk Brandon, the singer with Spear of Destiny and the earlier Theatre of Hate, prompting Brandon to begin a High Court action against George. George, taking the witness stand, faced a "malicious falsehood" charge brought against him by Brandon, now married and a father, who denied that he once had a sexual relationship with George. Brandon lost. During the trial, Boy George had claimed that Kirk Brandon had been the love of his life and that he still loved him.
In Take It Like A Man, George also told his side of his secret relationship with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. He stated many of the songs he wrote for Culture Club were directed at Moss. He also alleged that Moss had broken off his engagement to be with George, and that Moss was never comfortable in a same-sex relationship, although Moss was bisexual. During the Culture Club reunion, though, Moss did acknowledge that he had loved George deeply, although now he is married with several children.

George's striking looks inspired many Boy George look-alike contests around the world, and his face became the image of Culture Club. He became an alternative teen idol, as well as a role model for gay men and transgender individuals.

[edit] Recent activity

Boy George remains a figure in the public eye. Although he has not reached the same level of success as a solo artist, he has a second career notable music DJ. He started DJing in the early 90's and 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.

In 2002/2003 he starred in the London musical Taboo, based on his life (George didn't play himself, opting instead to take on the persona of Australian-born performance artist Leigh Bowery). Taboo was a huge success in London's West End, though a Rosie O'Donnell-produced run in New York was short-lived.
In 1998, Boy George began writing a weekly column in The Daily Express and hosted a weekly radio show on the Galaxy Radio Network. 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.
On 20 October 2006 it was announced that he will write some tracks for Kylie Minogue (News.com.au story).
He is working right now on a forthcoming solo lp, which apparently will be including some ragga, reggae, pop and acoustic songs.

[edit] Miscellaneous facts

In August 1994, a British court tossed out a paternity suit filed against him by a Californian woman.
In December 1998, Boy George was struck and injured by a falling disco ball. The incident was spoofed in the 2001 Spanish film I Love You Baby, in which George makes a cameo appearance as himself.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

Everything I Own (1987) UK #1 (2 weeks)
Keep Me In Mind (1987) UK #29
Sold (1987) UK #24
To Be Reborn (1987) UK #13
Live My Life (1987) UK #62, US #40
No Clause 28 (1988) UK #57
Don't Cry (1988) UK #60
Don't Take My Mind on a Trip (1989) UK #68
Whether They Like It Or Not (1989)
You Found Another Guy (1989)
Whisper (1989)
After The Love* (1989) UK #68
Generations Of Love* (1990) UK #80
One On One* (1990) UK #83
Bow Down Mister* (1991) UK #27
Generations Of Love 91* (1991) UK #35
After The Love 91* (1991)
The Crying Game (1992) UK #22, US #15
Sweet Toxic Love* (1992) UK #65
Everything I Own 1993 (1993)
More Than Likely**** (1993) UK #40
Funtime (1995) UK #45
Il Amore (1995) UK #50
Same Thing in Reverse (1996) UK #56
Love is Leaving (1996)
When Will You learn (1996)
Police And Thieves** (1997)
Generations Of Love 98* (1998)
Why Go? (with Faithless) (1999)
Innocence Is Lost*** (1999)
Run (with Sash!) (2002)
Autoerotic (with Dark Globe) (2002)
Here Come The Girls(The Twin)(2003)
Electro Hetero (The Twin) (2003)
Sanitised (The Twin) (2003)
Human Racing (The Twin) (2004)
Love Your Brother* (promo) (2005)
You're My Sister (with Antony & The Johnsons) (2006)
Time Machine (with Amanda Ghost) (22 Jan 2007)

under the pseudonym : Jesus Loves You (*)
- as Dubversive featuring Boy George (**)
  - with Groove Armada (***)
    - with PM Dawn (****)

[edit] External links

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