Boy George

George Alan O'Dowd (born June 14, 1961), better known as Boy George, is a British gay singer, musician, and disc jockey who gained a large degree of fame with his group Culture Club in the 1980s.

Life after Culture Club

In 1992, George saw a resurgence in his career with a Pet Shop Boys produced cover version of the song "The Crying Game", which was featured on the movie of the same name and was a top twenty hit in the US. He then produced Cheapness And Beauty a few years later. From that album, he released his version of the Iggy Pop song "Funtime", which coincided with his autobiography Take It Like A Man.

Related Topics:
Pet Shop Boys - The Crying Game - Iggy Pop

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Boy George continues to remain a global pop icon and one of the world's most successful music DJ's, despite radio stations around the world (especially US & Britain) giving him little play thus limiting the impact of his new music. He once again started touring the world as a DJ in the late 1990s and starred in the London musical Taboo. This musical has been a huge success in London's West End.

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During 2003 he presented a weekly show on London's LBC radio for 6 months.

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George has been reported by fans who have met him in person to be an avid autograph signer.

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In August 1994, a British court tossed out a paternity suit filed against Boy George by a California woman.

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Harper Collins published the autobiography of Boy George, Take It Like A Man, in 1995. In it, George spoke of his relationship with Kirk Brandon, singer with Spear of Destiny, who began a High Court action against George. It was well known around the late '70s punk scene just how 'close' the pair really were, although Brandon was never comfortable with that side of his sexuality.

Related Topics:
Kirk Brandon - Spear of Destiny

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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. The irate accuser insisted that although the two young men had shared a bed for a time, there had been no erotic activity between them as is said in the book. Justice Douglas Brown found Brandon's testimony unconvincing.

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George's witnesses testified that Brandon and he had conducted what was called "a brief, passionate and turbulent physical homosexual affair" in the months between 1980-81. In this period, Boy George was 19-20 years old. The witnesses said they'd seen the two behaving happily like "a couple", and the trial judge found such testimony to be "overwhelming evidence" that there had been, in fact, such a relationship.

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Brandon, currently without funds, now owes 200,000 pounds for representing himself in court against Boy George and three publishers: Virgin Records, EMI Virgin Music and Sidgwick and Jackson. Even so, he says, he's not through suing. He'll try again rather than accepting the judge's decision.

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The judge told Brandon that although he felt him to be a decent and talented man, that he felt Brandon had lied about his relationship with George. In court, tears filled Boy George's eyes when Justice Brown said, "Mr. O'Dowd was clearly not malicious in stating that which he knew to be true...the allegations of malice are quite hopeless and should never have been brought."

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During the trial, Boy George had claimed that Kirk Brandon had been the love of his life and that he still loved him. After the verdict, however, he said that he now feels nothing for Brandon, whose "lies" had hurt a number of people.

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In his book, George also told his side of his secret relationship with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. He alleged that Moss had broken off his engagement to be with George, but Moss was never comfortable with the relationship. At the time, the other band members denied knowing about their secret affair, despite many of the band's lyrics being aimed at Moss, especially the songs "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" and "Karma Chameleon." However, in retrospect, they admit it was more a case of not wanting to accept it. Roy Hay, the band's keyboard and guitar player now says "I didn't want to go there! I wanted to be in a rock group??not a bloody gay drama."

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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".

Related Topics:
Culture Club - Human League - Howard Jones

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In 1998, Boy George began writing a weekly column in The Daily Express and hosted a weekly radio show on the Galaxy Radio Network.

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In April 2002, Madonna wrote a note to George demanding that he remove a modified version of her 1990 song "Vogue" from his West End musical Taboo. Madonna was reportedly displeased that George had taken the liberty not only of using her song but of changing the lyrics - to "Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, that Madonna, dyes her hair."

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"I thought she was having a joke," George recalled of the note. "I used to think she was an icon but she's more i-sore to me now."

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