Boy George
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, actor, DJ and lead singer of the English pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham and was part of the New Romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s to early 1980s. His androgynous look and style of fashion was greatly inspired by glam rock pioneers David Bowie and Marc Bolan. He formed the Culture Club with Roy Hay, Mikey Craig and Jon Moss in 1981. The band's second album Colour by Numbers (1983) sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Their hit singles include "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Time (Clock of the Heart)", "I'll Tumble 4 Ya", "Church of the Poison Mind", "Karma Chameleon", "Victims", "Miss Me Blind", "It's a Miracle", "The War Song", "Move Away" and "I Just Wanna Be Loved".
Boy George
George, Angela Dust (Jesus Loves You)[1]
- Singer
- songwriter
- disc jockey
- mixed media artist
- actor
1979–present
- Vocals
- turntables
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, five compilation albums and forty-eight singles. He has also released seven DJ albums, three EPs and a soundtrack album. His solo hit songs include "Everything I Own", "Bow Down Mister", "Generations of Love" and "Love Is Leaving" and "The Crying Game", from the soundtrack for the film of the same name. He was featured as a vocalist on the 1984 charity song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" 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, soft rock, disco and reggae. He has received several awards as a solo artist and as a member of Culture Club. In 2001, he was voted 46th in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.[2] In 2015, Boy George received an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for Outstanding Services to British Music.[3]
Memoirs[edit]
HarperCollins published Boy George's first autobiography, Take It Like a Man, in 1995, co-written with Spencer Bright. Both the book and his solo album, Cheapness and Beauty, were released simultaneously and dealt with the same themes. Take It Like a Man was a best-seller in the UK.
In 2005, Century published Straight, his second autobiography, this time co-written with author Paul Gorman. It was on The Sunday Times best-seller list for six weeks. Straight begins where Take It Like a Man had ended, though the two works are different in style, due to their different co-authors. All chapters in the 2005 book are titled, while chapters are only numbered in the 1995 work.