Boy George

George has dealt with legal issues almost all his life, whether it was in the late 1980s when he was arrested for heroin possession or when Kirk Brandon sued him for mentioning their love affair in his autobiography.

He was arrested in 2005 in Manhattan on the possession of cocaine and was sentenced to 5 days of community service and 1000 US dollars in fine. He was also convicted of the assault on Audun Carlsen in the following years.

Boy George was born in Bexley, Kent to Jeremiah and Dinah O’Dowd. He had a big family with four brothers and one sister. To stand out of the crowd, George used to dress outlandishly.

He attended the Eltham Green School but did not conform to the typical image of a student and used to exhibit his bold ideas and preposterous style of dressing and behaving. This became the reason for his expulsion.

When George was thrown out of the school, he had to do petty jobs to sustain himself since even at home he was not fully accepted for who he was. He worked as a fruit picker, milliner, etc.

The New Romantic Movement was emerging in the U.K. around 1980s and men in creative business started to wear androgynous clothes and make-up. George’s flamboyant style caught the attention of Malcolm McLaren and he joined ‘Bow Wow Wow’.

George formed his own band with bassist Mikey Craig, drummer Jon Moss and Roy Hay. They had people from different ethnic cultures and beliefs in their group that is why they decided that their band will be called ‘Culture Club’.

Culture club’s first album ‘Kissing to Be Clever’ came out in 1982 and the hit single ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?’ became a huge international hit, establishing George’s rapport as a talented singer all over the world.

In 1983, Culture Club’s second album came out ‘Colour by Numbers’ which became a cult hit in the UK. Its singles ‘Church of the Poison Mind’ and ‘Karma Chameleon’ became number one in 16 countries.

Although everyone was expecting their third album ‘Waking Up with the House on Fire’, released in 1984, to be a smash like the first two, the album received a lukewarm response.

George’s first two albums with his band ‘Culture Club’ – ‘Kissing to Be Clever’ and ‘Colour By Numbers’ made him into a famous international phenomena. Songs like ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?’ and ‘Karma Chameleon’ are still quite popular.