Boy George
Boy George, born George Alan O'Dowd, walked into Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill on the 25th of November 1984 with jet lag still on him. He had come straight from Heathrow Airport after a transatlantic flight on Concorde. At 6 pm he became the last solo artist to record his lines for the Band Aid charity single. That record went on to be Christmas number one and the best-selling single of 1984 in the United Kingdom.
By then he was the lead singer of Culture Club, one of the most recognisable acts in British pop. Yet his own account of his childhood reads like something far removed from a Concorde cabin. How did a boy who left school with no qualifications turn a nightclub wardrobe into a worldwide image? Why did a band that sold millions of records fall apart within five years of forming? And what kept him reinventing himself, as a DJ, a stage performer, a coach on talent shows and a Eurovision act, long after the hits dried up?
Barnehurst Hospital in Kent is where George Alan O'Dowd was born on the 14th of June 1961. He grew up in Eltham, the second of five children in a working-class Irish Catholic family. His father Jerry was a builder, born in England to Irish parents. His mother Dinah came from Dublin.
In 1957, when Dinah was 18, she had given birth in Dublin to an older half-brother of George. She then moved to London with the baby, hoping to start again and escape the stigma of being an unmarried mother.
Boy George has compared the family history to a "sad Irish song." His maternal grandmother was taken from her family for good at the age of six, after she was found alone outside the family home. She was placed in an Industrial School. His great uncle Thomas Bryan was executed at Mountjoy Prison in 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. A 2018 episode of the television series Who Do You Think You Are? confirmed the connection, and described Bryan as a member of the "Forgotten Ten."
Dinah published a memoir in 2007, and in it she described Jerry as physically and mentally abusive, including while she was pregnant with George. George himself has said of his father, "He was a terrible father and a terrible husband." In 1995 his youngest brother, Gerald, who has schizophrenia, was convicted of killing his wife during an episode of paranoia.
Middle Park Infant School and then Eltham Green Secondary School filled his early years, though he found every excuse to stay away. He has described himself as "good at art, not bad at English - and appalling at maths." He missed every exam. At 15 he was dismissed from school, he says, after dyeing his hair orange. Odd jobs followed, including fruit picking, printing, makeup artistry and modelling.
Squats around Warren Street in Central London became home. With his friend Marilyn, he was a regular at Blitz, the nightclub run by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan, and a follower of the New Romantic scene. His heroes were Siouxsie and the Banshees, Roxy Music and Patti Smith, along with glam pioneers David Bowie and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. Of seeing Bolan sing "Metal Guru," he recalled loving the music and the way a star's clothes and songs belong together, saying "it's kind of the complete package."
That belief in the complete package was about to catch the eye of Malcolm McLaren, the man who had managed the Sex Pistols.
Lieutenant Lush was the stage name Boy George took when McLaren arranged for him to sing with Bow Wow Wow. The arrangement soured with the group's lead singer, Annabella Lwin, and George left. He started a new band with the bassist Mikey Craig. Drummer Jon Moss, who had played with the Damned and Adam and the Ants, joined, followed by guitarist Roy Hay. They began as Sex Gang Children before settling on Culture Club, and the group formed in 1981.
EMI Records paid for demo recordings but declined to sign the band. Virgin Records stepped in for the United Kingdom and Europe, while Epic Records handled the United States and North America. The debut album, Kissing to Be Clever, appeared in 1982 and reached number 5 in the UK and number 14 in the US.
The single "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" reached number 1 in several countries and number 2 in America. "Time" followed as a Top 5 hit in both the US and the UK. Then "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" reached number 9 in the US. That gave Culture Club a distinction last held by the Beatles, three US Top 10 hits from a debut album.
Colour by Numbers, the band's second album, topped the UK chart and reached number 2 in the US. Worldwide sales passed 10 million copies. "Karma Chameleon" reached number 1 in 16 countries and held the top spot in America for three weeks. In Britain it was the best-selling single of 1983, spending six weeks at number 1. "Church of the Poison Mind" reached the Top 10, "Victims" and "It's a Miracle" both made the UK Top 5, and "Miss Me Blind" got into the US Top 5.
Waking Up with the House on Fire, the third album, peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 26 in the US. Its first single, "The War Song," reached number 2 in Britain, but later singles fell short of expectations. In July 1985, Culture Club did not play Live Aid, though many acts from the Band Aid record did. A fourth album, From Luxury to Heartache, reached number 10 in the UK and number 32 in the US, with the single "Move Away."
The band split in 1986, and the reasons ran much darker than a slide in sales.
Joan Rivers put a blunt question to Boy George in 1983: "Do you prefer men or women?" His answer was "Oh, both." Two years later Barbara Walters asked about his sexual orientation, and he said he was bisexual and had had girlfriends and boyfriends. To Russell Harty, he gave a line that has been quoted ever since, that he preferred "a nice cup of tea" to sex.
His androgynous look made him a magazine cover subject. In December 1983, he and Annie Lennox, two of the biggest androgynous stars in music, shared the cover of Smash Hits. In January 1984 they appeared together on the cover of Newsweek.
HarperCollins published his first autobiography, Take It Like a Man, in 1995, co-written with Spencer Bright. It was released at the same time as his solo album Cheapness and Beauty, and both explored the same themes. It became a UK best-seller. In its pages he said he was not bisexual after all, and described secret relationships with the punk singer Kirk Brandon and with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. Many of the band's songs, he said, were about Moss.
In the 2008 documentary Living with Boy George, he talked through how he first realised he was gay, how he told his parents, and why men fall in love with one another as well as with women.
Straight, his second memoir, was published by Century in 2005, co-written with author Paul Gorman. It spent six weeks on The Sunday Times best-seller list. It picks up where the first book stopped, but differs in style, since every chapter has a title while the earlier book only numbers them. A third memoir, Karma: My Autobiography, was again ghost-written by Bright. Blink Publishing released it in the UK in November 2023, and Mango Publishing followed in the US in January 2024.
"Operation Culture" was the name of the police operation under which Boy George was arrested for heroin possession in 1986. He had struggled with the drug for several years by then, and he had tried to perform concerts while under its influence. Other addictions soon followed. His younger brother David went on national television to talk about the habit, which George had been publicly denying.
The year 1986 brought deaths close to him. Michael Rudetsky, the keyboardist who co-wrote "Sexuality" for From Luxury to Heartache, was found dead of a heroin overdose in George's London home. His friend Mark Vaultier died after an overdose of methadone and Valium at a party. In December, another friend, Mark Golding, died of an overdose, and Scotland Yard said there was no suggestion of foul play. George decided to seek treatment.
The addiction was one of four pressures that brought down Culture Club that year. The others were two disappointing albums, a romance between band members that was kept secret, and a wrongful death lawsuit on the horizon. After the split, George entered treatment and was prescribed narcotics to treat his heroin addiction.
In 2018, he said he had been sober since the 2nd of March 2008. As of 2012, he credited his practice of Nichiren Buddhism, including chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, for the spiritual strength to stay sober. He summed up his outlook this way: "I'm Catholic in my complications and Buddhist in my aspirations."
A macrobiotic diet had also entered his life. He had tried to follow it since 1988 and adopted it in the late 1990s. In 2001 he published the Karma Cookbook, co-written with Dragana Brown, whom he had met in 1986.
A haemorrhaged polyp on his vocal cords struck in 2014 and forced him to cancel Culture Club reunion dates in Canada, the UK and the US. Recovery took months of rest, some days in total silence, no coffee and vocal exercises, and he avoided surgery. Afterwards he found his range sat an octave lower than before, which he called a "kind of rich tenor" suited to "a little bit of rock."
Kirk Brandon sued Boy George for malicious falsehood in 1997. The claim centred on the 1995 autobiography, in which George described a relationship with Brandon, who denied it and said the stories had hurt his music career. Brandon also objected to the lyrics of the song "Unfinished Business," which included the lines "I hear you married a Danish girl... You break your promise easily." He demanded damages from George, from the publisher Sidgwick and Jackson, and from Virgin Records and EMI Virgin Music Publishing.
In April 1997 the court ruled for George, and the judge said he did not believe Brandon's denial. Brandon was ordered to pay £200,000 in court costs to Virgin Records, EMI Virgin Music and the book publisher. He later declared bankruptcy, and George ended up paying more than £20,000 in legal fees.
On the 7th of October 2005, police in Manhattan arrested George on suspicion of cocaine possession and falsely reporting a burglary. He denied the drugs were his. On the 1st of February 2006, the cocaine charge was dropped. He pleaded guilty to the false report and was sentenced to five days of community service, fined US$1,000 and ordered into a drug rehabilitation programme.
A Manhattan judge issued an arrest warrant on the 17th of June 2006 after George missed a hearing, on his attorney's advice. On the 14th of August 2006, he reported to the New York City Department of Sanitation. Because of heavy media coverage, he was allowed to finish his service inside the department's grounds, out of public view.
The 5th of December 2008 brought a far graver verdict. At Snaresbrook Crown Court in London, George was convicted of assaulting and falsely imprisoning Audun Carlsen in April 2007. Carlsen, a Norwegian model and escort, had first come for a photography session. He alleged that he was handcuffed to a wall fixture and beaten with a metal chain. George said only the handcuffing was true. His defence team pointed to the effects of long-term drug use as mitigation.
On the 16th of January 2009, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison. He began at HM Prison Pentonville in London and moved to HM Prison Highpoint North in Suffolk. He was released early after four months, on the 11th of May 2009, and wore an ankle monitor under a curfew for the rest of the sentence. The case had already cost him an American tour planned for July and August 2008, because his US visa was denied while it was pending.
In December 2009, still on licence, George asked the Probation Service to let him appear on the seventh series of Celebrity Big Brother. The request was refused. Officials argued that a "lucrative sum" and a chance to promote himself could weaken public confidence in the justice system, and warned of "a high level of risk" to the service's reputation.
Sold, the first solo album from Boy George, arrived in 1987 and did well in Europe. "Everything I Own" reached number 1 in the UK, "To Be Reborn" number 13, "Sold" number 24 and "Keep Me in Mind" number 29. America did not follow. For several years, US authorities barred him from travelling there because of his British drug charges, so he could not promote the record in person.
His first solo US Top 40 hit was "Live My Life," which reached number 40 from the soundtrack of the film Hiding Out. The next two albums, Tense Nervous Headache in 1988 and Boyfriend in 1989, were not distributed in the US. Virgin Records instead compiled songs from both into a North American release, High Hat, in 1989. It produced a US Top 5 R&B hit, "Don't Take My Mind on a Trip," produced by Teddy Riley.
Section 28 was a legal provision brought in by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government. It banned local authorities, such as schools, from promoting homosexuality. George answered with a protest single, "No Clause 28 (Emilio Pasqez Space Face Full Remix)," which became an underground acid house hit. At the 1989 Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, Andy Bell of Erasure accepted the Best British Group award from George and kissed him on stage, saying it was a protest against Section 28.
More Protein was the record label George founded in 1989. Under the name Jesus Loves You, he wrote as Angela Dust, a play on angel dust. The underground hits of the early 1990s included "After the Love," "Generations of Love" and "Bow Down Mister." That last song reached the UK Top 30 in 1991. It was inspired by his involvement in the Hare Krishna movement, ISKCON, and written during a trip to India. A single called "One on One" carried a Massive Attack remix. From March 1990 to April 1991, he hosted a weekly chat and music show, Blue Radio, on the Power Station satellite channel.
The Pet Shop Boys produced "The Crying Game" in 1992, for the soundtrack of the film of that name. It reached number 22 in the UK and number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Billboard's Larry Flick praised a "genius reading" of the song.
Phillip Sallon's new Piccadilly nightclub, Planets, hosted George's first DJ gig. In the 1990s the rave and house promoters Fantazia asked him to mix one disc on Fantazia The House Collection 2, which went gold in the UK. Sony sold it across Europe. The Ministry of Sound then hired him to compile one of its first CDs, which sold 100,000 copies, and he went on to make four of its Annual compilations. Dance singles did well abroad, with "Love Is Leaving" reaching the Top 3 in Italy and "When Will You Learn" topping the Swiss charts and earning a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording.
In the early 2000s, he starred in the London musical Taboo, about the New Romantic scene. He did not play himself. He took the role of the Australian-born performance artist Leigh Bowery. The show ran for two years in the West End and received four Laurence Olivier Award nominations. George was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical Score. A heavily altered US production, produced by Rosie O'Donnell in New York City, lasted 100 performances.
From 2002 to 2004, he made electronica under the name The Twin, releasing limited-edition singles and a 13-track album, Yum Yum. He also presented a weekly show on London's LBC 97.3 for six months in 2003. In 2007, he toured the world as a DJ, including a set at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney for the Mardi Gras Festival on the 4th of March.
The 28th of October 2013 saw the release of This Is What I Do, his first album of original material in 18 years. George wrote it with long-time partners John Themis, Kevan Frost and Richie Stevens, and Stevens produced it at Cowshed Studios in London.
Monte Carlo hosted three comeback dates for Culture Club in July 1998. The band then joined the Human League and Howard Jones on a US tour called Big Rewind. They appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and played in Britain for the first time in 14 years. "I Just Wanna Be Loved" reached number 4 in the UK, and a new album, Don't Mind If I Do, followed in 1999.
In 2006, other members of Culture Club planned another reunion tour, but George declined to join. They replaced him with the vocalist Sam Butcher, and George voiced his displeasure. After a single showcase and one live show, the project was shelved.
On the 27th of January 2011, George announced a 30th anniversary tour and a new album for 2012. The tour never happened, though the band played two concerts, in Dubai and in Sydney on New Year's Eve. In 2014 they reunited again with a UK tour of 11 dates, with Alison Moyet as a special guest.
Tickets went on sale for a 2016 tour of New Zealand, with shows in Christchurch and Auckland. In November, George walked out of a TVNZ interview when asked about his 2009 criminal conviction. The band then cancelled Christchurch, citing changes to its touring schedule, and later cancelled Auckland too.
The lawsuit in March 2023 ended with a payment of £1.75 million. Jon Moss had sued his former bandmates over lost income after he was allegedly expelled from the group in 2018. George, Roy Hay and Mikey Craig agreed to pay him, and Moss gave up all rights to the Culture Club name. He later started bankruptcy proceedings against George and Craig, which were dismissed in June 2023.
Television gave George a second public life. In 1986 he guest-starred in the A-Team episode "CowBoy George." In January 2016, he joined the fifth series of The Voice UK as a mentor, replacing Tom Jones, and his final act, Cody Frost, finished third. He then became a coach on The Voice Australia for its sixth season, replacing the Madden Brothers. His final contestant that year, Hoseah Partsch, was the runner-up. He returned in 2018-2019 and 2020. In 2019 his final contestant, Diana Rouvas, won. Jessica Mauboy replaced him for the tenth season.
In October 2016, nine months after David Bowie died of liver cancer, George sang Bowie's "Starman" with a National Health Service choir for Channel 4's Stand Up to Cancer UK. In 2017 he finished second on the last season of NBC's The New Celebrity Apprentice, playing for the charity Safe Kids Worldwide. That year he also worked on Pitbull's album Climate Change. In August he signed a deal with BMG, which had acquired the Virgin Records songwriters in 2012 and so reunited him with his songwriting catalogue.
In March 2020, he released the videos "Clouds" and "Isolation" on YouTube, from a planned album, Geminis Don't Read the Manual, that was postponed. On the 6th of April 2020, he issued a limited-edition "Isolation" CD single on his own label, BGP, short for Boy George Presents.
In September 2021, he became a judge on the Irish talent show The Big Deal. In November 2022, he entered the 22nd UK series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! He objected to sharing the camp with the former health secretary Matt Hancock, saying his own mother had been in hospital during the COVID-19 lockdown. He told Seann Walsh he found Hancock "slimy and slippery." George was eliminated on the 22nd of November, the seventeenth day, and finished eighth.
Broadway followed. He played Harold Zidler in the musical Moulin Rouge! at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, from the 6th of February to the 12th of May 2024, and again from the 18th of March to the 25th of May 2025. In 2024, he also signed an open letter with more than 400 artists and public figures supporting Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.
A 2001 BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons placed him 46th. In 2015, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors gave him an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Services to British Music.
In 2026, he lent uncredited vocals to "Superstar" by the Italian singer Senhit, which represented San Marino at Eurovision. The entry went out in the first semi-final on Tuesday the 12th of May. His next announced job was the London Palladium revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, where he was due in August 2026 as one of six King Herods.
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Common questions
Who is Boy George?
Boy George, born George Alan O'Dowd on the 14th of June 1961, is a British musician, songwriter and DJ. He rose to fame as the lead singer of Culture Club and has also worked as a solo artist and with the band Jesus Loves You.
How successful was Culture Club's second album?
Colour by Numbers, released in 1983, topped the UK chart, reached number 2 in the US and sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. It included the international hit "Karma Chameleon."
Why did Culture Club split in 1986?
The break-up followed Boy George's drug addiction, the weaker performance of the last two albums, a romance between band members kept secret, and a wrongful death lawsuit that was looming.
What is Boy George's connection to Section 28?
In 1989 he released "No Clause 28 (Emilio Pasqez Space Face Full Remix)," a protest song against the provision introduced by Margaret Thatcher's government. At the Brit Awards that year, Andy Bell of Erasure kissed him on stage in protest.
What shows has Boy George appeared on as a coach or contestant?
He was a mentor on The Voice UK in 2016 and a coach on The Voice Australia across several seasons. He also took part in The New Celebrity Apprentice in 2017 and the 22nd UK series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2022.
What musical did Boy George star in?
He starred in Taboo in London, playing Leigh Bowery, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical Score. In 2024 and 2025 he played Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! on Broadway.
All sources
163 references cited across the entry
- 17 Things You Might Not Know About Boy George14 June 2014
- 2The Very Good Boy GeorgeGerry Visco — 22 April 2014
- 5Boy George Biography: Singer (1961–)Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks)
- 6NewsBoy George thankful for support after "devastating" death of mother Dinah (84)Melanie Finn — 15 March 2023
- 7NewsBoy George: The things I've learnedMark Savage — 27 January 2019
- 8NewsMy life with a handsome bastardBarry Egan — 4 March 2007
- 9NewsChrissy Iley talks to Boy George's mum Dinah O'DowdChrissy Iley — 16 January 2007
- 11NewsBoy George: 'My Irish family's story is like a great Irish song, a lament'Peter Crawley — 26 July 2018
- 12NewsBrother of Boy George Convicted of Killing Wife21 December 1995
- 14Boy George Denied a Visit to His High School Over Fears He Will Bring Back Its 'Bad Reputation'Erika Dee — 31 March 2024
- 15Inside Boy George's First PEOPLE Feature — Opening Up About Culture Club and His Genderfluid Style in 1983!David Fricke — 13 January 2024
- 17NewsCriminalising squatters will hurt British pop musicBen Myers — 3 September 2012
- 18Boy GeorgeThe Blitz Kids
- 19NewsSteve Strange obituaryAdam Sweeting — 13 February 2015
- 20Boy George Picks His Top 5 Pop Bands of All TimeSteve Baltin — 12 November 2015
- 21Boy George: How To Make A Pop IdolRobin Murray — 30 October 2013
- 22Boy George at 64: 'I don't want to be controlled — I want to be out of control'Will Hodgkinson — The Times UK — 11 July 2025
- 23'80s – Bow Wow Wow (2006)Russell A. Trunk — 2005
- 24Boy George facts: Net worth, age, real name, songs and moreSmooth Radio — 19 June 2018
- 25Boy George2 April 2014
- 26Boy George and Culture Club Drummer Jon Moss Revisit Their Sexually Charged First Band Rehearsal: 'Instant Flirtation'Jeremy Helligar — 6 June 2025
- 27Boy George and Culture Club release new single for the first time in 20 yearsSteve Brown — 31 July 2018
- 30BookBPI Year Book 1984British Phonographic Industry — 1984
- 32Presenter: Midge Ure (21 October 2004). Band Aid: The Song That Rocked the World. BBC (TV Documentary).
- 34JournalTop 100 SinglesMorgan-Grampian plc — 26 January 1985
- 35BookBPI Year Book 1985British Phonographic Industry — 1985
- 37Goodbye Is Forever: Duran Duran, Live Aid & the End of the Second British InvasionDavid Chiu — 10 July 2015
- 38NewsRemember When Boy George Guest Starred on 'The A-Team'?Dave Nemetz — 11 February 2016
- 39Culture Club From Luxury To Heartache Turns 40Paul Cashmere — 31 March 2026
- 41NewsBoy George slams new Club singer12 October 2006
- 43NewsBoy George's band Culture Club are playing a one-off London show20 September 2016
- 44NewsToni Street: I won't get into a 'public slagging match'4 November 2016
- 46NewsBoy George cancels Christchurch showEmily Murphy — 4 November 2016
- 47NewsCulture Club cancel New Zealand tour21 November 2016
- 50Boy George with Spencer Bright, Take It Like a Man (Harper Collins, First U.S. Edition, 1995) pp. 481–482. On page 482, he says, "I enjoy the rituals of offering obeisances to Krishna and chanting, es
- 51MagazineDance Trax: D.C. Gets In Step With AIDS-Related IssuesLarry Flick — 10 April 1993
- 52MagazineSinglesDave Sholin — 19 February 1993
- 53For example, in 2001 he toured the U.S. and Canada as part of the "Big DJ, Small Club" series, sponsored by Benson & Hedges. Michel Raphael, "Bean there". National Post, 14 August 2001: B1, B2.
- 54News'Taboo' to Close Next Month, At a Loss for Rosie O'DonnellJesse McKinley — 14 January 2004
- 56NewsBoy George 'enjoyed' street sweep7 September 2006
- 57Review: Boy George live last night (thelondonpaper)Thelondonpaper.typepad.com — 24 January 2008
- 59NewsAntony and the Johnsons at Radio City Music HallJon Pareles — 27 January 2012
- 60See Danie Cox and The Feathers in London For Free – David Bowie Latest NewsDavidbowie.com — 24 May 2013
- 63NewsBoy George and Culture Club: From Karma to Calamity, BBC FourBarney Harsent — 12 April 2018
- 66NewsThom Evans leaves Strictly Come Dancing in shock elimination, reviewMichael Hogan — 27 October 2014
- 67NewsHow Boy George got a second chanceLouise Carpenter — 2 January 2016
- 68NewsTom Jones heads for green, green grass of home after losing spot on The VoiceAlasdair Glennie — 14 August 2015
- 69The Voice Australia Replaces Boy George, Kelly Rowland, and Delta GoodremSeven West Media — 15 December 2020
- 71MagazineVince Neil, Boy George Join 'Celebrity Apprentice'29 January 2016
- 72Pitbull bereut Wechsel zur Popmusik nicht8 October 2016
- 74New Soho song features 80s pop legends3 December 2019
- 75A Tribute To Soho Through The Decades (By The People Who Were There)27 November 2019
- 77Boy George drops new single Clouds6 March 2020
- 83First look at Virgin Media's new show hosted by Vogue WilliamsMelanie Finn — 14 June 2021
- 84NewsI'm A Celebrity: Boy George not happy with Matt Hancock being on the show10 November 2022
- 87NewsI'm a Celebrity review – two hours of sheer Matt Hancock-free hellStuart Jeffries — 7 November 2022
- 88Boy George is the fourth contestant to be eliminated from I'm a Celeb22 November 2022
- 89NewsBoy George Will Join 'Moulin Rouge!' on Broadway in 2024Christopher Kuo — 6 November 2023
- 90Photos: Boy George Returns to MOULIN ROUGE! on BroadwayEmmy Rice — 30 March 2025
- 91NewsBoy George to Return to Cast of Broadway's Moulin Rouge! The Musical in 2025Andrew Gans — 25 November 2024
- 92Billy Porter on Christmas Karma's camp cast: 'Pixie Lott is divine'Marcus Wratten — 2025-11-11
- 93NewsHelen Mirren, Boy George and Scooter Braun among celebrities endorsing Israel's inclusion in Eurovision 2024Daniel Reynolds — 15 February 2024
- 94NewsGene Simmons, Helen Mirren, Boy George sign open letter supporting Israel's inclusion in EurovisionJosh Weiss — 15 February 2024
- 95🇸🇲 San Marino: Senhit (feat. Boy George) to Eurovision 2026Gerry Avelino — 7 March 2026
- 96MagazineBoy George shares pro-Israel song 'We Will Dance Again'Max Pilley — 27 July 2026
- 97NewsBoy George releases pro-Israel anthem 'We Will Dance Again' honoring Oct. 7 victimsHannah Brown — 27 July 2026
- 98News'You say genocide, I say war': Boy George releases pro-Israel song, We Will Dance AgainBen Beaumont-Thomas — 27 July 2026
- 99Boy George met with fierce backlash over song that backs Israel's military attacksRoisin O'Connor — 2026-07-28
- 100News'Sold your soul': Boy George faces backlash over song denying Gaza genocideSofia Aboudari — 28 July 2026
- 101NewsBoy George criticised for pro-Israel song: 'You say genocide, I say war'Poppy-Jay St. Palmer — 28 July 2026
- 102MagazineBoy George says he used Al to create his controversial new pro-Israel reggae song 'We Will Dance Again'Damian Jones — 29 July 2026
- 103Boy George, Julian Clary and more on playing Jesus Christ Superstar's biggest baddieCavendish Dominic — 10 June 2026
- 105NewsBoy George Drops Out of London 'Jesus Christ Superstar' Production After Stirring Controversy With AI-Generated Pro-Israel SongEthan Millman — 30 July 2026
- 106NewsBoy George splits from label manager over pro-Israel songMark Ludlow — 1 August 2026
- 107NewsBoy George performs 'We Will Dance Again' in public for first time at Vancouver shul12 September 2026
- 108NewsIn Vancouver, Boy George performs 'We Will Dance Again' for first time in publicJessica Russak-Hoffman — 10 September 2026
- 109NewsBoy George says he's received threats, been harassed over upcoming shows in IsraelZev Stub — 10 October 2026
- 110NewsBoy George: The bits 'Who Do You Think You Are' didn't tell you about singer's Irish familyRonan McGreevy — 25 July 2018
- 112Mitchel Raphael, "Bean there". National Post, 14 August 2001: B1, B2.
- 113NewsBoy George throat issue forces Culture Club to cancel tourJohn R. Kennedy — 13 November 2014
- 114NewsCulture Club tour canceled due to Boy George throat polypBill Zwecker — Chicago Public Media — 13 November 2014
- 115NewsBoy George talks liberating album, voice change ahead of N.J. showsBobby Olivier — 15 July 2015
- 116NewsBoy George talks reuniting with Culture Club: 'This whole comeback is one big amends'Jim Farber — 2 July 2015
- 117Boy George talks 'the day he became sane' and a decade of sobriety: 'Being older is a wonderful privilege'Lyndsey Parker — 22 October 2018
- 118Becoming an Icon – A Cup of Tea – Icons of EnglandIcons.org.uk
- 119BookTake It Like A Man, The Autobiography of Boy GeorgeGeorge O'Dowd et al. — Pan Books (Macmillan Publishers Ltd) — 1995
- 122BookSigned, Sealed, and Delivered: True Life Stories of Women in PopSue Steward — South End Press — 1984
- 123NewsBoy George, The Man
- 124NewsBuddhism Has Kept Me SoberStarPulse — 8 September 2013
- 125NewsA Successful Human BeingPunkGlobe — 3 May 2012
- 126Boy George opens up about religion from face tattoos to yoga and meditationAlice Sjoberg — 8 November 2022
- 127Boy George with Spencer Bright, Take it Like a Man, London, Sigwick & Jackson, 1995
- 128Boy George: 'Don't ban me from U.S.'Barbara Goldberg — 1 August 1986
- 129NewsBoy George 'chained male escort to a wall in his flat'Emily Dugan — 14 November 2007
- 132Boy George, the love of his life and a night dressed as BoadiceaClare Garner — 28 April 1997
- 133Sad about the BoyEmma Daly — 29 April 1997
- 134BookStraightBoy George — Random House — 31 August 2011
- 140NewsBoy George guilty of falsely imprisoning male escortAngela Balakrishnan — 5 December 2008
- 141NewsBoy George opens up about 'psychotic episode' in which he chained male escort to a wallLuke Morgan Britton — NME Networks — 16 February 2017
- 142Boy George opens up about his arrestI'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! — 16 November 2022
- 143NewsBoy George gets 15 months for falsely imprisoning male escortSam Jones et al. — 16 January 2009
- 144NewsBoy George jailed for 15 months16 January 2008
- 145NewsBoy George released early from jailRosie Swash — 12 May 2009
- 146NewsBoy George loses Big Brother plea23 December 2009
- 147NewsBoy George and Culture Club members pay ex-drummer £1.75m after legal disputeBen Beaumont-Thomas — 22 March 2023
- 148NewsBankruptcy proceedings against Culture Club members dismissedTom Pilgrim — 27 June 2023
- 149NewsKarma by Boy George review – loud, vainglorious and very funnyNick Duerden — 14 November 2023
- 150LGBT+ Music artists 2015 – British LGBT Awards18 January 2019
- 151LGBT+ Celebrities 2016 – British LGBT Awards18 January 2019
- 1522026 Shortlist26 February 2026
- 153Boy George | Artist17 January 2024
- 154BillboardNielsen Business Media, Inc. — 24 August 1985
- 155MTV vid awards come into VogueAdam Sandler — 22 July 1993
- 156People's Choice Award 20022002
- 158There's still time to vote in our 2018 Reader Awards!2 January 2019
- 160Boy George to appear on British soap HollyoaksAdvocate — 20 November 2002
- 162Boy George. TLC. STACAppleTV — 29 August 2025
- 163BookCry Salty TearsO'Dowd, Dinah — Century — 2007