"I just want money
so that I can be really irresponsible."
George Alan O'Dowd
Boy Present
Who amongst us has not restrained a rent boy to a radiator? I mean you can’t trust them to be left alone in a room. What is a pop star supposed to do?
At the height of his fame, before the bruising blows of pop star failure, drug addiction, & tabloid infamy, Boy George was the embodiment of fantasy escapism. The Karma Chameleon who blurred boundaries of sexuality & gender, he was a figure of wish fulfillment of the desire to be able to transcend our physical limitations & be something other than what we are. Using bewitchment, beauty, & disguise, Boy George showed that you could be anything & anyone & achieve acclaim.
Boy George: British gay soul singer, lyricist, DJ, sexually ambiguous gender-bending superstar of the 80s, trendsetter, fashion model, autobiographer, gay rights campaigner, anti-racism & animal rights activist. During the years of Culture Club he had international success as a media celebrity until revelations about his secret hard drug problem hit the tabloids. At the end of the 1980s he began to rehabilitate & reinvent himself from being an outsider, freak, & victim to respectable celebrity. He also turned to Buddhism & Hare Krishna philosophy which brought together his pacifist beliefs & vegetarianism.
Helping keep Manhattan clean
In the new century, Boy George continues to record, DJ & make the tabloids. He has been involved in a series of scandals, drug arrests & peculiar behavior, but who else can carry off an ankle monitor with such finesse? This year marks Boy George's 50th year & the 30th anniversary of Culture Club, celebrating with a reunion tour & a new album in 2012.
