Born on 14 June: Boy George, Culture Club's frontman

George Alan O’Dowd was born in 1961 in Begley on the outskirts of London. The former Culture Club singer celebrates his 64th birthday. 

Boy George, who has never hidden his homosexuality, was quickly drawn to the nightlife. He settled in squats on Warren Street in central London and created a persona as a nocturnal diva with make-up that was sometimes sophisticated, sometimes extravagant. 

He left punk behind as the New Romantics musical movement was beginning in the early 1980s. At that time, he mixed with brothers Martin and Gary Kemp, who would go on to form Spandau Ballet. For them, style had to be in sync with the music. It was a lesson Boy George would put into practice by forming Culture Club with guitarist Roy Hay, bassist Mickey Craig, and drummer Jon Moss…

Very quickly, in 1982, they achieved worldwide success with "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?", a dance track inspired by reggae's lilting rhythms. 

 In less than four years, and as many transformations of Boy George, the band amassed hits: "Time (Clock Of The Heart)", "Victims", "Church Of The Poison Mind", and of course "Karma Chameleon". In 1986, however, the album "From Luxury To Heartache" marked the end of the band. There were no hits in sight, and Boy George was battling other demons. Drugs and alcohol began to take hold in his daily life.

 Despite a few later reunions in the late 90s, the Culture Club chapter is now definitively closed. Without ever giving up music—or his sense of humour (to the point of naming one of his artistic incarnations Jesus Loves You!)—and his love for reggae (as shown by "Everything I Own" in 1987), Boy George diversified, with the musical "Taboo" in 2002 and especially as a DJ.

After already playing the role of Harold Zidler in 2024, in the stage musical adaptation of the film "Moulin Rouge!" directed in 2001 by Baz Luhrmann, Boy George donned the same costume again in 2025. His character is inspired by Charles Joseph Midler, one of the first owners of the famous Parisian cabaret in Pigalle.

And to wrap up, a few anecdotes (and there are plenty in the singer's life): In 2009, Boy George was sentenced to 15 months in prison for having chained a Norwegian escort boy to a radiator after he refused to have sex with him! It's unclear if, at the time, he whispered "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" to him. Boy George was released a few months later for good behaviour and has kept a low profile ever since…

 On a lighter note, in 2010, he appeared on the final album by Régine, the French queen of nightlife, with a brilliantly eccentric version of her classic "J’ai toujours porté bonheur aux hommes". Classic Boy!

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Boy George on the set of the TV show "Generation 80" in Brussels (Belgium), 6 November 1982