The Return of Boy George: His Thoughts on Justin Bieber and Why He’s Over Everyone’s Obsession with Gayness
At 52, Boy George is older, wiser, and quite sober. Yes, the Karma Chameleon may have changed his colors, but he's as sharp-tongued as ever. And If you really want to hurt him? Ask him to play Avicii.
Interview By Rob Tannenbaum,
Photograph by Robbie Fimmano
DETAILS: You've done a few eighties package tours with musicians like Howard Jones and Paul Young. Are those fun?
Boy George: The last one I did, I said, "I'm never doing this again. Ever." Because I sang "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and some other songs, and people moaned. They wanted to hear the hits. Oh, f*$k off. There's more to me than that. And being a DJ has helped me to stay away from nostalgia.
DETAILS: You DJ a lot these days. What's your strength?
Boy George: I'm a selfish queen. I play what I like and hope you like it too. I played a club in Miami, and it was mostly white girls with Chihuahuas in their Gucci handbags, asking, "When are you going to play Avicii?" I'm not. I don't want people to have a bad night out, but if you like bad music, it's not my problem.
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DETAILS: You recently spent time writing new songs with the members of Culture Club, with whom you famously fought. Do you think things will stay peaceful long enough to finish an entire album?
Boy George: Absolutely. I spent the whole of the eighties creating drama and making things difficult for myself. And I've done a bit of that since then, too, obviously. But I'm not interested in arguing with anybody these days. Two years ago, the four of us met, and I thought, "None of you have changed." They were expecting me to return to form-"He's going to hit us any minute, he's going to throw a vase at me"-but I didn't. It was hard to focus, so I made a solo record instead.
DETAILS: On that album, This Is What I Do, you sing in a much lower register. Where's the falsetto?
Boy George: It's gone. I'm 52-I can't be the same as when I was 20. So I'm rebuilding my career. A lot of people have never f*$king heard of me. Or they say, "Yeah, but you're not that Boy George." People say that to me all the time.
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DETAILS: Do you ever miss being young?
Boy George: I absolutely freaked out when I turned 50. "I'm 50? I'm f*$king 50?!" It was always my plan to get sane at 40. I thought, "When you're 40, you can't be an idiot anymore." It took seven more years, but I did get sober at 47. I don't know how I got here, really. I knew there was a route to the top of the mountain, and I decided to take the most difficult one.
DETAILS: So at 25, you said, "I have 15 years to be nuts"?
Boy George: I was a huge pop star all over the world, I couldn't leave my house. Kinda like Justin-what's his name? You know, the little kid.
DETAILS: Justin Bieber.
Boy George: Bieber. I feel so much compassion for him. He's a kid. Who's looking out for him? Who's helping him, you know?
DETAILS: Would you have felt compassion for Bieber when you were younger?
Boy George: Probably not. I was quite hard-nosed. "Hang 'em! String 'em up!" I thought I knew everything. But my bitchiness was good-humored-for the most part. I said some things I wish I hadn't, just being honest, but I don' t feel like that now. I'm very forgiving. Because people have forgiven me .
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