One of music’s most iconic artists, Boy George, has released a new song with Israeli rapper Asaf Goren – listen here. ‘Rainbow in the Dark’ touches on themes of unity, LGBT+ rights and the freedom to be oneself. The pandemic’s lockdown has allowed the singer/songwriter the space to explore creatively; this release with Asaf Goren is the first of many exciting collaborations he’s been working on during this time.
Boy George is one of the world’s most influential, universally loved artists, best known as the lead singer of decade-defining, Grammy award-winning group, Culture Club. He has racked-up numerous top ten hits in the UK and across the globe. On 19th December, Boy George and Culture Club will take over The SSE Arena, Wembley for ‘Rainbow in the Dark’, a globally live-streamed show.
Earlier this year, Boy George unveiled new album This Is What I Dub, Vol. 1, the first body of work to be released independently via his own label, BGP (Boy George Presents). A piece of his visual artwork, entitled ‘When Things Get Dark Look For The Light Switch’, was sold as part of the #ArtForHeroes campaign, where donations exceeded £1millon for the UK’s NHS heroes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Asaf Goren is an upcoming Israeli rapper, dancer and personality, known for The Challenge MTV and So You Think You Can Dance. He has an international following after winning Israel’s Big Brother and is quickly growing his resume in the states. Goren had reached out to Boy George with his work. After being completely inspired by what he heard, Boy George suggested they worked together on a new song.
Let’s be honest, Geri is essentially a gay man trapped in a woman’s body and has been offering the British public some of the most outrageous outfits ever in pop culture. Judging a bunch of drag queens is what Geri was born to do…well, except be a Spice Girl.
Sharon Osbourne
CREDIT: Joe Seer / Bigstock
Every X Factor viewer pines for her and after years of being married to Ozzy Osbourne, she’s probably quite good with advice on how to apply a lot of makeup. Just have to hope Dannii Minogue isn’t asked to guest judge the same week…
Louis Walsh
From Thames / Syco Entertainment The X Factor on ITV
If we have Sharon, then we need to bring in Louis. The love or loathe panellist with X Factor on ice that, of course, leaves him open to new career ventures. Maybe he could manage the winning Queen?
A national treasure and the Queen of Soap Opera, Dame Joan Collins’ Dynasty shoulder pads were enough to drive any drag queen wild with desire. Her quintessentially 80’s style would definitely offer some inspiration to the contestants.
Judge Rinder
Having his own show on ITV start last year, Robert Rinder is used to being a no-nonsense judge to the masses however, would he be able to handle a drag queen? There’s a high chance they may not take his criticism as easily.
The iconic fleet street journo has more than a reputation for speaking her mind on just about anything so let’s so what she thinks of some of the UK’s top drag artists.
Having been an advocate of gay rights during his time in Westminster, Ed Balls lost his seat in a bloodbath of an election defeat for Labour. He’s since said he’s considering Strictly Come Dancing but what about he does something with a little more class?
Tan France
Queer Eye
With numerous TV shows, like Queer Eye, under his belt, including his time judging on Next In Fashion, Tan’s unique fashion sensibilities and calming influence would be perfect.
Lily Allen
CREDIT: YouTube/Lily Allen
As with Janet, Lily is someone who rarely misses an opportunity to voice her opinion and when it comes to the gay community, she’s a bit of an icon – having gone as far to record a song called ‘Fag Hag’.
Ok, so if he doesn’t do it, could we at least have a ‘Lip Sync For Your Life’ round including Karma Chameleon? It would be absolute perfection.
Kim Cattrall
Sex And The City is nothing without one of our best acting exports, Kim Cattrall. It would be a dream to have her on the panel, especially if she was able to remember some of Samantha’s best put-downs for the show.
Julian Clary
The original gay stand up has already done Strictly and Celebrity Big Brother as a contestant so perhaps it is time for him to turn his attention to being a judge instead. His hilarious digs had us all laughing the 90’s so perhaps a stint on Drag Race could be the trick for a much-needed career resurrection?
Now, this would be perfect, a soapstar round. I’m thinking Madge Bishop, Bet Lynch, Pat Butcher but, most importantly Peggy Mitchell played by this national treasure. Our tellies have lacked the fun that Barbara offered to Eastenders since her departure in 2011. Moreover, we’d love to see her up against RuPaul…”GET OUT OF MY MAKE UP STUDIO”
Simon Cowell’s BFFL who only really has to work for a few weeks in autumn. The X Factor’s no.1 novelty staple could do with actually making it onto the judging panel for once instead of merely being a mentor.
This article was first published in August 2015 and has been updated.
The superstar, Boy George, has caused controversy with trans and non-binary advocates after suggesting that preferred pronouns should be left out of the conversation.
Boy George has lit a match under the “preferred pronoun” conversation and is currently under fire for suggesting that pronouns should be “left at the door” to further compound the issue, he went on to call it a “modern form of attention seeking”
Fans of the 80’s hitmaker told the star that he should “respect people’s preferred pronouns” while some called the singer “transphobic” for his comment.
In response to a question about not using someone’s preferred pronouns, Boy George replied, “Thanks for that but I have eyes and can mostly describe what I see!”
Former Pink News journalist, Benjamin Butterworth responded, by tweeting, “Then we’ll stop calling you your attention-seeking identity “Boy George”, and use your real identity of George O’Dowd, convict who falsely imprisoned and beat a man with a metal chain.”
Ego Boost?
Others were quick to applaud the singer for his stance. One fan wrote, “Every venomous, deranged tweet I come across has a pronouned [sic] bio attached to it” while another added, “Pronouns are nothing more than ego boosters for people who use them”.
One user said using, “compelled pronouns was ridiculous”
Boy George was in the supergroup that released the iconic Christmas song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” released by Band Aid in 1984, but which line did he sing?
Boy George joined the likes of George Michael, Marylin and Bob Geldof in 1984 to release “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Boy George was in the band Culture Club at the time of the song’s release. They had already charted two massive hits,”Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” and “Karma Chameleon” by the time the Band Aid song was released.
In Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Boy George sings solo on lines in the first verse. As well as singing some “ooohs”.
In the first verse he sings the lines, “And in our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy, throw your arms around the world at Christmas time”.
He also sang in the choruses and the end refrain, “Feed The World, Let them know it’s Christmas time”.
“Do They Know Its Christmas” remains Boy George’s (along with all the other artists involved) biggest selling single of all time. It sold 3.8 million copies in the UK, another 2.5 million in the US. It has gone to sell 11.7 million copies according to Wikipedia.
The Brits are here, queer and releasing music by the millions…
Which gay British artist has sold the most records?
From Sam Smith to Elton, Freddie Mercury to Will Young but which are the biggest sellers? We collated this list from available sales figures available online. Actual sales figures may be higher or lower than printed here.
Joe McElderry <1 million
X Factor’s Joe’s debut single, a version of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” went on to sell over 800,000 copies in the UK. Like another constituent of this list, Joe’s sexuality was unknown during his time on the talent show which made him famous.
Pet Shop Boys 1 million (at least)
“Always On My Mind” ending up selling over 1 million records for LGBT+ identifying duo Pet Shop Boys. It’s the biggest selling single of their career.
Callum Scott 1.363 million
Relatively unknown and newcomer Callum Scott managed to secure a million-selling single with “Dancing On My Own”. Released in 2017.
Will Young 1.7 million
When Will won the first ever Pop Idol nobody actually knew he was gay, until the very next day when there was a huge splash across the tabloids. His debut single, “Evergreen” / “Anything Is Possible” went on to sell a huge 1.7 million records
Boy George / Culture Club 5 million
Culture Club, fronted by Boy George sold a whopping 5 million records globally with their song “Karma Chameleon”. The song was released in 1983 and became a huge disco hit for the group.
George Michael 6 million
George’s biggest selling record to date is “Careless Whisper”, which he released after splitting from WHAM! The song was a huge world-wide hit for the singer. It went to number 1 in 25 countries selling over 6 million singles. His most charted song is “Last Christmas” (2 million copies and counting) which reenters the top 10 almost every Christmas. It’s the biggest selling song to never get to number 1.
Freddie Mercury / Queen 8 million
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of the biggest selling singles (and apparently the most expensive ever made) of all time and it was written by Freddie Mercury. During his life, Freddie admitted his sexuality fears to his ex-girlfriend, apparently, that he didn’t know whether he was gay or straight.
Sam Smith 8 million
Sam Smith’s is the second newest artist on our list after Calum Scott, but he’s already racked up 6 number ones, including, incredible the only number 1 song for a Bond film. The song “Stay With Me” has sold over 8 million copies (digital).
David Bowie 10 million
It’s impossible to know how exactly how many copies of “Let’s Dance” David Bowie sold, but the album with the same name sold 10 million copies when it was released in 1983, making it his best selling album and single of all time. Note: David Bowie never identified as gay, but his sexuality was often considered to be bisexual.
Elton John 33 million
The granddaddy of music, Elton John has sold millions and millions of records. His biggest-ever seller single was the 1997 tribute to Diana Princess Of Wales, “Candle In The Wind”. It apparently sold over 33 million singles. It has a double A-side – the other song was “The Way You Look Tonight”.
** UPDATE: A previous version incorrectly labelled David Bowie’s track “Let’s Dance”, “Just Dance” and has been corrected.
Boy George has called for the removal of bomb-making instructions to be razed from the internet following Monday night’s catastrophic suicide attack in Manchester.
Singer Boy George has called for “zero tolerance” at entry level and the removal of bomb making info from the internet. His calls come after 22 people were killed and over 100 injured at an Ariana Grande concert on Monday night in Manchester.
Time to remove bomb making info from the internet and time for zero tolerance at every level.
‘Time to remove bomb making info from the internet and time for zero tolerance at every level’
His fans were quick to reply – leaving the star besieged with responses. He answered with a simple,
‘I love you and that’s all you need to know!’
Meanwhile, Ariana Grande has returned to the US and has suspended the rest of her European dates with her promoters saying,
“We ask at this time that we all continue to support the city of Manchester and all those families affected by this cowardice and senseless violence. Our way of life has once again been threatened but we will overcome this together. Thank you.”
She had been scheduled to perform two dates at the London o2, but these were cancelled. Many fans pleaded with the venue to cancel the shows so that Ariana would have time to “heal” and not feel obliqued to sing for them.
It’s the usual end of the day question in the office… ‘How much would it cost to hire Elton John to come and sing for us to pass the time’ – yes we have that much money we don’t know what to do with it! Well with a little research I bring you our Top 10 gay icons for hire… You’ll be surprised at who’s the cheapest!
No.1) Madonna – $N/A
CREDIT: Denis Makarenko / Bigstock
Just like any good antique if there’s no price on it, you can’t afford it!
No.2) Cher – $1,000,000+
You’ll be singing ‘If I Could Turn Back time’ when this cheque clears!
Biggest shock of them all. It’s Liza with a Z-list price tag. I’d heard she’d attend the opening of a fridge which is kinda handy as I could do with another cuppa.
So how much would you pay for your favourite stars?
Boy George’s four brothers would apparently cross the road if they saw him coming down the street in the early days of his career. Speaking at a Q&A the iconic singer said that his appearance was enough to make his family members cross the road especially towards the end of the 70s.
In the late 70s and earlier 80s, along with Marilyn, the duo were the poster boys for the New Romantics movement. Boy George explained that when the scene first started there were so few people in that scene that you made friends with anyone who looked like a “freak”.
“At that time, the New Romantic scene was quite tiny, it was a scene with a massive ego.
“There was only 200 people at the most. So when you met other people that were like you, you tended to kind of befriend them. I just saw another freak and was like, “You’re going to be my friend,” it was kind of destined that we would end up friends.”
Read the full Q&A in our latest issue, which you can download for free.
In the late 70s, before they became household names and still just teenagers, two pioneers of 80’s queer culture met in a Swiss Cottage flatshare. And yes there was a boy involved.
CREDIT: PR Supplied
We’re gathered in the basement of a swanky hotel in central London. We’re about to witness the coming together of two of 80’s queer culture’s pioneers. Marilyn and Boy George are about to have a sit down with Kate Flett and 50 journalists.
M: We met around someone’s (house) I think her name was Jane in Swiss Cottage. BG: Punk Jane…
KF: Nobody had surnames did they? M: Punk Jane – Jane was her surname… (laughter) A mutual friend of ours took me round. I didn’t know what the subtext of the script was, but I was being used by said friend to… BG: Piss me off. M: That was a bonus…
KF: So there was always a subtext? M: Always a subtext. BG: My best friend and I had fallen out and I had been replaced by Marilyn, who was a year younger than me. So replaced by a younger model… M: I’ve never grown out of the role. BG: My friend was going around with this young blonde person and it was kind of tense. M: Very. I was completely unaware of what was going on. I didn’t know the dynamics between (George) and Philip Sallon… It was like walking into a lion’s den. This one (pointing to Boy George) was back-combing his hair and giving me looks, I was so terrified.
KF: So when was this? BG: ’77? M: Everything was still in Black and White. KF: You were super young. M: What are you implying?
KF: Nothing at all… I just thought it might be ’79 / ’80. BG: No no, it may have been the end of ’76!
KF: You were children! BG: Yes… mental. The second time we met was at a club called the Sombrero, which was a run down 70s disco we used to go to on the weekends. He came with Phillip to this club and I done this whole new look, a complete transformation. So Phillip came up and spoke to me, not realising it was me. As he spoke to me, he realised it was me and kind of ran off. I believe that Marilyn walked up to me and said, “What do you think of Phillip?” which is one of Marilyn’s famous lines when he wants you to bitch about people… M: I wanted to know what was going on… that’s why I asked. BG: Can we just establish at this point (he) was in full Marilyn Monroe drag. M: I still wanted to know what was going on. Since the first meeting and then the second one I had a little more info and I knew there was some kind of… Philip was… I’m editing myself. Philip’s wonderful, he really is wonderful, but he has an opinion, a very strong opinion and his perception of what went on. I like to hear both sides before I make up my own mind. The more info the better. BG: You’re padding this out. I was fabulous, you were fabulous, we were destined to be friends. M: In a nutshell. BG: It was kind of instant really. I loved the way he looked, I think he quite liked the way I looked. At that time, the New Romantic scene was quite tiny, it was a scene with a massive ego. There was only 200 people at the most. So when you met other people that were like you, you tended to kind of befriend them. I just saw another freak and was like, “You’re going to be my friend,” it was kind of destined that we would end up friends. M: That’s all great, the way you look and everything, but for me when you look into someone’s eyes, what I see beyond whatever the facade is, that’s the thing that’s important to me. When I looked at him there was a connection… BG: Are you being romantic? M: It wasn’t that kind of look.
KF:You just clicked? M: On a really deep level… That doesn’t happen very often.
KF: Where did ‘Marilyn’ come from? Let’s find out how you ended up being in that room with Phillip, wearing your full Marilyn Monroe drag. What’s the journey? M: I started off at school. I had huge problems at school. I was hiding. I was always hiding and trying to get through the experience. I had it from every angle. I felt really repressed. I started getting into punk. I was attracted to the freedom of it because I felt so repressed. I started going to these nightclubs and there was this one club, called the Embassy Club. By this time, my hair was bleached and I put on a little bit of makeup and I was sitting on this stool at the bar and there was a group of guys standing next to me and one of them turned round and went, “Oh my god! Look at him!” There was a spotlight above the stool I was perched on. He was going, “Look, he could be in my front room he’s like a work of art!” and for me, who had that repression, it was like, ‘oh my god’ I was used to getting attention, but not that kind of attention. He was going, “Oh, you’re beautiful, I could have you in my front room under a spotlight and I found out after that his name was Roy Miles, who was the Queen’s art dealer. That validation felt amazing to me. In my head it was obviously to do with the makeup. I had a little bit of blusher on. So the next week I had a little bit of lip rouge on, and I got more attention, I kept thinking it was to do with that. I didn’t think it was anything to do with people liking me for the inside.
KF: It gave you a confidence? M: Yeah. I was being noticed and in an appreciative way. That felt good and I wanted more of it.
KF: What kind of life were you living outside of the nightclubs? M: I just didn’t exist. I stuck black bin liners on my bedroom walls and windows. I would sleep. I was like hibernating until the next nightclub I went to.
KF:Were you more unhappy than your average teenager? M: I think something had snapped in me by then, I was like, “Oh f*** off”. It might sound bitchy, but something inside me snapped. I would look at people and go, “You are picking on me? Get a mirror.” I started being really judgmental of how other people looked. “Don’t f***ing tell me about me, take a look at yourself before you start picking on this”. It went from one extreme to the other. I turned into this creature.
KF: (to Boy George) did you meet ‘the creature’? BG: My story is quite similar. I think what happens when you’re a kid, your defensiveness becomes a powerful tool. When I met my first manager Tony Broaden, and he was trying to get me signed to a record deal, he said that I would walk along the road with him and I’d be really dressed up and people would stare and make comments and I’d scream at them, “What you looking at”… That weird defensiveness was very much part of the 70s. You don’t know whether people are laughing. A lot of eccentric people don’t like be to honed in on. You dress up, but you don’t really want people to make comments. Which is odd because obviously they’re going to. I recognise a lot of myself in that weird defensiveness and becoming a bit spikey to manage yourself getting through… You were always running the gauntlet. Particularly in the 70s because you had all that fabulous tribal stuff, with Mods and Rockers and Skinheads. There was always someone to punch you. It was quite brave. When you’re a kid, long before you start dressing up, you’re made aware that you’re different. Because you’re not interested in the same things as other boys, in football… You’re made to feel different. Later on you start to discover fashion and music and start to build an identity and then people pick on you for different reasons. I guess you make a choice. You either fold in on yourself or become… fabulous.
You can read the entire Q&A in the latest issue in THEGAYUK. Subscribe now to never miss another issue.
Boy George is not one judges to be confirmed by ITV for The Voice when it moves to the channel in January. Instead the line up with consist of will i am, Sir Tom Jones, Jennifer Hudson and Gavin Rossdale.
On returning to his red chair, Sir Tom said,
“I’m looking forward to returning to my big red chair on The Voice UK. I had some great times on the show and I can’t wait to again discover and help some brand new talent. And of course be back with my pal will.i.am.”
Meanwhile Jennifer Hudson said,
“I couldn’t be more excited to join the amazing panel of coaches on The Voice UK! The UK has always been so supportive of me since the beginning of my career so I’m really looking forward to sharing my point of view with the contestants and especially Team JHUD. Discovering new artists has always been important to me and the UK has no shortage of talent, so I can only imagine what this experience will be like for everyone involved. I can’t wait to get going and start developing each individual’s own sound!”
The Voice UK will be presented by Emma Willis and will air on ITV early next year.
The legendary 80s group, Culture Club are making a return to the stage as Boy George reunites with his band mates.
CREDIT: PR Provided
One of the biggest bands of the ‘80s is back AND with the original line-up, playing their only UK show this year on Wednesday, December 14th, at The SSE Arena Wembley, London, with special guests, in their only UK performance, Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
The overwhelming excitement and outstanding rave reviews garnered on their world tour have driven the group to announce a homecoming show in London where the band will perform favourites from their albums including Kissing to Be Clever and Colour By Numbers, as well as their latest album Tribes.
Known for dominating the charts worldwide with their classic hits including “Karma Chameleon,” “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” and “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya”. There is not a country in the world that doesn’t know the names of Boy George and Culture Club. The Grammy Award winners have sold in excess of 100 million singles and over 50 million albums, and were one of the biggest pop bands of the 1980s.
They achieved seven straight Top 10 hits in the UK, nine Top 10 singles in the USA and nine Top 20 singles in Australia. They had number 1 singles in over a dozen countries and multiplatinum album sales across the world, and were the first group since The Beatles to have three Top Ten hits in America from a debut album. They were also the first group in music history to have an album certified diamond in Canada.
The original band line-up is Mike Craig (bass guitar), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Jon Moss (drums and percussion) and flamboyant front-man Boy George (lead vocals).
