Culture Club

George Alan O'Dowd was born in 1961 in Eltham, Kent, England. George idolised David Bowie and Marc Bolan, and frequented the London clubs which were to be the focal points of the New Romantic movement. George was invited to appear with Bow Wow Wow by their manager Malcolm McLaren (of Sex Pistols fame), where he adopted the stage name of Lieutenant Lush.

Eventually adopting the name Boy George, he formed a band called In Praise of Lemmings in 1981, with ex-disc jockey and bassist Mikey Craig, and guitarist John Suede. Changing their name to Sex Gang Children, they were joined by drummer Jon Moss (who had been associated with The Clash and Adam & The Ants). The band was ultimately renamed Culture Club with John Suede departing in 1981, when he was replaced by Roy Hay.  Steve Levine produced the band's first demos in the EMI studios, and their catchy blend of pop, reggae and soul soon attracted the attention of Virgin Records.

Culture Club came to the fore in 1982. George's appeal to men and women alike was (and indeed still is) enormous. Many have likened George's singing voice to Smokey Robinson - witness the classic track Everything I own (I spent on heroin). In February 1984, Karma Chameleon reached the top of the US charts as the album Colour By Numbers hovered just behind Michael Jackson's Thriller on the album listings. Culture Club also won the Best British Single and Best British Group awards at the BRIT Awards.

In 1985, following a British tour, the band decided to take a break. Moss spent the year in production work, Hay formed a band called This Way Up, and Boy George immersed himself on the club scene (while co-writing Passing Friend for The Beach Boys).

George made a move to TV in May 1986 when he appeared in an episode of The A Team. That same year, the song Move Away reached Number 12 in the US and Number 7 in the UK. Their  album From Luxury To Heartache also hit the Top 40 in both countries. In July, Boy George was arrested on drug possession charges after keyboardist Michael Rudetski died of an overdose in George's house. Addicted to heroin, he began a drug rehabilitation program. Shortly thereafter, George commenced a successful solo career and Culture Club broke up.

In July 1998 a reunited Culture Club performed three dates in Monte Carlo and then joined Human League and Howard Jones in the "Big Rewind" tour of the US. The following month the band appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and made their first live appearance in Britain in 14 years. Later that year the band had a Top Ten hit in the UK with I Just Wanna Be Loved.