With his hit-filled, often-tumultuous career of more than three decades, Boy George knows a thing or 10 about how to survive the music industry. In an interview with Huffington Post to promote his current DJ tour and new album This Is What I Do, the 52-year-old entertainer —now sporting a beard! — questions other performers who use controversy to draw attention to their music.
“You have Miley stripping naked at every opportunity and Kanye bringing Jesus on stage and then Gaga posting ‘Madonna hates Gaga’ tweets,” George said. “One wonders what it has to do with music but people have to find ways to get attention! I guess I find it mildly entertaining like the rest of you!”
George, whose androgynous looks during his Culture Club days drew speculation about his sexual orientation before he opened up publicly about his affair with bandmate Jon Moss, thinks coming out remains a very personal decision.
“I came out to my family at 15 so by the time I was in Culture Club I was pretty fearless,” he shared. “I had to keep it to myself because people around me thought it would damage my career but I think everyone worked it out pretty quickly. I think coming out is a very personal thing and I now feel it is an individual choice. If you are not attacking other people then you should be able to keep it private. I think it’s always best for one’s own soul and personal happiness to come out. The closet is not a joyful place but you must feel safe before you make the decision to go public!”
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He also understands that there will always be people who judge performers by their sexual orientation.
“I prefer to live in a world where you are judged on talent and sexuality is completely secondary,” he revealed. “There have been many successful openly gay artists — George Michael, Neil Tenant, Marc Almond — but the bravest was always Jimmy Somerville. I’m doubtful if we will ever live in a world where sexuality won’t be an issue for at least a small minority. Homophobia and racism are part of the human condition.”
Listen to his new album, which finds his voice as rich and evocative as ever, below.
yaoming
That’s Boy George?
What happened to this guy?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/boy-george-sobs-theyll-kill-371647
http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article192344.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/E7209306-DE38-1854-57EAE40FE53AD7B5-192344.jpg
DarkZephyr
@yaoming: He lost weight. I am sure that picture has some airbrushing on it to make him look more youthful, but he really is that thin now.
DarkZephyr
His voice has changed a little with age, but its still fantastic! Wow!
jimbryant
I think it’s slightly inaccurate of Boy George to use people like George Michael as an example of a successful ‘openly gay’ artist. George Michael was a successful closet case. Once he came out of the closet, his popularity waned.
The problem for gay and bisexual male singers is that women feel threatened by male homosexuality. Women won’t buy from male performers who don’t desire them sexually.
Mark
“Women won’t buy from male performers who don’t desire them sexually.”
Exactly. That’s why Liberace’s fans were for the most part NOT women.
jimbryant
Mark,
Liberace was closeted during his career, and thus posed no threat to women.
Jonnyboy45
I don’t think women are threatened by gay men at all. If anyone is, it would be straight men not women. Historically, they haven’t been that many out gay men in the music business, so you can’t be a fan of something that doesn’t exist. George Michael is still very successful in the UK even after he came out and since Boy George lives in England that is what he is referring to.
Right now in the music scene, there don’t seem to be a lot of big name male performers of any sexual orientation. The biggest stars are women and bands for some reason.
Women do buy George Michael and Elton John records. But I think of women do gravitate more towards female performers like Madonna or Gaga, because they relate to them more when they sing about relationships or want to dress like them or be successful like them. It doesn’t mean they have something against gay men.
There are people on here who seem to want to start a war against women which is silly because most women I know are extremely supportive of gay men and equality for us.
krystalkleer
BOY GEORGE never needed a gimic to sell his music like most “artists” of today…and BOY sounds better than ever…PERIOD!
http://getoffmydress.blogspot.com/2013/09/this-is-what-i-do.html
krystalkleer
@yaoming: you wanna banana cuz ya googled a pic of BOY from years ago? get real!
stranded
wow, when did boy george become sexy?
Dxley
He’s too gay
Stefano
@Dxley : what do you mean by “he’s TOO gay”? And is it wrong to you to be “Too gay”? LOL
TDQ
I`ve got the album, its really really good. Honest lyrics, great tunes. A great title too. For all the self sabotage over the years, it has to be remembered he was one of the first Gay men that almost everyone took to, no questions asked. True he was not out for the first 2-3 years, but come on, noone thought he was straight and he never once alluded to it.
stranded
@DarkZephyr:
Actually there is quite a bit of airbrushing. He did lose tons of weight, but he looks nothing like that glamour picture. The way he looks is a little worrisome. He doesn’t look like someone who exercised, he looks like he is wasting away.