Well, almost. Certain details are not at all familiar. The day is nearly over and George hasn’t shed a tear or locked himself in the bathroom. The friends in the kitchen don’t deal drugs. There are serious fitness machines scattered among the Buddhas, velvet couches and religious statuettes. And Boy George, 31, has a hit single on the American pop charts-his first in five years. “Some people thought he was dead,” says Daniel Glass, president of EMI Records Group, which released Boy George’s single of “The Crying Game” in the States. Now he is a revamped vamp, riding a British pop revival that also stars Duran Duran. “There’s a part of me that’s terrified of ever becoming as successful as I was before,” says George. “But then there’s another side of me that is so excited.”
The last time George O’Dowd felt this buzz he had no qualms about stardom. The son of a South London builder, he had fantasized as a child about being a singer. But the stunning success of his band Culture Club-with its chart-busting confections “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” and “Karma Chameleon”-overwhelmed him. “I really didn’t allow myself to soak up what was happening to me,” he says. Instead, he soaked up “love, food, sex, drugs, money-the list goes on and on.” Culture Club flamed out after five years and a half-dozen top-10 hits. George also broke up with the band’s drummer, Jon Moss. The relationship, says George, “gave the whole thing a purpose for me.” When it was finished, so was the band.
Flush with cash and hooked on heroin, Boy George spent the next years clinging to the pop life. “I wasted a lot of money on drugs and just living,” he says and then grins. “When I say ‘wasted,’ I mean bloody well enjoyed it. Things like round-the-clock limousine, hotels for me and several friends-it’s an old rock-and-roll cliche, but I was that woman.” Eventually the cash ran out, and so did his fame. “I had to eat humble pie,” he says, recalling some humiliating gigs in tiny gay clubs in the north of England. Worse, George was a junkie. Two of his friends died of overdoses, and he became the focus of a drug sting that resulted in two dealers being sent to prison, partly on his testimony. The tabloids ran constant updates on his woes, even after he had become a virtual recluse. At one point, The Sun gave him “weeks to live.”
It took several tries and a brief addiction to sleeping pills for Boy George to finally get sober. He mixed and matched numerous paths to recovery, dabbling in Buddhism, Hinduism (via the Hare Krishnas), homeopathic medicine and a brand of group therapy that he describes as “little bit of Nietzsche, a little bit of est.” Now he’s a vegetarian with a sweet tooth and a passion for chanting. He’s also happier. “I think I understand myself better now,” he says. Part of the transformation has included being more open about his homosexuality. “I used to say I was bisexual, which is a lie, and I felt really bad about it,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to be a great songwriter, but a gay songwriter, who can write gay love songs that really affect people and make them realize there is no difference-love is love, pain is pain.”
Throughout his battle with drugs, Boy George was writing, performing and recording music. Three solo albums, done under the pseudonym “Jesus Loves You,” did moderately well in Europe, but only a couple of songs-“Don’t Take My Mind on a Trip” and “Generations of Love”-registered on American dance charts. Barred by a drug conviction from working in the States, George still managed to keep a foothold on the British scene. When director Neil Jordan decided to include an updated version of the 1965 Dave Berry hit “The Crying Game” in his film of the same name, his first choice was Boy George. “I wanted him for his voice,” says Jordan. “He has one of the best voices in the business-soft, emotional, heartbreaking.” Listeners agree-after just three weeks, the single is steadily climbing the pop charts.
There is little doubt that the success of Jordan’s movie, nominated for six Academy Awards, has given Boy George a boost. an he keep the momentum going? “I’ve never been more ready to make an album than I am now,” he says. In the last two years, he has written some 200 songs and will start recording in a few months. He is also writing his autobiography, tentatively titled “Take It Like a Man.” Then, he says, “it is time for a fresh relationship with America.” (Legally, he is now free to tour in the States.) “I’m going to enjoy the experience for what it is,” he says. “I’m really going to take hold of the reins and be a grown-up about it.” At last, the Boy is ready to do a man’s job.
