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October 2, 1995, Boy George Washington D.C. book signing. Photo by John Mathew Smith 2001 –

Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about Boy George

Boy George known to be the unique person he is, tweaked his name to fit his personality. He owns his stage name even though he is getting older by the day. 鈥�

In his own words, he states that “I didn鈥檛 want to confuse people by becoming The Artist Formerly Known as Boy George is a brand that I created and is familiar to people鈥�.

He continually states that Heaven knows they鈥檝e had enough confusion. I鈥檓 not deluded. I know I鈥檓 an older man, but I鈥檓 a boy at heart. Life is about learning to be yourself, and I think I鈥檝e gone into this interesting full circle. In spirit, I鈥檓 very much back to the person I was when I first started my career,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2014. 

1. Boy George Early life and how he put up living in a male-dominated family

Boy George Live 2008. Photo by Klaus Reichart –

Boy George’s real name was George Alan O’Dowd. He was born on June 14, 1961, in Eltham, London.  His parents were of an Irish origin with his father being called Gerry while his mother Dinah O’Dowd. George grew up in a lively household with his four brothers and one sister.

Despite being part of the large working-class Irish brood, George claims his childhood was a lonely one, referring to himself as the “pink sheep” of the family.

George created his image to stand out in the male-dominated household, on which he came to depend. “It didn’t bother me to walk down the street and to be stared at. I loved it,” he later reminisced.

2. His school life was cut short due to his outlandish behavior

This is of course Boy George (George O’Dowd) from Culture Club and Andy Bell from Erasure. Taken 25 June and 1 July 2011. Photo by Andrew Hurley –

George didn’t exactly conform to the typical school student archetype, either. With a leaning more toward the arts rather than science and math, he found it hard to fit within traditional masculine stereotypes.

With his schoolwork suffering and an ongoing battle of wits between him and his teachers, it wasn’t long before the school gave up and expelled George over his increasingly outlandish behavior and outrageous clothes and make-up.
Soon George found himself out of school, and without a job. He took any work he could find that paid him enough money to live on including a job picking fruit; a stint as a milliner.

Other jobs that he did were participating in a gig as a make-up artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he picked up some handy techniques for his personal use.

3. How Boy George joined the Culture club was out his style of dressing caught the producer鈥檚 eye

Boy George Atlanta August 2018. Photo by Poignant Moment –

By the 1980s, the New Romantic Movement had emerged in the U.K. Followers of the New Romantic period, influenced heavily by artists such as David Bowie, often dressed in grand caricatures of the 19th century English Romantic period.

This included exaggerated upscale hairstyles and fashion statements. Men typically wore androgynous clothing and makeup, such as eyeliner.

Boy George鈥檚 androgynous style of dressing caught the attention of music producer             Malcolm McLaren, who had previously been the manager of the Sex Pistols. He arranged for George to perform with the group Bow Wow Wow.

4. In the midst of it all, Boy George had the inspiration to form his group

Boy George. Photo by Ben Sutherland from Crystal Palace, London, UK –

George made a few appearances to much audience acclaim, and inevitable friction between the two big personalities began to surface. However, George, by now, felt inspired to form his group.

The answer came in the form of The Sex Gang Children. Bassist Mikey Craig and drummer Jon Moss were next to join the group, followed by Roy Hay. The group soon abandoned its original name, instead of settling on Culture Club.

The name was a joke about the group members’ various backgrounds: George was Irish, Craig was Jamaican and British, Moss was Jewish and Hay was an Englishman.

5. Boy George soon rose into being an International Pop Star

Boy George. Photo by Coby Koehl –

Success came early for the band. They signed with Virgin Records in the U.K. and Epic Records in America, releasing their debut album, Kissing To Be Clever, in 1982. It was their third single from that album, “Do You Want To Hurt Me?” that scored a huge success for the group. The song reached the No. 1 spot in 16 different countries.

6. The distinction Culture Club came with among other music groups

Boy George in profile. Photo by Ben Sutherland –

Culture Club already had the distinction of being the first group since the Beatles to have three songs from their debut album become top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The group’s second album, Colour By Numbers (1983) was also a success, with the single “Karma Chameleon” rocketing to the No. 1 spot in numerous countries including the U.S., where it stayed for four weeks.

7. Boy George was now a household name

Boy George performing at Sydney鈥檚 biggest New Year鈥檚 Eve party. Photo by Eva Rinaldi –

George soon became a household name, making him a natural choice for one of the lead vocals on the Band-Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in 1984. However, the pressure of fame began to take its toll, and by late 1985 George had developed a heroin addiction.

8. What had a great beginning and flow soon came trembling down

Boy George performing at Ronnie Scott’s in London 2001. Photo by Jessica Hansson –

Culture Club began to lose its way musically. Work on their fourth album From Luxury To Heartache (1986) proved to be a headache as recording sessions dragged on for hours.

9. Boy George鈥檚 Personal Life

Boy George singing at The SSE Arena Wembley on14th December 2016. Photo by Paul Carless –

In July of that same year, George was arrested in the U.K. for possession of cannabis. A few days later, the band’s keyboardist, Michael Rudetski, was found dead in George’s home.

The coroner’s report revealed that he had suffered a heroin overdose.

10. His net worth and relationship status

Boy George. Photo by Dean Stockings –

Boy George is estimated to have a net worth of around 35 million dollars which is 26.5m Euros. In terms of his relationship status, Boy George is not currently known to be in a relationship.

 He however had posted on his Instagram account a post that he was single back in 2015.