BOY GEORGE: A MUSIC AND FASHION ICON.

George Alan O'Dowd, alias Boy George is one of those personalities who signed the 80s. 

In fact, through to the outrageous looks he proposed, he was able to express himself in a way that very few people did before (David Bowie is one of his predecessor), and thanks to that Boy George became a star back then and is still considered both a music and fashion icon. 

The very beginning of his career sees him among the Blitz Kids, a group of young Londoners who hung out at the Blitz Club, in London. 

They were considered the most popular guys around London's club scene especially because of their way of dressing up for the public. 

Among them, 

Steve Strange (the Visage), 

Rusty Egan (the Rich Kids) and 

fashion icon Isabella Blow (just to mention a few names) used to meet up at the club at the beginning of the 80s, giving birth to the New Romantic scene. 

By wearing extreme make-ups (most of the times whitened faces), big hair and wigs, hats and big shoulders they were able to make their image recognizable and create a new trend: the New Romantics. 

Their Fashion references?

David Bowie and the Glam Rock was for sure taken as example. 

Vivienne Westwood and the Pirate Look.

Stephen Jones' hats. 

                                                 

Going back to Boy George career as singer, his first step into the music industry was back in 1981, when he collaborated for a few months with the already established band Bow Wow Wow. However, due to some misunderstanding with the lead vocal Annabella Lwin, Boy was cut out of the group.

Boy therefore decided to create his own band, the Culture Club: Mikey Craig at the bass guitar, Jon Moss at the drum and percussions, and Roy Hay at the guitar and keyboard. 

Culture Club's first album Kissing to be Clever was released in 1982; it did not reach immediate success, but thanks to a couple of singles like Time and I'll Tumble 4 Ya, Culture Club started to make their name appear in magazines and newspapers. 

The international success was reached thanks to their second album, Colour by Numbers (1983). The first single, Church of the Poison Mind, was number two in the UK and reached the Top Ten in the US. However, it was thanks to the single Karma Chameleon that the band acquired international coverage: the song became one of the most played songs of the decade.

Waking Up with the House on Fire (1984) did not sell as much as expected. From this point on, the fame of the group started to fade, and their fourth album 

From Luxury to Heartache, released in 1986, was the one that signed the dissolution of the Culture Club: in the same year they split up and George got arrested, due to drug detention. 

In 1998 the group decided to leave all the misunderstandings apart and start a worldwide tournèe; they launched their fifth and last album, Don't Mind if I Do, which sold pretty well. However, in 2002 Boy decided to split up again as he wanted to concentrate on his solo career as DJ. 

There has recently been some rumors about a reunion in 2012. 

I'm sure everybody would be glad to see them again together on stage, wouldn't you?

if you wanna know a bit more about the life and career of Boy George, watch the film Worried about the Boy. You really can't miss it!