12-07-2025
Boy George at 64: ‘I don't want to be controlled — I want to be out of control'
W hen it comes to pop stars on spiritual journeys, George Harrison, Cat Stevens and Sinéad O'Connor come to mind. But Boy George? This is the singer who turned bitchiness into high art. 'The Artist Formerly Known as Get a Personality' is a putdown of Prince from which there is no coming back.
George's tongue has been lacerating unsuspecting victims ever since he was the coat-check boy at the Blitz club in London in 1979. Yet here we are in his publicist's office, George in his signature look of oversized hat and colour-saturated make-up, praising the wisdom of the Buddhist-inspired philosopher Alan Watts, extolling the virtues of a spiritual path called Three Principles and generally exuding enlightenment. Albeit interspersed with the odd cackle of wickedness.
'There have been a lot of times in my life when I ask myself, 'Why do I do this?'' says George, who at 64 does have a surprising air of calm. Whether that is down to the mellowing effects of age, his discovery of the higher path or something else entirely is hard to tell.
