This Boy's Life

The trials and triumphs of Boy George

Boy George is at work on his memoirs and has just released an album of his greatest hits. As GEORGE WAYNE discovered, the ultimate 80s androgyne is back in the ring and swinging hard.

George Wayne:Drag's all the rage these days, but weren't you the first pop drag sensation?

Boy George: Yeah, I think so. But you didn't count David Bowie, Liberace, or Little Richard. Certainly each time somebody does it, they take it a little further. Bowie broke down a lot of barriers for me, but, yes, I think I was the first.

G.W.How many years have you been wearing makeup?

B.G. Since I was about 16. I started during the punk erablack lips and a bit of mascara.

G.W.You grew up in a large Catholic family. Were you always the black sheep?

B.G. I was the pink sheep. My family weren't religious maniacs or anything like that. They had a picture of Muhammad Ali next to the Pope. I wasn't brought up with any kind of strict religious upbringing.

G.W.Do you ever look back at Culture Club videos and wonder, What is that outrageous shit I'm wearing? Look at those awful extensions in my hair!

B.G. No, I don't. I look back at it and I think, Girlfriend, you were on!

G.W.You've lamented, "I'm remembered for all the wrong reasons.''

B.G. Well, I think people tend to remember me for getting off heroin, and forget the joy and laughter.

G.W.Let's play this stupid game. Say what comes to mind when I name these celebrities. George Michael.

B.G. He is very uptight with me. The last time I was in New York, I said, "Oh, she's a father figure," and he got really upset. People ask me things about George Michael all the time. You know what they say, honey—when you're scared of ghosts, you see them everywhere. He needs to release that fear.

G.W.Madonna.

B.G. She's fascinating and disturbing in the same breath. I love the wig she wears in her "Rain" video. It looks like the one I wore in the "Crying Game" video. She's done that to me a few times.

G.W.Like what else?

B.G. Well, the video she did for "This Used to Be My Playground" is a total copy of my video "To Be Reborn"—exactly the same, but it's not as good. I look more gorgeous in mine. Jean Paul Gaultier even asked her why she did it, and she pretended like she didn't know [what he was talking about]. And I said, Honey, a cockroach doesn't move in her apartment without her permission.

G.W.Be careful. Madonna doesn't like it when people say mean things about her. Remember the Marky Mark incident.

B.G. She wanted to fuck him. It's sexual tension. Madonna fascinates me. I'm interested in what she does, but she can be really annoying, but at the same time she's very captivating.

G.W.So, is your autobiography, Take It Like a Man, almost complete?

B.G. It is three-quarters done. I've really tried to pick out the twisted people I've met in my life and portray them in a true light. I think that a lot of people will find the book disturbing.

G.W.And your greatest-hits album, At Worst. . .The Best of Boy George and the Culture Club, will be the CD of the season. You have a need for constant adulation, don't you? That's the one fix you 'll never give up. B.G. I like attention when I want it, and when I don't want it, I don't want it. I hate it.