Culture Club were a
pop and
New Romantic band primarily active in the
1980s.
Boy George (real name George O'Dowd), an active
cross-dresser in
London in the
1970s, got his professional start as an early member of
Bow Wow Wow[?]. He then formed
In Praise of Lemmings with
Mikey Craig[?] (bass), which became the
Sex Gang Children after the addition of
Jon Juede[?] (guitar). After
Jon Moss[?] (drums, of
Adam & the Ants and
The Damned) joined, the group became known as Culture Club. Sude was replaced by
Roy Hay[?] (of
Russian Bouquet[?]) and recorded some demos for
EMI, but this did not result in a contract. In
1982, Culture Club signed with
Virgin Records and released two unsuccessful singles before the breakthrough success of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", a massive British hit. The band's debut LP,
Kissing to Be Clever, was also a hit and, by
1983, both the album and song were entering the American charts.
Culture Club's popularity greatly expanded with the release of "Karma Chameleon" and
Colour by Numbers[?] in
1983. Its follow-up,
Waking up with the House on Fire[?] was relatively unsuccessful in America but still a British hit, reaching #2 there.
During a 1985 break from the band, Boy George became addicted to heroin and his romantic relationship with Moss began to suffer. The band's comeback album, From Luxury to Heartache[?] was a moderate success. In 1986, George announced his addiction and was soon thereafter arrested on charges of possession of cannabis. Michael Rudetski[?], keyboardist for From Luxury to Heartache died of a heroin overdose in George's home only a few days after his arrest; Rudetski's parents later filed legal action against George.
While fighting his addiction, Culture Club broke up. A sober George launched a solo career in 1992, releasing a few hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Boy George is now a respected dance music DJ.