Boy George's Solo Career

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On His Own: Boy George's Solo Career

Boy George had a growing interest in a solo career during the last years of Culture Club, and when the band fell apart in 1986 the time seemed right to forge ahead with his own album. In 1987 he released his first solo album, "Sold". The album had several moderately successful singles and even had number one single with "Everything I Own". While the album did meet with some success in the UK, it did not sell well in America. Boy George followed this with two other solo albums which were released exclusively in the UK, and both were poor sellers.

Boy George then released another album in the United States, "Sold". This album's material was taken primarily from his two prior albums which had not seen American release. He found an unlikely hit in "Don't Take My Mind On A Trip". This song, and in fact entire album, were quite different than any of the work Americans had previously seen from Boy George. "Don't Take My Mind On A Trip" became a hit on the R&B charts, proving just how different this new sound really was.

With his next releases, Boy George once again changed his musical direction and this time added a new name into the mix. Since he was displeased with the level of control which producers insisted upon, Boy George founded his own record label, More Protein, in 1989. It was under this label that Boy George, along with a revolving group including John Themis, Richard Cottle, Jon Quarmby, Colin Elliot, and Jagdeep Singh,formed the new band called Jesus Loves You. The band released their new brand of Indian sounds and religious music infused with electronic dance sounds as a series of singles. Some singles were major hits in the underground club scene,but the album did not meet with large commercial success.

Boy George did have a big hit with the title track for the movie "The Crying Game", but following that he didn't release any music for the next several years. While he did make some recordings, they were not officially released. During this period of the early 1990s, Boy George became quite well known as a DJ and was in fact soon releasing albums of his work. In 1995, he released "Cheapness And Beauty", which had themes of hard-edged rock and vivid gay pride. The album met with some critical acclaim, but fell flat with American audiences.

In recent years, Boy George returned to the underground clubs and continued to be a highly regarded DJ. He sometimes surfaces in the public eye, but due to legal troubles has been largely out of the music scene recently.

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