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George Alan O'Dowd, better known as Boy George (born June 14, 1961 in Eltham, London) is a rock singer-songwriter and club DJ. He grew up in a large, working-class Irish family who had originated from Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. Boy George was part of the British new romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He, Marilyn, members of Spandau Ballet, and other musicians were regulars at The Blitz. This led to them being known as the Blitz Kids. The Blitz was a a highly stylized London nightclub run by Steve Strange of Visage. Essentially, these new romantics were an amalgamation of David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Marc Bolan, New Wave, high fashion, and gender-bending. At Blitz and similar clubs, men enjoyed makeup and exotic outfits while women opted for a more masculine appearance (e.g., the "power dressing" of Annie Lennox). Boy George helped give this androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. Musically speaking, he is often classified as blue-eyed soul, having been heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and reggae. Early recordings with Culture Club showed that Boy George's vocals had an emotional quality reminiscent of American soul music of the 1960s and 1970s. His later solo work touches on glam rock influences, particularly David Bowie and Iggy Pop.
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