BORN: June 14, 1961, Bexleybeath, Eltham, Kent, Englan

British singer Boy George combined a strong, soulful singing voice
with a provocative sense of fashion, both of which were first brought
to the attention of English and American audiences in the group
Culture Club, for which be served as lead singer from 1982 to 1986.
The group wrote and played impeccable pop music, and Boy George's
androgynous persona -- heavy makeup, outrageous costumes -- gave the
group a distinct video image in the dawn of MTV.

That very distinctiveness, however, made the group date quickly, and
at the same time Boy George encountered highly publicized personal
difficulties. He re-emerged as a solo singer in 1987 with Sold, which
contained a UK #1 cover of Bread's "Everything I Own," but was unable
to duplicate this success in the U.S. Boy George enjoyed four British
singles chart entries in 1987 and another three in 1988. His second
album, Tense Nervous Headache (1988) was not picked up for release in
the U.S.; his third, Boyfriend (1989) was a Europe-only release,
though Virgin Records cobbled the second and third albums together to
present a second U.S. album, High Hat (1989).

In 1991 came The Martyr Mantras, another patchwork album largely made
up of previously non-LP dance singles. In the U.K., it was credited
to a new group, Jesus Loves You, and released on Boy George's own
More Protein record label, though Virgin in the U.S. billed it as a
Boy George album. By 1992, Boy George had faded at home, and in the
U.S. his solo career had never taken off. Then he was brought in to
sing a version of the '60s chestnut "The Crying Game," in a
production by the Pet Shop Boys, as the title song for a movie that
became the sleeper hit of the winter of 1992-1993, resulting in his
first substantial U.S. hit as a solo artist.