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Boy George on new Culture Club album, Wolf Trap concert July 18 and his affinity for astrology

Pop legend prepping new band record for fall release

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Boy George plays Wolf Trap July 18. (Photo courtesy of Wolf Trap)

Boy George has never been one to fade away.

Since he first appeared on the music scene as the gender-bending, eccentric Culture Club frontman in 1981, George has commanded attention from his fan base, his peers, like his good friend Cyndi Lauper, and the media.

Now, Culture Club is releasing ā€œTribes,ā€ their first album in nearly 20 years, this fall. According to George, the long-awaited release is ā€œthe best record weā€™ve ever made.ā€ While fans wait a couple more months for new tunes, they can get their Culture Club fix during the bandā€™s the “Life Tour” stop at Wolf Trap which includes the B-52s and the Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey (show details are here).Ā 

George took a break from recording and touring to chat with the Blade about his passion for astrology, the dangers of social media and just why it took Culture Club almost two decades to release a new album.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Culture Club is going to be releasing new music for the first time in nearly 20 years. Was there pressure to release new music?
BOY GEORGE: A lot of it has just been that we werenā€™t working together. The fact that there was a 20 year gap was just accidental. Weā€™re a funny band because we never really split up. We never hated each other at all. We just drifted apart. I was doing my own thing and they were doing whatever they were doing having kids, getting arrested. Itā€™s just one of those things. Itā€™s so weird the way things pan out. This particular record has been probably about five or six years in preparation and then some more problems came up. Not really insurmountable problems, really, just where the band was going. I was looking for a new manager. We disagreed on who was going to be the manager. Jon [Moss], Roy [Hay] and Mikey [Craig] ended up going off with someone else and I found myself a great manager and thatā€™s really what made it work. If youā€™d had said to me 20 years ago ā€œThereā€™s going to be a point in history where youā€™ll have two managersā€ I would have just laughed at you. But, actually, it really works. Itā€™s just a funny thing because all that stuff gets in the way of the most important thing and that is the creativity. Itā€™s really nice that weā€™re now mixing the record. Every day weā€™re getting mixes in and I think itā€™s the best record weā€™ve ever made.

BLADE: What aspects of recording with Culture Club do you prefer over recording independently?
BOY GEORGE: Itā€™s a very different process. You have to be much more tolerant. I think recording is always free flowing even when you make your own record. Youā€™re still working with people that you respect and love. You let people do their thing. Iā€™m sure there are other musicians who are very controlling and they know what they want. But whenever I go into the studio I know what the song is but I never really know completely where I want it to go. I let a lot of it happen in the moment. I think thatā€™s what makes recording exciting. I would say the same process applies to Culture Club. This time we worked with two young producers and they definitely brought something unique to what we were doing. I really was excited by what they contributed. I would say they were probably more controlling than we were. Bands are crazy and we have no sense of time. Rock and roll people donā€™t do time. Iā€™ve never worn a watch in my life. Iā€™ve been given some really expensive watches for free but Iā€™ve never really worn one. I think the producerā€™s job is to come and just control the whole thing and say ā€œOK, weā€™re going to go this way.ā€ In my experience, recording sessions have always been very respectful, free flowing. Itā€™s just a very open environment. In fact, probably the most fun thing I do is recording. I think that I would probably spend my life in the studio but that wouldnā€™t be particularly practical.

BLADE: I donā€™t know if youā€™re into astrology at all but youā€™re a Gemini and your persona appears to have a duality to it. Have you found that to be a blessing or a curse?
BOY GEORGE: First of all, Iā€™m one of those people always talking about star signs. People are like ā€œShut up!ā€ Iā€™ve always got a lot to say about peopleā€™s star signs and how people are so typical of their star signs. I think thatā€™s very true. I think that Iā€™m also very typical of my star sign in the sense that Iā€™m always of two minds about everything. I can come off stage and I could have had a really great show but Iā€™ll also be moany about it. Itā€™s that thing of like the twins and split personality thatā€™s very much a part of who I am. Sometimes people perceive it wrongly. We [Geminis] are called two-faced but we are able to see both sides of every situation. It has nothing to do with being two-faced. Weā€™re very sure about what we feel. But weā€™re also open to having our minds changed and I think thatā€™s where people get confused about Gemini. So I think that Iā€™m a typical Gemini.

BLADE: Concert culture is very different from when you first started out. Now, people are on their phones recording or taking photos when an act is on stage. How do you feel about that?
BOY GEORGE: I think itā€™s fascinating. The last couple shows weā€™ve done I pointed out people in the front row without phones. I actually made a big thing and said, ā€œLook there are people in the front row without phones. Impossible.ā€ Iā€™m one of those people that believe that people having that attitude all the time is pretty unhealthy. So, there are lots of times when I donā€™t take my phone with me to dinner. I try not to sit on it all the time. I try to go outside into nature, take a walk. There is a sense that people are having a third party experience with everything that they do and itā€™s a little bit sad. Itā€™s harder to dance when youā€™ve got an iPhone in your hand. Itā€™s harder to really let go. I think people are just obsessed with these things. But youā€™ve also got to let people have the show they want to have. You have to let people have fun on their own terms. So, Iā€™m not one of these people who gets annoyed. Iā€™ve absolutely done it. Iā€™ve stopped shows before, a long, long time ago. And then I turned a corner and was like ā€œYou canā€™t control this. This is not important. This is just going to get in the way.ā€ So I just stopped doing it. It worries me sometimes when people around me just all they do is look at their phones. You know, followers and likes are not for money. It doesnā€™t mean anything. I come from a time when artists made a cultural impact through the things they said and did. That interests me far more than how many people have liked my photo. But I also know itā€™s a part of life and a modern phenomenon. I love the aspect that I can say ā€œHappy birthdayā€ to someone in Vietnam or Australia and I can talk to fans in a direct way. Itā€™s all about getting it into perspective, I think.

Culture Club, gay news, Washington Blade

Culture Club is (from left) Mikey Craig, Boy George, Jon Moss and Roy Hay. (Photo by Dean Stockings)

BLADE: Youā€™re such a vet in this industry but whatā€™s the most recent industry lesson youā€™ve learned?
BOY GEORGE: Nobody knows what theyā€™re doing. Thatā€™s what Iā€™ve learned. My life policy is basically weā€™re all clinging to a rock but some of us have a better grip than others. The more Iā€™m in this business the more Iā€™ve realized that with music, we are one of the most creative industries in the world, and yet some of the people running it are deeply uncreative. And I think thatā€™s why live music has become so important for artists like me because itā€™s the one place where youā€™re completely in charge. Youā€™re completely authentic even though I hate that word. Itā€™s such a buzz word. But you are in charge. This is me, this is my music. Nobodyā€™s in the way. I love the spontaneity of live shows because itā€™s really the last place where nobody can pretend to be you. Nobody really gets in your way. I love that and thatā€™s why I think live shows are the best. Itā€™s so great to be in a situation where you can just be yourself.

Culture Club, Boy George, Wolf Trap, gay news, Washington Blade

Photo of Boy George performing at Wolf Trap with Culture Club on August 10, 2015. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

 

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Music & Concerts

Musical icons and newer stars to rock D.C. this spring

Brandi Carlile, Bad Bunny, Nicki Minaj, and more headed our way

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Brandi Carlile plays the Anthem this month.

Bands and solo artists of all different genres are visiting D.C. this spring. Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight will team up to perform at the Wolf Trap in June, and girl in red will play at the Anthem in April. Some artists and bands arenā€™t paying a visit until the summer, like Janet Jackson and Usher, but there are still plenty of acts to see as the weather warms up. 

MARCH 

Brandi Carlile plays at the Anthem on March 21; Arlo Parks will perform at 9:30 Club on March 23; Girlschool will take the stage at Blackcat on March 28.

APRIL 

Nicki Minaj stops in D.C. at Capital One Arena as part of her North American tour on April 1; Bad Bunny plays at Capital One Arena on April 9 as part of his Most Wanted tour; girl in red performs at the Anthem on April 20 and 21; Brandy Clark plays at the Birchmere on April 25; Laufey comes to town to play at the Anthem on April 25 and 26. 

MAY 

Belle and Sebastian play at the Anthem on May 2; Chastity Belt performs at Blackcat on May 4; Madeleine Peyroux stops at the Birchmere on May 5; The Decemberists play at the Anthem on May 10; the rock band Mannequin Pussy performs at the Atlantis on May 17 and 18; Hozier plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 17 as part of the Unreal Unearth tour. 

JUNE 

Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight will sing soulful melodies at Wolf Trap on June 8; Joe Jackson performs at the Lincoln Theatre on June 10; the Pixies and Modest Mouse are teaming up to play at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 14; Maggie Rogers plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 16 as part of The Donā€™t Forget Me tour; Brittany Howard headlines the Out & About Festival at Wolf Trap on June 22; Sarah McLachlan plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 27; Alanis Morissette performs at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 29 and 30

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Music & Concerts

Grammys: Queer women and their sisters took down the house

Taylor Swift won Album of the Year

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When the late, great Ruth Bader Ginsburg was asked when there will be enough women on the Supreme Court, her answer was simple: Nine. She stated: “I say when there are nine, people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” RBG did not attend the Grammyā€™s last night, but her spirit sure did. Women, at long last, dominated, ruled and killed the night.

Cher, in song a decade ago, declared that ā€œthis is a womanā€™s world,ā€ but there was little evidence that was true, Grammy, and entertainment awards, speaking. In 2018, the Grammys were heavily criticized for lack of female representation across all categories and organizersā€™ response was for women to ā€œstep up.ā€

Be careful what you wish for boys.

The biggest star of the 2024 Grammys was the collective power of women. They made history, they claimed legacy and they danced and lip sang to each otherā€™s work. Standing victorious was Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, SZA (the most nominated person of the year), Lainey Wilson, Karol G, boygenius, Kylie Minogue and Victoria MonĆ©t. Oh, yes, and powerhouse Taylor Swift, the superstar from whom Fox News cowers in fear, made history to become the first performer of any gender to win four Best Album of the Year trophies.

In the throng of these powerful women stand a number of both LGBTQ advocates and queer identifying artists. Cyrus has identified as pansexual, SZA has said lesbian rumors ā€œainā€™t wrong,ā€ Phoebe Bridgers (winner of four trophies during the night, most of any artist) is lesbian, MonĆ©t is bi and Eilish likes women but doesnā€™t want to talk about it. Plus, ask any queer person about Swift or Minogue and you are likely to get a love-gush.

Women power was not just owned by the lady award winners. There were the ladies and then there were the Legends. The first Legend to appear was a surprise. Country singer Luke Combs has a cross-generational hit this year with a cover of Tracy Chapmanā€™s “Fast Car.” When originally released, the song was embraced as a lesbian anthem. When performing “Fast Car,” surprise, there was Chapman herself, singing the duet with Combs. The rendition was stunning, sentimental and historic.

Chapman, like many of the nightā€™s female dignitaries, has not been public with her sexuality. Author Alice Walker has spoken of the two of them being lovers, however.

The legend among legends of the night, however, was the one and only Joni Mitchell. Not gay herself, she embodies the concept of an LGBTQ icon, and was accompanied by the very out Brandi Carlile on stage. On her website, Mitchellā€™s statement to the LGBTQ community reads, “The trick is if you listen to that music and you see me, you’re not getting anything out of it. If you listen to that music and you see yourself, it will probably make you cry and you’ll learn something about yourself and now you’re getting something out of it.”

Mitchell performed her longtime classic “Both Sides Now.” The emotion, insight and delivery from the now 80-year old artist, survivor of an aneurism, was nothing short of profound. (To fully appreciate the nuance time can bring, check out the YouTube video of a Swift lookalike Mitchell singing the same song to Mama Cass and Mary Travers in 1969.) In this latest rendition, Mitchell clearly had an impact on Meryl Streep who was sitting in the audience. Talk about the arc of female talent and power.

That arc extended from a todayā€™s lady, Cyrus, to legend Celine Dion as well. Cyrus declared Dion as one of her icons and inspirations early in the evening. Dion appeared, graceful and looking healthy, to present the final, and historic, award of the night at the end of the show.

Legends did not even need to be living to have had an effect on the night. Tributes to Tina Turner and Sinead Oā€™Conner by Oprah, Fantasia Barrino-Taylor and Annie Lennox respectively, proved that not even death could stop these women. As Lennox has musically and famously put it, ā€œSisters are doing it for themselves.ā€

Even the content of performances by todayā€™s legends-in-the-making spoke to feminine power. Eilish was honored for, and performed “What Was I Made For?,” a haunting and searching song that speaks to the soul of womanhood and redefinition in todayā€™s fight for gender rights and expression, while Dua Lipa laid down the gauntlet for mind blowing performance with her rendition of “Houdini” at the top of the show, Cyrus asserted the power of her anthem “Flowers” and pretty much stole the show.

Cyrus had not performed the song on television before, and only three times publicly. She declared in her intro that she was thrilled over the business numbers the song garnered, but she refused to let them define her. As she sang the hit, she scolded the audience, ā€œyou guys act like you donā€™t know the words to this song.ā€ Soon the woman power of the room was singing along with her, from Swift to Oprah.

They can buy themselves flowers from now on. They donā€™t need anyone else. Cyrus made that point with the mic drop to cap all mic drops, ā€œAnd I just won my first Grammy!ā€ she declared as she danced off stage.

Even the squirmiest moment of the night still did not diminish the light of women power, and in fact, underscored it. During his acceptance of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, Jay-Z had a bone to pick with the Grammy voters. He called out the irony that his wife BeyoncĆ© had won more Grammys than any other human, but had never won the Best Album of the Year. Yeah, whatā€™s with that?

But then, it brought additional context ultimately to the fact that the winner of the most Grammys individually ā€¦ is a woman. And to the fact that the winner of the most Best Album of the Year awards ā€¦ is a woman.

Hopefully this was the night that the Grammys ā€œgot it.ā€ Women are the epicenter of The Creative Force.

Will the other entertainment awards get it soon as well? We can hope.

Most importantly, in a political world where womenā€™s healthcare is under siege. Will the American voters get it?

A little known band named Little Mix put it this way in their 2019 song ā€œA Womanā€™s World.ā€

ā€œIf you can’t see that it’s gotta change
Only want the body but not the brains
If you really think that’s the way it works
You ain’t lived in a woman’s world

Just look at how far that we’ve got
And don’t think that we’ll ever stopā€¦ā€

From Grammyā€™s mouth to the worldā€™s ear.

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Music & Concerts

Janet Jackson returning to D.C, Baltimore

‘Together Again Tour’ comes to Capital One Arena, CFG Bank Arena

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Janet Jackson is coming back to D.C. this summer.

Pop icon Janet Jackson announced this week an extension of her 2023 ā€œTogether Again Tour.ā€ A new leg of the tour will bring Jackson back to the area for two shows, one at D.C.ā€™s Capital One Arena on Friday, July 12 and another at Baltimoreā€™s CFG Bank Arena on Saturday, July 13.  

Tickets are on sale now via TicketMaster. LiveNation announced the 2023 leg of the tour consisted of 36 shows, each of which was sold out. The 2024 leg has 35 stops planned so far; R&B star Nelly will open for Jackson on the new leg. 

Jackson made the tour announcement Tuesday on social media: ā€œHey u guys! By popular demand, weā€™re bringing the Together Again Tour back to North America this summer with special guest Nelly! Itā€™ll be so much fun!ā€

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