Boy George in his Own Words Multiple Choice Quiz | Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "I'm the boy, I'm the boy, I'm the boy (you made me)" How did the name Boy George originate?

Answer: His first names are George Alan.

George Alan O'Dowd was born at Barnehurst Hospital, South London in 1961, coincidentally in the same hospital in which glendathecat was born a few months later. He grew up in nearby Eltham with four brothers and a sister.

Lyric quoted is from the song "Boy, Boy (I'm the Boy)".

2. "Someone says, "Wake up child and throw your life away. See you in the crime file, what will your mama say?"" George was born in London, England but which country did his mama Dinah and father Gerald O'Dowd originally come from?

Answer: Ireland

Dinah did indeed reveal what she had to say when she published her memoir "Cry Salty Tears" in 2007. She spoke of growing up in Dublin and coming across to London as a single parent which is where she met Gerald. They were to have five children of their own including George. The book says little about George and far more about the domestic violence she suffered in the family home.

Lyric quoted is from the song "Changing Every Day".

3. "Don't wanna talk about it, don't wanna talk about it." In 1981, Boy George formed Culture Club who were part of the 'outrageous' 1980s New Romantic scene. Two decades later he co-wrote and performed in a musical based around the personalities (including himself) of that period. What was this musical called?

Answer: Taboo

Various possible names were suggested as George worked to put a band together. These included "In Praise of Lemmings" and "Sex Gang Children" before Culture Club was finally chosen to reflect the diversity of its members.

Taboo opened in London's West End in 2002 with George played by Euan Morton and himself playing performance artist Leigh Bowery. The show so impressed US talk show host Rosie O'Donnell when she saw it that she financed a Broadway production which had an unsuccessful run.

Lyric quoted is from the song "Don't Talk About It".

4. "Addiction came as a surprise, didn't think I'd be so into you." George has had much-publicized battles with drug addiction. Which of these drugs has he most struggled with?

Answer: Heroin

The time between Culture Club's final album release in 1986 and George's solo UK Number 1 "Everything I Own" the following year was a period in which he was struggling with heroin addiction. Rumours began to circulate and these were confirmed when his younger brother, David, provided a story for the UK "Sun" newspaper. He also went on British television in a further attempt to shame George into rehab. He was quoted as saying, "We've been waiting for a phone call from a reporter to tell us George has been found dead from a drug overdose." (Source : UK "Sunday People" August 24th 1987)

George was also arrested for possession of cannabis and two of his friends, Mark Vaultier and Michael Rudetski, died of overdoses, the latter in George's home.

Lyric quoted is from the song "Fat Cat".

5. "Step out like a God found child" Which of these religious themed names belongs to the band that George fronted between 1989 and 1992?

Answer: Jesus Loves You

Jesus Loves You was an unusual project seeking to produce a fusion of Indian classical music with Western electronic house music. George wrote under the alias of 'Angela Dust', not wanting his real identity to affect the project's success. The only hit of substance came with the Hare Krishna inspired "Bow Down Mister" which reached Number 27 on the UK chart in 1991.

Lyric quoted is from the song "Church of the Poisoned Mind".

6. "Don't put your head on my shoulder. Sink me in a river of tears." Over the years George has had numerous comebacks. One came in 1992 when he released which tear-based song from a film of the same name which starred Stephen Rea, Forest Whittaker and Miranda Richardson?

Answer: The Crying Game

The song was produced by the Pet Shop Boys and reached Number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Through the 1990s and 2000s, George has had an eclectic career to say the least. As well as the "Taboo" musical, he has written and recorded many songs exploring a variety of different styles, although much of this material has never been released. He has hosted shows on radio and television. He has launched his own fashion range and most successfully has carved out a new niche as a highly sought after club DJ.

Lyric quoted is from the song "Time (Clock of the Heart)".

7. "You're my lover, not my rival." In 1995, George was sued by Spear of Destiny's Kirk Brandon, one of his fellow 80s performers. What was Brandon's accusation?

Answer: That George had falsely claimed they had a relationship

George was sued for libel over allegations made in his 1995 autobiography "Take It Like a Man". Brandon lost the case and was ordered to pay �200,000 in costs.

Lyric quoted is from the song "Karma Chameleon".

8. "Give me time to realise my crime." For which of these crimes has George NOT been convicted?

Answer: First degree murder

George was arrested in 2005 in Manhattan on charges of cocaine possession and falsely reporting a burglary. Although the drugs charges were dropped, he was convicted on the other count and sentenced to five days community service, which were completed with the New York Department of Sanitation.

In 2008, he was convicted of assault and false imprisonment in connection with a Norwegian man, Audun Carlsen. He was sentenced to fifteen months in prison but was released in May 2009 to home curfew after serving four months behind bars.

Lyric quoted is from the song "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?".

9. "Oh the big dark man will he turn a blind eye? Love me for who I am? Turn me out and make me cry?" Boy George has been a Hare Krishna devotee but in July 2009 what reason was given for his not being granted membership of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness?

Answer: The fact that he is a 'practising' homosexual

Friend and Hare Krishna follower Marianne Elliott-Said (aka Poly Styrene from the 1970s punk band X-Ray Spex) was quoted as saying:
"He was interested but they told him he couldn't also be a practising homosexual. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness accepts gay people but they have to practise celibacy or get married to a woman and have Krishna- following children." (Source : UK "Sunday Express" July 27th 2009)

Lyric quoted is from the song "She Was Never He".

10. "Go on girl, take your love and wrap it around the first sucker that you meet." When asked about his sexuality, George once famously remarked that he preferred which typically British thing to sex?

Answer: A cup of tea

George was being interviewed on UK television by talk show host Russell Harty. In the early years of Culture Club, he deliberately played upon androgyny and sexual ambiguity. This may have been with some good reason because, when he did officially 'come out' two years later, he was forced to wear a bulletproof vest on the band's tour of the USA due to death threats. (Source : UK "Daily Telegraph" October 5th 2008)

Lyric quoted is from the song "Girlfriend".

Source: Author glendathecat

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Boy George in his Own Words Trivia Quiz

The life of ex-Culture Club frontman Boy George has contained so much flamboyant drama that it has almost become a parody of itself. It's full of the highest highs and lowest lows. How much can you remember about this musical celebrity?

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