British pop star Boy George popped into Phuket in May, spending a couple days touring the island, and a couple of hours performing at Seduction Discoteque in Patong on the 26th.

His first time in Thailand, George said he was very much enjoying life in one of the luxury villas at Ayara Hilltops Resort & Spa overlooking Surin Beach, although he admitted to “mostly hiding from the heat”.

“I melt for my art,” he quipped, as beads of perspiration appeared and threatened to ruin his white-powdered face and artistically applied make up, which included a black lightning bolt down the left side of his face, topped off with a shocking pink affair decorated with a skull and crossbones of red sequins on the side.

“This is by an Irish designer called Phillip Tracey. It’s probably the only thing I really spend any money on. Everything else is very threadbare and cheap,” he said.

Boy George’s flambouyant, androgynous style of dress – always with a hat – quickly became his trademark in the 80s, and one which he perpetuates today.

“I only travel with one hat these days, because the last time I travelled with lots of hats (each in a separate box) they kept getting lost. On the last tour I did, I literally lost my luggage five times. It just gets to the point where it’s easier just to bring one and wear it all the time,” he said.

Born George Alan O’Dowd in 1961, the singer-songwriter shot to fame in the 80s as the lead singer of Culture Club with the hit song, Do you really want to hurt me?, which reached number one in several countries.

Since his eighties success and depature from Culture Club to follow a solo career, ‘Boy George’ has become a brand name in its own right, which George has continually worked at keeping alive through a dedicated fan base following his prolific creative career, which includes fashion design and other artistic escapades.

Theses fays, George alternates between singing and Djing. After his DJ tour, George is set to immediately begin another singing tour in Europe.

“I’m lucky that I have a job I enjoy,” said George. “My set tonight is kind of a party set. When you’re playing somewhere hot, it’s good to play things people know, but there’ll be a few surprises.

“Djing is obviously different to singing. With singing you can take people through lots of emotions, but when you’re Djing, people want to have a good time. You can’t really make people cry in a club. It’s more about putting them on a high.”

Commenting further on the difference between performing live on stage with a band and spining discs, he said: “You have to love music to be a good DJ. You can’t just do it for the sake of doing it. I’ve been doing it for 17 years and I still love it, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it – I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here in Thailand in full drag if I didn’t really enjoy my job, you know?”

“DJing and singing are two careers, really. I just started doing DJing as a bit of a joke – a bit of fun. I was playing in a chill out room for some friends of mine who wanted someone to play old records. After that, I got more offers of work, so I decided I’d better learn how to DJ. So I’ve been doing it in public for the last 17 years.”

“I have 100 percent control over what I do, which is why I don’t really have a musical career. I mean I still play live and stuff, but I don’t make records that get played on the radio – people play my old stuff. I mean I still make records – it doesn’t stop me doing what I want to do.”

“ I think if you want to maintain a successful career for a long time, you have to keep making compromises. All of my peers, they aren’t necessarily making the records they want to make. They are making the records they have to make, or feel obliged to make. And that’s the difference between them and me. If something’s a hit, great, but if it isn’t, it doesn’t mean it’s going to stop me making more records.”

George puts his continued success down to a dedicated fan base, which he keeps in touch with on line through his website and with regular updates on Twitter.

“I’m really lucky to have a really loyal audience. For example, while I’ve been here, I’ve been emailing this fan for mixes of things I didn’t have.”

With that, George began to make a move to go and entertain the audience waiting patiently at Seduction Discoteque to see what George had in store for his one-night performance.

Despite already being way over fashionably late for his 10pm start at Seduction, George graciously took the time to chat with a few fans, one of whom had managed to dig out one of Boy George’s solo vinyl albums from 1988, “Tense Nervous Headache”, which George happily signed with a big, angular scrawl in black marker pen.

“I’ve loved Culture Club and Boy George since their debut album in 1983. I honeslty never thought that I would ever have the chance to meet him, but anything is possible in Phuket! He’s fantastic. A real star,” the fan said.

Boy George is scheduled to perform four pieces of music for a series of Night of the Proms concerts accompanied by a 70-piece symphonic orchestra in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany from October to December. The star studded performances will also include well-known singers such as Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Mike Oldfield, James Brown and Chrissie Hynde.

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