The News Boy George Fabulous

Dubai isn't the most welcoming of environments for an extrovert individual...

Well, they wear dresses out there don't they? So I'll fit in. If someone walks along in an Arab outfit obviously it's fine, but if you walk along in a hat and a glamorous jacket then you're weird. Why is traditional costume more accepted than fashion?

Does it bother you what people think?

No, it doesn't bother me. It used to when I was 16 and I revelled in the attention. But I don't do it for other people any more. I think I look better like that and I enjoy what you can do with make-up and clothes to transform yourself.

Is it tough growing up in the public eye?

Not really. You still get the reaction from people and being in the public eye, everyone has an idea of who I am and think they've worked me out. Often their ideas of me are completely wrong, or the media try to make you into a soundbite.

Is that part of the reason you shoot footage of yourself so you can tell your own story?

Partly. It's also because [UK TV station] Channel 4 made this horrible documentary about me called The Madness Of King George. It was such a pile of s***. They painted me out to be this tragic figure. They saw the many creative things that I do and they couldn't look beyond this stereotype. The first line was ‘John Moss [ex Culture Club member and long-time muse for George] is married while George lives alone and longs for straight men.' I'm happy to be who I am but John married a woman as his parents didn't want him to go out with a man. I think it's always better to be yourself.

Are you still recording the material then?

Yeah, I put a lot of it on YouTube. I got into it as a reaction to MTV and the like which are all so corporate. You have to get permission and approval from all these people who have no connection to what you do and they're controlling the industry. In a way, the internet is quite punk-rock as you can just do it for yourself. It's very guerrilla.

Your autobiography, Straight, is coming out in paperback – might as well get the plug in. (Laughs). Don't buy it, it's not recommended by the author. I hope I never see the book again. I was asked if I ever wanted to redo it and I said no. Everyone picked up on the negative things and didn't focus on anything intelligent I said. All I get is ‘Madonna is a b**** and Elton John is a git'. I don't want to be seen like that any more so I've taken a vow of silence on having a go at other people.

Was it tough trawling through your past for the book?

No, I'm not really big on regressing things. Once it's done, there's nothing you can really do to change it. You can try to learn from the mistakes but you might not always be that successful. I'm from a very dysfunctional family, so I think that will always be with me. I always say we put the ‘funk' in dysfunctional.

You're not going to follow in Wayne Rooney's footsteps and release three autobiographies?

No way, that's me done, I think. My mum's got a book out at the moment, though. It's far better than my book.

Do you want to pitch that book instead?

Well, it's a book about my mother's life. She brought up six kids while being battered on a daily basis. It's the story of a lot of Irish women. There were a lot of things I didn't know that came out. It was very difficult but I'm really proud of my mum for doing it as I never thought I'd see the day when she's on telly and in the public eye.

Has it brought you closer to her?

I've always worshipped my mother – we've always been close. She's the most important woman in my life. The only woman in my life, in fact.

Why should people come to see you DJ?

I'm a really good DJ. I don't do it because I have to, I do it because I love it. A lot of people think it's really glamorous but you're working until four in the morning. It's a bit like performing but it's less personal. But you're responsible for everyone in the place going home with a smile on their face, which is a big job. When you get a crowd in the right space, it's an incredible feeling.

Is DJing the new pop culture?

I think there are good DJs and they do it because they love it. But a lot of people don't have any political or social agenda – they've got nothing to say. They just want to be (adopts sycophantic voice) famous. Whereas when I was a kid I was fighting the world – everyone and everything. And still feel like I am sometimes.

Do you ever feel like you're winning?

Well, I think as you get older you realise that the things you took too seriously as a young adult aren't as important to you as they were. And you realise that you can't change everyone's opinion about you. The whole thing about being famous is you want people to love you. But then you get popular and you walk into the room and people start asking, ‘Who do you think you are?' You can't win.

Do you think you've handled fame well?

I've handled fame a lot better than some people. I'm not clamouring for it like Madonna.

There goes the vow of silence...

Well, my every movement isn't about making myself famous. I am who I am, I'm not going to be any less famous than I was. I don't want to be Britney Spears.

There are similarities though – bald heads, tortured singers...

I look at her and just want to give her a big cuddle as it's all so sad. The press have been hounding her for nearly a year now and it's got to stop. Great artists are always messed up people. It's worse when they do it to women, though. She's got kids and it's not right that the press should destroy a young girl.

What advice would you give her?

Just don't play into their hands – every time she has a fit or checks into rehab, there's always someone taking pictures.

That's partly to do with the availability of camera phones though – everyone can be a news reporter.

Yes. But we've all got hearts as well. We're all responsible for what we do and how we treat each other. Just because someone's dying on the floor, doesn't mean you have to take the picture first. It's about your own integrity. We have become like that in this society. We're summed up by the fact we have a lot of phoney celebrities who are famous just for making a fool of themselves on telly. I hate TV but reality TV is the worst thing to happen to the world I think.

So you won't be watching the Beckhams' reality show then?

Oh. God. The end of the world is nigh... I get offered so much money to do those shows and I've always said “never, no way”. If I was starving hungry and in the gutter I would never do it. Even really interesting people look boring after one day.

Would you not go on a show like that just to be subversive?

No, I don't think you can as you're always being manipulated. I don't want cameras on me all the time anyway. So I just do it myself – I'm much funnier when I can be my own editor.

Boy George plays the Deep Night at Trilogy on Friday March 9. Tickets cost Dhs130 and Dhs170 for VIP and doors open at 10pm.

By Andy Buchan, March 2007

http://www.timeoutdubai.com/features/review.php?id=978