Culture Club arrived on the music scene in the early 1980s, and brought with them some of the biggest and best-known songs of the decade – selling over 50 million records worldwide.
The band are as well-remembered for their catchy lyrics and soulful vocals of songs like Karma Chameleon, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and Church of the Poison Mind — as they are for the signature style of their lead singer, Boy George. His androgynous appearance and dramatic eye make-up, made him a trailblazer in the music industry.
"When I discovered make-up, I couldn't believe what I could do to my face. I do have a great face for make-up," he told KCLU in an exclusive interview.
Now in his 60s, Boy George says he is better than ever as a performer.
"I've got more fearless in terms of what I say and how I say it, and also I understand those old songs better," he said.
He thrives on the experience of going on stage and gets along with his band mates better than ever, he said.
"Where I used to scream at them...I'm more charming now," said Boy George.
The band won a Grammy Award in 1984. In his thank you speech at the time, he told the audience, "Thank you America, you've got style, you've got taste and you know a good drag queen when you see one."
"It was really playful," he said of the remark.
Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd, said that growing up in the 1970s he came under criticism, "a lot of gay people said, 'if it wasn't for these drag queens and exhibitionists, we could be assimilated.' "
But O'Dowd says that diversity isn't new, but the internet has made people realize there are "millions of everything out there".
"Diversity has always been, go into any orchard and you'll see, it's just natural, it's just now that we have access to all these things," he said.
And unknowingly, he paved the way for the stars of today, like Sam Smith, who are still pushing the boundaries when it comes to conversations about gender and gender identity.
"I've been watching a lot of the reaction to Sam Smith and his performance, and when I was first dressing up, I was just doing it for myself. The fact that I got a reaction was great and I liked it but that wasn't the starting point, "Oh let me annoy you."
"I thought, I just look pretty like this and that's what it was all about," said O'Dowd.
As well as success with Culture Club and as a solo artist, Boy George carved out a career in the 90s as a DJ, and sings the second line on one of the most iconic charity records of all time, Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas.
"Bob Geldof had called and you knew from the news that all these artists were at the studio so I thought I'd better get down there and do something," he recalled of the studio recording.
Culture Club are playing live at the Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks this Friday and Saturday February 24 and 25.
