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Boy George is back: Music is 'just what I do'

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Boy George's first solo album in 19 years is This Is What I Do.
Boy George's first solo album in 19 years is This Is What I Do.

Boy George's style and sound are unmistakable. In 1982, the Irish Catholic singer joined a Jewish drummer, a Protestant guitar-and-keyboard player and a Jamaican bassist to form Culture Club.

The band was groundbreaking not just for its multicultural makeup, but also for its music. Culture Club combined calypso, country, reggae and pop and hit it big. Its song "Karma Chameleon" was No. 1 in 16 countries.

After Culture Club, Boy George kept recording when he could. His first solo album in 19 years, This Is What I Do, comes out Tuesday. Boy George has always been known for his unique and different look, even getting expelled from school for it. Morning Edition host David Greene asked him what it was like growing up "different": "Well, I hated school from the minute I got there to the minute I was thrown out. I was different. Even from the age of about 6 years old I was kind of made to feel different by other kids — you know, I was a quite pretty kid, and I got called 'girl' a lot, and 'woman' and all of that. And school is really not a place to be different. School is not a great place to have feminine features or a big nose, or to wear glasses or the wrong shoes. School is a scary place for kids. So I didn't like it, and I didn't want to be there. And it was a great day for me when they threw me out." Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.