Boy George I REMEMBER…

Boy George (59) is a British singer, songwriter, DJ and fashion designer, best known as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. Here, he looks back on growing up in south-east London, Band Aid and overcoming drug addiction

…I GREW UP IN JOAN CRESCENT IN ELTHAM. The road was nondescript and still is, and there was always the faint whirr of the A20 whenever you stepped into the garden or opened a window too wide. Growing up in south-east London was famously samey— it didn’t really matter who you were. You were in houses that felt comfortable and modern, but ultimately were there to bully families and individuals into conformity, sanity and normality, during times when there was always the dangerous hint of rebellion in the air.

WE HAD NICE FAMILY TIMES AND THERE WAS NEVER ANYTHING UNFULFILLED ABOUT MY CHILDHOOD, but I look back on it now and it was the epitome of normality. There was the telly, the record player, the vegetable patch, the trip to Danson Park. I always had the feeling I wanted to rebel against the sterility of it all, although I did soon realise that sterility is a perfect breeding ground for love, affection and security. It is a fantastic platform for that.

SEEING DAVID BOWIE LIVE WAS A HUGE MOMENT FOR ME. I was 11. He gave kids a licence to say, You can be an adult and a fantasy character, a magician, someone other than yourself. He inspired me, Space Oddity inspired me; and so many millions of others.

MY DAD WAS A TREMENDOUSLY HARD WORKER and it was often at the expense of the one thing we truly craved from him—time.