Boy George and Janet Jackson in Los Angeles in March 1986.Photo:Andre Csillag/Shutterstock
Andre Csillag/Shutterstock
Boy GeorgeandJanet Jacksonhave never hit it off. And things aren’t about to change, it seems.
“When it comes to me and Janet, let’s wait a while,” the British singer — who made his name with band Culture Club — jokes inhis autobiographyKarma, out now.
The two pop stars met in their ’80s heyday onSolid Goldand, loving her music (he had bought an armful of of her records), George writes that he approached her “without my face on.”
He tells PEOPLE in a new interview that was all he wanted to say on the matter. “When you write a book like this, there’s a chance you’re going to bump into someone that you’ve written about. I have to say what I’ve written about people is the truth of what happened and how they behaved,” George, now 62, says. “So I’m kind of comfortable with that. I’m always someone who’s prepared to bury the hatchet because there’s always another opportunity to be different.”
But he adds, “At this point, there’s certain people I’m never gonna be friends with unless a miracle happens — and I guess I put her in that category.”
Boy George’s Karma.
He also had a run in with the lateTina Turner. Although he doesn’t expand on it in his memoir, George tells PEOPLE “she wasn’t nice to me, which was the shame.”
Elton Johnhad invited him to a gig and afterwards, they were in a dressing room, along with actorsFaye DunawayandBen Kingsley. It was a lot of big stars in the room. And it was a tiny room," he recalls. “And when Elton John introduced me, [Tina] turned her back.”
He left the room upset, and Dunaway followed him out. He never really worked out why Turner had the reaction she had. “Maybe it was the drugs, I’d just come off drugs — so maybe she was disapproving of that,” he wonders. George had become a Buddhist and adds that John had even said to him, “Tina’s a Buddhist.” He adds today, “I’m the biggest Tina Turner fan on the planet. I mean, I forgave her and I loved her.”
Boy George in 2023.Dean Stockings
Dean Stockings
The singer’s acceptance of the need to be better is part of a growing process for him, too.
“I love Janet Jackson’s music and I loveMadonnaand I love all the people I’ve written about,” George says. “I suppose when you write things about other artists, it’s also — note to self — you remember that perhaps there’s been times in your life when you weren’t friendly to everyone you met.”
“It’s 1000% easier to be nice. Not only Is it easier to be nice as it’s better for you,” he tells PEOPLE.
For more on Boy George and his memoir, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
source: people.com
