Boy George Returns Stolen Art

This time, Boy George is on the right side of the law.

The Culture Club singer returned an icon to a Cyprus church this week, after learning the work had been stolen nearly 40 years ago. Boy George (real name, George O'Dowd) purchased the piece from a London art dealer in 1985.

As it turns out, the work – an elaborate depiction of Jesus Christ – was one of several pieces taken from the Church of St. Charalambos when Turkey invaded the island nation of Cyprus in 1974. The church's bishop just happened to be watching a recent interview taped in Boy George's home when he spotted the piece, and realized it belonged to his house of worship.

"I wasn't really surprised [it was stolen], because I always thought the icon I had was kind of special," Boy George told BBC News this week. "I'm happy the icon is going back to its original rightful home."

The singer returned the piece to church officials earlier this week, and said he received a "very sweet gift" in return. "I look forward to seeing the icon on display in Cyprus for the moment," he said, "and finally to the Church of St. Charalambos from where it was illegally stolen."

Boy George Eyes Culture Club Reunion

Will ’80s band Culture Club ever re-form? “We’ll see,” says frontman Boy George.

Boy George, who has struggled with addiction and several run-ins with the law in recent years, has revealed that the the “Karma Chameleon” stars may reunite as they prepare to celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2011.

“I think we could do a one-off gig or maybe a small tour,” he told BBC 5 Live. “It’s our 30th anniversary next year so we may do something. We’ll see,” he continued. “It’s all about my mood at the time.”

The band briefly reunited in 1998 and staged a 20th anniversary concert in 2002 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Lady Gaga and Boy George's Good Romance

Eyeliner and outrageous outfits unite Lady Gaga and Boy George. And they've both been mistaken for the opposite sex too.

Now though, the pair are planning to team up - and GaGa will make a childhood dream come true by getting George to join her on stage at London's O2 Arena in February.

The singer has spoken in the past about George's influence on her when she was growing up.

A source said: "GaGa has always been a fan and now he's got his life back on track it's the perfect opportunity to do something with him."

Boy George Barred from Appearing on Big Brother

Singer Boy George will not be appearing on Celebrity Big Brother after a High Court judge dismissed his appeal.

The star, real name George O'Dowd, was barred from going on the show when the Probation Service said his appearance would undermine public confidence in the justice system.

George, 48, appealed to the High Court to quash the decision but this was turned down by a judge, Press Association reports.

He is on probation after being released from jail in May. He had been found guilty of falsely imprisoning and assaulting male prostitute Audun Carlsen, 29, and served four months of his 15 month sentence.

The star was set to earn £200,000 for his appearance on the Channel 4 show and his lawyer argued he wanted to rebuild his career and reputation.

But Richard Clayton QC, representing the Probation Service, said that allowing George on the show could undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system and threaten the reputation of the Probation Service.

Judge Bean has said he will give his reasons for the refusal later.

When George was sentenced for the attack on Carlson, the judge said he had used "gratuitous violence" and left his victim "shocked, degraded and traumatised".

The singer had said he met Carlsen previously but had asked him back to his Shoreditch flat because he believed Carlsen had tampered with his computer.

Carlsen said he was attacked, dragged across the floor by George, handcuffed to a wall by the bed at the Culture Club singer's east London flat and beaten with a chain, until he managed to flee.

George denied the charges but chose not to give evidence in his own defence.

He has since spoken of his regret over the incident and said he "wholly deserved" to go to prison.

Celebrity Big Brother begins on January 3rd. Rumoured housemates include Jordan's cross-dressing former boyfriend Alex Reid, Pamela Anderson and rapper MC Hammer.

He claimed he had been robbed, but when police arrived to investigate they found a large quantity of cocaine in his flat.

He also has a 1977 juvenile conviction for going equipped for theft.

Judy Garland is Top Gay Icon of All Time

Movie legend Judy Garland has been named the top female gay icon of all time in a new online poll.

The late Hollywood star was voted above celebrities including Kylie Minogue and Madonna, who were named second and third respectively, and another film icon, Marilyn Monroe, who came in sixth place.

Meanwhile Sir Elton John was awarded the title for the top male gay icon in the survey by http://www.onepoll.com/.

The Rocket Man was placed above late Queen star Freddie Mercury, British actor Stephen Fry, and Faith hitmaker George Michael, as well as playwright Oscar Wilde, who rounded out the top five.

A spokesperson from http://www.onepoll.com/, who commissioned the survey of over 5,000 gay men and women, said: “Interestingly only one of the men in the top 10 list of male celebrity gay icons isn’t gay – David Beckham. And yet most of the women put on a pedestal by the gay community are straight.

“It just shows that to advocate a certain way of living, you don’t have to live the lifestyle but simply be more accepting of those around you.”

Check out the top ten female and male gay icons of all time below:

Top Ten Female Celebrity Gay Icons:
1. Judy Garland
2. Kylie Minogue
3. Madonna
4. Cher
5. Liza Minnelli
6. Marilyn Monroe
7. Shirley Bassey
8. Lily Savage
9. Dusty Springfield
10. Barbra Streisand

Top Ten Male Celebrity Gay Icons of All Time:
1. Elton John
2. Freddie Mercury
3. Stephen Fry
4. George Michael
5. Oscar Wilde
6. Will Young
7. Alan Carr
8. Paul O’Grady
9. Boy George
10. David Beckham

Boy George to be Locked Up Again?

Pop star Boy George is about to be banged up again, but this time it is in the Big Brother house, we can exclusively reveal.

The gender-bending pop star is already used to being confined in a small space. He was jailed earlier this year for imprisoning a rent boy in his flat.

Now he has been released, Boy George wants to sign up for the last series of Celebrity Big Brother.

The former Culture Club singer, 48, has turned down offers to appear on the show in the past. But now he has decided to give it a go and it is rumored he has bagged a $400,000 fee for agreeing to sign.

George said recently he is the happiest he has ever been and his stint in jail made him change for the better.

He said: “I had prison coming to me. It wasn’t that big a surprise, I kind of knew it was going to happen. I just thought: ‘I’m going to make this work for me.’ I got a job quite quickly and worked in the kitchen.”

A reliable source said: “Boy George will be explosive – get ready for Celebrity Big Brother to finish with a bang.”

Boy George Disliked Prison, but Loves Sushi

Boy George was released from prison, for 'good behavior', in May, after serving only 4 months of a 15-month sentence for assault and false imprisonment. He was forced to wear an electronic ankle tag until last week, allowing authorities to monitor his location.

Boy George has not yet publicly spoken about the incident which led to his imprisonment. Scandinavian escort Audun Carlsen claimed that George and an unnamed male attacked him after a drug-fuelled photo shoot, handcuffed him and attached him to a hook next to Boy George's bed. He also claims that Boy George beat him with a chain when he tried to escape. George denied the charges and alleged in court that Carlsen had tried to steal private photos from his computer. He refused to give evidence at the trial at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court because he didn't want to 'upset his mother'.

The 'Karma Chameleon' singer made far less alarming headlines this week when press learned that he's on a raw food diet, trying to loose some of that prison-fat. A friend of the 48-year-old star explained; “He’s on a raw food regime and doing an hour’s walking a day. He’s also got some DJ shows lined up so hopefully things are back on track.”

Boy George on His Clothing Line and Musical Inspiration

After a few tough years marred by skirmishes with the law, Boy George has told our sources that he’s back and more focused than ever on his creative projects, which include a new album of covers and a clothing collection.

His clothing line, B-Rude, “which is mostly our printed and bejeweled apparel,” he says, has been around for a few years but is picking up steam again, selling at b-rudeuk.com. And the line already has some pretty famous fans.

“We just made some one-off stuff for the delightful Debbie Harry for her recent tour, which was both a thrill and seriously cool,” he says. “And we also dressed Kylie Minogue for the finale of her last worldwide tour!”

A star fan-base doesn’t, however, mean that Boy is courting Hollywood’s elite. “We don’t target the kind of people who wear money, you know, those that would kill to have the latest designer handbag,” he explains. “We are more for the disenfranchised. We have a punk attitude, I guess.”

But just because he’s putting his own spin on fashion doesn’t mean he’s retiring from music. The singer is working on a very personal album of covers, choosing songs that “feel [as if] it was written for you and these are the songs I’m planning to record. I’m choosing songs that speak to me and have lyrics that reflect my personal journey and experiences.”

He’s also using the web to discover new collaborators for his upcoming dance track “Yes We Can,” through a contest on talenthouse.com. “I feel it’s a very refreshing idea. I’m pretty excited to find artists through Talenthouse and see what people do with my song. Absolutely, I can’t wait!”

We can’t wait to hear the final track — and see his newest designs too! To check out Boy George’s music, video, photography and other projects, visit talenthouse.com.

Boy George Rejected by Hare Krishnas for Being Gay

Pop star Boy George has been blocked from becoming a fully-fledged member of the Hare Krishna movement because of his sexuality.

Boy George was publicly a Hare Krishna follower during the eighties, when he was the lead singer of Culture Club, but was told by friends that he had to marry a woman in order to become a fully fledged member of the movement.

The troubled star, who has battled drug and alcohol problems and recently spent time in prison for falsely imprisoning a rent boy, was said to be "pretty upset".

Hare Krishna member Marianne Elliot-Said, better known as Poly Styrene of punk band X-Ray Spex, told ANI: "George never became a practising Hare Krishna. He was interested but they told him he couldn’t also be a practising homosexual."

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness says it accepts gay people, but they have to be celibate or get married to a woman and have Krishna-following children.

This is in line with the beliefs of the Hare Krishna movement which states that sex and desire are not conducive to a spiritual existence and one should only have sex in order to reproduce.

However, some leaders of the movement, such as Hridayananda dasa Goswami, openly accept and support homosexuality and same-sex relationships.

Goswami gave his blessings in 2008 in a ceremony for a gay couple in Los Angeles. According to Chakra, the Hare Krishna publication, he said: "Our love for each other is a reflection of God's love for us. Thus, the perfection of every relationship is to see God in each other."

Boy George Released from Jail

Only four months into a fifteen month sentence, George O’Dowd has been released from Edmunds Hill Prison in Suffolk, England.

The former Culture Club frontman entered jail in January for false imprisonment of a male escort named Audun Carlsen. The singer was found guilty of holding Carlsen against his will and committing violence against him in a pre-meditated assault.

O’Dowd looked much healthier than when he entered the prison. He returned to his London home to celebrate with friends and family.

Marilyn Says: "He (Gavin Rossdale) was the Love of My Life"

With a happy marriage, two beautiful children and a romance that’s lasted more than 13 years, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale have one of rock ’n’ roll’s most stable relationships. But Gavin wasn’t always the perfect family man he is today.

Back in the ’80s, he was a wild child who wore black lipstick and partied until all hours at London’s underground clubs. And the most important relationship of his life may have been with another androgynous, hard-partying man.

As In Touch magazine has learned, Gavin had a long-standing secret love affair with Marilyn — a British male rocker (and good friend of Boy George) who looked remarkably like Gwen. “He was the love of my life,” Marilyn told In Touch.

Boy George broke the news of Gavin, 43, and Marilyn’s tumultuous romance in his 1995 book, "Take It Like a Man", however Gavin denied it, stating, “I wasn’t dating Marilyn. We were, and still are, good friends.”

At the time, Marilyn denied the affair, as well. But today he says he did it only because Gavin asked him to. “He was just becoming successful in America,” Marilyn explains. “I agreed to lie against every grain of my being.” Now, Marilyn wants to set the record straight.

In an exclusive interview with In Touch, the British pop icon details the love affair that spanned the early ’80s. “We were together five years,” Marilyn says. “But it felt like 40.” (Gavin’s rep denies the story.)

For even more of In Touch's exclusive interview with Marilyn, plus photos of Gavin and Marilyn, pick up the new In Touch on sale now!

Boy George Sentenced to 15 Months in Jail

Former Culture Club frontman Boy George was sentenced on Friday to 15 months in jail after being found guilty last month of falsely imprisoning a Norwegian male escort.

Tried under his real name George O'Dowd, the 47-year-old Briton denied the charge of false imprisonment at his London flat in April, 2007. After his conviction on December 5, judge David Radford had warned him that he faced a prison term.

But the length of the sentence was a surprise to lawyers who had expected a term of around three months, or even a suspended sentence.

Shocked family members and friends in a packed courtroom at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London gasped and broke down in tears after the sentence was read. O'Dowd, his head shaved and wearing a black coat and sweater, stared ahead impassively.

"This offence is so serious that only an immediate sentence of imprisonment can be justified for it," Radford said.

He said the escort, Audun Carlsen, was "shocked, degraded and traumatized" at being detained and attacked by O'Dowd and an unidentified companion, and said a guilty plea "would have been true evidence of remorse and saved your victim from ... cross-examination."

The singer had told police he invited Carlsen back to his home after a cocaine-fueled pornographic photo shoot in January, 2007, because he suspected the Norwegian of stealing pictures from his computer.

During the two-week trial, Carlsen countered that the singer had handcuffed him and beaten him with a chain because he was angry he had refused to sleep with him when they first met.

O'Dowd did not give evidence during the trial, but before sentencing his lawyer Adrian Waterman urged leniency, saying O'Dowd had acted under the influence of illegal drugs, was recovering from his addiction and was a "kind and generous man."

O'Dowd and Carlsen behaved like "two drug-crazed idiots," he said, adding: "He (O'Dowd) is on the way back from that nether world. I am emboldened to say that there is enormous hope."

Waterman told the judge that O'Dowd may not be allowed to perform again in the United States and Japan because of his conviction, which carried a "truly enormous" financial cost.

The court had heard Carlsen describe how he sustained injuries during their meeting in April, 2007, from being beaten and handcuffed. O'Dowd's lawyer said the injuries were consistent with bondage gear the Norwegian had worn.

The singer shot to fame in the 1980s, thanks to a distinctive voice and androgynous image, and Culture Club topped the charts with hits like "Karma Chameleon" and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?"

But he has struggled with drug problems, and in 2006 was sentenced to do community service in New York after admitting to falsely reporting a burglary. Police responding to his call found 13 bags of cocaine in his apartment.

His lawyers said it was likely that he would actually spend six or seven months behind bars, but declined to say whether O'Dowd was planning to launch an appeal.

Source: Reuters.com

Boy George Faces Jail for False Imprisonment

A judge in London will sentence singer Boy George today following his conviction last month for false imprisonment.

Judge David Radford had warned the pop star, real name George O'Dowd, that "custody is the more likely option."

Pop star and DJ Boy George was found guilty of false imprisonment by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court on December 5th but was bailed to await sentence. The maximum penalty for false imprisonment is life.

O'Dowd denied the charges but chose not to give evidence in his own defence.

Audun Carlsen, a 29 year old sex worker, told the court of his ordeal at the hands of O'Dowd.

He met the star on the dating website Gaydar in 2007 and agreed to go to his flat in London's Shoreditch late one night for a "photo session." In the following months the pop star sent the prostitute a series of messages on Gaydar and eventually arranged to meet again.

On April 28th Carlsen returned to O'Dowd's apartment. He was confronted by O'Dowd and another man. He was attacked, dragged across the floor by O'Dowd, handcuffed to a wall by the bed at the Culture Club singer's east London flat and beaten with a chain, until he managed to flee. O'Dowd was angry because he believed Carlsen had tampered with his computer.

He told the court O'Dowd was screaming "F****** whore! Now you're going to get what you deserve".

The pop star told police: "I asked him to come (back to my flat) because I wanted to find out if this guy had borrowed my stuff. I got a friend there because I wanted to make sure he didn't leave so I could check the computer and his phone. The friend was just there in case he tried to stab me or take a hammer to me."

Last year George completed five days of community service in New York after being convicted of false reporting of an incident. He claimed he had been robbed, but when police arrived to investigate they found a large quantity of cocaine in his flat.

Boy George Convicted of False Imprisonment

Pop star and DJ Boy George was found guilty of false imprisonment by a jury in London. He will be sentenced next month.

He was tried under his real name, George O'Dowd, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, and had denied the charges but chose not to give evidence in his own defence.

Audun Carlsen, a 29 year old sex worker, told the court of his ordeal at the hands of O'Dowd.

He met the star on the dating website Gaydar in 2007 and agreed to go to his flat in London's Shoreditch late one night for a "photo session."

In the following months the pop star sent the prostitute a series of messages on Gaydar and eventually arranged to meet again.On April 28th Carlsen returned to the apartment.

He was confronted by O'Dowd and another man. He was attacked, dragged across the floor by O'Dowd, handcuffed to a wall by the bed at the Culture Club singer's east London flat and beaten with a chain, until he managed to flee.

O'Dowd was angry because he believed Carlsen had tampered with his computer.

He told the court O'Dowd was screaming "F****** whore! Now you're going to get what you deserve".

The pop star told police "I asked him to come (back to my flat) because I wanted to find out if this guy had borrowed my stuff.

"I got a friend there because I wanted to make sure he didn't leave so I could check the computer and his phone. The friend was just there in case he tried to stab me or take a hammer to me."

Last year George completed five days of community service in New York after being convicted of false reporting of an incident.

He claimed he had been robbed, but when police arrived to investigate they found a large quantity of cocaine in his flat.