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Boy George recalls how “hated” Culture Club’s hit “Karma Chameleon” was at first
“I had to almost strong-arm the track onto the album Color by Numbers,” he tells PEOPLE
Culture Club released “Karma Chameleon” in 1983
Boy George recalls how the perspective on Culture Club’s hit “Karma Chameleon” has changed after 42 years.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the British singer-songwriter and DJ (real name George Dowd) recalls how “hated” the 1983 song was at first.
“The first time I sang it to the band, they all hated it,” George, 65, recalls. “So, I had to almost strong-arm the track onto the album Color by Numbers because we were going in a soulful direction, and the boys, I think, preferred that. But me being me, I like to throw a spanner in the works.”
Boy George
Credit: Dean Stockings
Of “Karma Chameleon,” the “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” artist says, “I knew that song was going to be a hit. I mean, I was absolutely adamant it was going to be No. 1, even though I really had no experience to base it on.”
While “everybody hated” “Karma Chameleon,” George was always confident it would find an audience.
“It was like a sort of guilty pleasure, that song,” he says. “And who knew how much it would be emphasized over the years in my life?”
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In honor of his 65th birthday, George recently recorded an AI-enhanced version of “Karma Chameleon.”
The 2026 version of the track features George’s new, in-studio vocals and, per a press release, uses “ethical technology to support the final recording.”
George recently spoke with PEOPLE about the making of the reborn version of “Karma Chameleon.”
“I had to sing it with the same nuance that I did when I was 22, because over the years, you perform a song millions of times, it changes shape, it becomes something else,” he said.
For him, “it was really fun to go in, and [almost be] sort of Irish drunk singing along to your own song in a pub.”
The reborn rendition of the song features all of the original lyrics and the track’s original producer, Steve Levine.
For George, “Karma Chameleon” is “massively powerful and iconic in connection to who I am and what I’ve created.”
“To have some control over it, it’s invigorating,” he said. “It makes me feel excited about the song again.”
“Karma Chameleon” topped the charts in 16 countries, including several weeks holding the No. 1 spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It also notably went platinum in the U.K.
Read the original article on People
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