Boy George admits he ‘never became friends’ with George Michael
80s singer Boy George has said he “never became friends” with George Michael.
The Culture Club singer, who was previously convicted of falsely imprisoning a male prostitute, says he often tried to avoid the Wham! legend.
Both Georges rose to fame in the 1980s, but George Michael refused to come out as gay until more than a decade later.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, George opened up about their difficult relationship.
“I cried when he died,” he admitted to the newspaper.
“I felt very sad. You know, I was never close to George.
“We never really became friends. We tried a few times. We had a lot of mutual friends.
“There were a few evenings where the girls from Bananarama tricked me into going for dinner and he was there and whenever we met we got on great.
“We had more in common than we didn’t.”
RELATED: Will Young says he refused to kiss George Michael
The Culture Club singer says he felt defensive of his fellow 80s icon after the sudden death.
He previously told Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live that Michael “kept people out” during the final years of his life.
“I read stuff in the papers. But I never really knew really what – he really kept people out, he was quite private”, he told the show.
The two singers had exchanged regular insults during their early days in the music industry.
Boy George came out as gay long before George Michael, and it had been reported that he feuded over the Wham! singer’s reluctance to be out.
“We did, it wasn’t really a feud.
“In the ’80s, everyone – Peter Burns, me, we all used to be really bitchy about each other.
“It’s like the thing that you did in the ’80s with those pop magazines.
“Now it’s the housewives who do it!
“But in the ’80s, you just said vile things about everyone”, the singer, real name George O’Down, claimed.
RELATED: George Michael’s boyfriend Fadi Fawaz thanks fans for support
“In the early days, we were competition to each other. Both called George, both made soul music.
“So in the early days, we were really in competition.
“Then sort of later on, I started to really appreciate him as a musician – you know, right around ‘Faith’.
“I started to really appreciate his talent.”
