reasons to toast Boy George today, his 50th birthday…

• He was discovered in the early 80s while working as a coat check boy at The Blitz in London. His androgynous style, not his singing, caught the attention of Malcolm McLaren.

• He once said, “I can do anything. In GQ, I appeared as a man.”

• He starred in the London hit musical Taboo, based on his own life, but chose to play the role of the late, great performance artist Leigh Bowery. In the New York run, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical Score.

• He was arrested in the home not once, but twice. The first time, for cocaine possession after falsely reporting a burglary (New York). The second time, for the assault and false imprisonment of a male escort (London).

• He wisely chose to scrap the name Sex Gang Children for the more broadly acceptable Culture Club, which, by their their disbanding in 1986, had amassed ten Top 40 hits in the U.S. Every single one of them will remain on our iPods forever.