Boy George Slams Singing ‘Karma Chameleon,’ Then Does It Anyway on Apple TV+’s KPOPPED
I am Kai Montgomery, and yes, Boy George just compared performing his 1983 smash “Karma Chameleon” to “diarrhea through a wet sock” in a blunt new interview, then turned around and sang it on Apple TV+’s KPOPPED in front of a live studio audience. Of course the one song he cannot outrun is the one producers shove at him. Try to act surprised.
The Culture Club icon, now 64, told The Post that the band’s biggest hit has become a gilded cage that fans will not let him escape. “People think that’s all I’ve ever done,” he said, venting that when Apple first asked him to deliver “Karma Chameleon” on KPOPPED, his answer was an emphatic no. As he put it, “I wasn’t exactly excited by doing ‘Karma Chameleon.’ It was just, ‘Oh f*** off, that again.’” If you have ever met a legendary artist with one mega hit, you know the look. Call it the must-I-really-do-this-again stare.
Then came the turn. After speaking with his team, George admitted the lure of the trip itself swayed him. “I quite fancy going to South Korea,” he laughed, deciding the adventure was worth the inevitable earworm encore. He headed to Seoul, joined members of the K-pop group STAYC, and delivered a candy colored, youthfully turbocharged version of the very song he cannot stand. The result delighted the studio audience and, begrudgingly, the man himself. “I just loved it,” he said of the experience, sounding almost shocked to be happy about singing the track he has to pretend not to despise.
For anyone keeping score, “Karma Chameleon” is not just a hit, it is a chart leviathan. The Official Charts Company records that it ruled the UK Singles Chart for six weeks and was the country’s best selling single of 1983. Billboard’s archives back up its stateside dominance, logging three weeks at number one on the Hot 100 in early 1984. In other words, it is the exact song a streaming platform would pick when it wants instant recognition, applause, and a sing along from people who were not alive when cassettes were a thing.
Here is the inconvenient truth for purists who prefer deep cuts. Culture Club’s catalog is broader than one rainbow hook. The band spun out radio staples like “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” “Time (Clock of the Heart),” “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya,” and “Miss Me Blind,” while collecting a Grammy in 1984. After their first breakup in 1987, Boy George went solo and released nine studio albums. So yes, he has receipts. He just also has a juggernaut that refuses to exit the stage.
The push and pull with his signature song is not the only tug of war in his career. In 2023, he told The Post that American radio once warned him he would not get spins because he used the word “he” in his lyrics, citing his 1995 album Cheapness and Beauty. He argued that while the culture looks more colorful now, the industry still polices how queer artists speak about their lives. Translation for those in the back who missed the memo on progress: it is complicated, and the gatekeepers are still counting syllables.
Back to KPOPPED, the Apple TV+ competition that pairs Western stars with K-pop talent for head to head song battles. Boy George’s “Karma Chameleon” squared off against TLC legends T-Boz and Chilli, who teamed with the other half of STAYC to perform “Waterfalls.” Apple’s own promos spotlight a stacked roster that includes Patti LaBelle, Kylie Minogue, Boyz II Men, Spice Girls alumni Mel B and Emma Bunton, Kesha, Eve, Vanilla Ice, and J Balvin. The stunt is obvious, sure. The visuals slap, the crowd screams, and the algorithms purr.
So what exactly are we to make of a pop icon dunking on the song that made him a global name, then gamely serving it to a new audience with sparkling choreography and a grin that says he knows the drill. It is show business, not show therapy. The audience came for the chorus they know, and every platform executive knows a guaranteed hook when they hear one. If the artist gets a Seoul adventure and some fresh goodwill out of it, fine. Everyone wins, even if the lead singer would rather chew tinfoil.
Do not miss the lesson hiding in the glitter. Artists evolve, hits harden into monuments, and fans keep voting with their lungs. Boy George can lament the treadmill and still be savvy enough to step back on it when the stage is big and the moment is right. If you want the deeper cuts, they exist. If you want the biggest crowd reaction in the room, well, the charts have been telling you where to look since 1983.
Keep an eye on KPOPPED for whether George continues to rework “Karma Chameleon” into something he can live with, or if he tries to sneak a different Culture Club gem into the spotlight. The chorus may be eternal, but the arrangement is not. Did anyone expect a different outcome? No? Thought so.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and New York Post, Billboard, Official Charts Company, Apple TV+
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