Life Of Culture Club Lead Singer & Songwriter Boy George Will Be Featured In Upcoming Film

Boy George — the lead singer and songwriter of the iconic 1980s band Culture Club — will get his life story made into a feature film, per Deadline.

Boy George’s biopic follows other films about some of the most iconic figures in the music industry. The life of Freddie Mercury was chronicled in Bohemian Rhapsody, Elton John was reimagined in Rocketman, and a film based on the life of singer Aretha Franklin starring Jennifer Hudson is slated for 2020.

Deadline revealed that the film will detail George’s humble beginnings as part of an Irish working-class family, and will follow him through his rise to the top of the international charts alongside the iconic ’80s band Culture Club.

The film will also touch on George’s difficult childhood. His mother, Dinah, once said in a 2007 interview with The Independent that her husband — Gerry, George’s father — would abuse her and then state, “I’ll die if you leave me. Even if you can’t forgive me, please don’t leave.” The singer called his father “a terrible father and a terrible husband.”

As part of Culture Club and as a solo artist, Boy George has sold over 100 million singles and over 50 million albums. George has also authored two bestselling autobiographies — and also co-produced, penned the music for, and starred in the play Taboo. Taboo turned out to be quite a hit on Broadway and in London’s West End.

George also battled heroin addiction, and was sentenced to 15 months in jail for falsely imprisoning a male escort. George allegedly handcuffed said escort to a wall, beat him with a metal chain, per The Guardian. The singer and songwriter was given an early release for good behavior after serving four months of his sentence.

The New York Post also reported that the singer has lost hundreds of millions in royalty fees throughout his career.

“My songs are very precious to me,” Boy George said in a statement to The New York Post. “They are the story of my life.”

Boy George and Culture Club were some of the most prominent names in the music industry during the 1980s. The gender-bending band scored seven straight top 10 hits in the U.K. and six top 10 singles in the United States.

Culture Club — whose members include bassist Mikey Craig, drummer Jon Moss, and guitarist Roy Hay — landed a contract with Virgin Records in 1982. Although the band released two singles upon the launch of their debut album, Kissing to be Clever, it wasn’t until the success of the wildly popular single “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” that the band saw the top of the charts. After five years together, the group officially disbanded in 1987. They have since reunited for a tour of their greatest hits.

There has not yet been any announcement of a formal release date for the upcoming Boy George biopic.