Hello, I'm Krestey Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1989, and the presenter was Sue Lolly. My castaway this week is a singer who is very much a child of his time. When he first came to our

attention seven years ago it was as much for his makeup and unusual clothes as

anything else. Since then however he's established himself as a continually popular entertainer, proving

that his talent, like his disguise, is more enduring than many people thought.

But the weight of the top has not always been easy. He's had to conquer an addiction to drugs.

Some of his friends have lost that battle and died. And his private life has been the subject of much public speculation.

He is of course boy George and boy

George whatever else he is or is not is a survivor I think. Well I don't know

about that but it's nice to think so. Whatever happens to you in your life, if you go through sort of tragedies,

I think that they do in a lot of ways make you a better person.

You learn from your mistakes.

I mean, I'm a much better person in a lot of ways than I was when I was a teenager.

I'm a lot more stable you know I tend to

sort of think more now than I did before so I suppose in a way it's it's a good thing.

But one's tempted to believe that there is somebody up there looking after you.

I don't know really I think it think it's more to do with the people around you.

You know, I think that I have good friends, I have good family, and not to get too sentimental.

But I think I have people around me that care about me and I think that's one of the things that you need.

We talk about your life and its highs and its lows in a moment, but let's first, if we may explore the concept of boy George alone on a desert island

it doesn't strike me as being quite your habitat.

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