Boy George’s Health: All About His Vocal Cord Issue, Tummy Tuck & How He’s Doing Today

The Culture Club singer has had a few health issues over the years. Find out more about his struggles with his vocal cords and more.

Boy George opened up about his recent usage of a weight loss drug after undergoing a tummy tuck surgery. The 80s, synth-pop icon opened up about some of his health issues over the year in his new memoir Karma, which was released on Tuesday, January 9. The “Karma Chameleon” singer opened up about struggling with his weight throughout his life in the tell-all book.

The singer, whose real name is George Alan O’Dowd, has had his share of other health issues over the years, including a problem with his vocal cords. Find out more about George’s health and how he’s been doing now!

What Was Boy George’s Vocal Cord Issue?

During a Culture Club reunion in 2014, George revealed that he had struggled with a problem that is relatively common in singers: vocal polyps. Still, George had a particularly bad case, because his polyps were actually hemorrhaging.

After getting it checked out, George announced that a series of reunion show dates would be postponed in a Facebook post. “After having a series of cameras down my throat it transpires that I have a polyp on one of my vocal chords which has hemorrhaged and one of my vocal chords is unusually enlarged and won’t close properly when I sing. In true British fashion I have ignored it thinking the problem might just be tiredness. I never thought to check my throat because I have spent a lifetime just ‘Getting on with it.’ I have been advised by doctors that to continue singing with this polyp would further damage my voice and could cause irreparable damage, it’s a risk I just cannot take,” he wrote.

After taking plenty of time to rest his voice, George made a recovery, but he admitted that his voice got (a little) lower in an interview with NJ.com. He opened up about needing to protect the voice to keep singing for years. “I think my voice is kind of rich tenor now, and suits a little bit of rock,” he said. “We go into a world where we have no understanding of what’s going to happen to our voices. When you get older, you can’t take the same risks, you have to be much more conscious of it.”

Why Did Boy George Have a Tummy Tuck?

In George’s memoir, the “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” singer explained what his experience was like getting a tummy tuck. In the same section, he also revealed that he’d gotten hair transplants. “I had a tummy tuck not long after, which was the most painful thing I’ve ever done because I went on tour straight after with Cyndi Lauper with the blood bag attached,” he wrote, via People. 

He further explained that he underwent the procedure after losing a bunch of weight. “I’d previously lost seven stone [98 lbs.] doing the metabolic balance diet and I needed to get rid of the excess skin,” he wrote. He further explained that it left him with a scar, which he jokes came from giving birth to twins. “It might seem weird to say I feel sexier but I actually do. I used to joke over the years, ‘Sexy at 60.’ That was my ambition.”

How’s He Doing Today?

In addition to opening up about his cosmetic surgery, George also revealed that he’s currently on the weight loss drug Mounjaro, which acts in a similar way to Ozempic. The 80s icon revealed that he’s struggled with his weight over the years. “I have struggled with my weight most of my life and being under public and media scrutiny doesn’t help,” he wrote. “We are all guilty of saying, ‘Hasn’t so and so got big,’ even when we are carrying extra pounds ourselves.”

George then revealed that he’s on the type 2 diabetes medication, and he said that he thinks that a lot of people who have had sudden weight loss had used similar methods. “Well, I’m on Mounjaro. Isn’t everyone? Trust me anyone who was fat last year and is now skinny is on the wonder drug,” he wrote.