Boy George To Re-Record Culture Club Single For Charity

11/02/1999 1:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(11/2/99, 1 p.m. ET) - Boy George, the gender-bending leader of U.K. hitmakers Culture Club, plans to re-record one of the band's biggest singles, "Karma Chameleon," for charity.

Sixteen years after the song was a hit for the band, George's new version will find him backed by 100 winners of the Kiosk Karaoke competition, sponsored by the BT telephone company. He is taking on the project in an effort to raise awareness of Message Home, a service of the U.K.'s National Missing Persons helpline that enables runaways to contact their loved ones.

"Everybody seems to remember 'Karma Chameleon' with affection because it's such an upbeat, happy song, with a memorable chorus," George said in a statement. The song was the biggest-selling single in the U.K. in 1983 and a No. 1 single in the U.S. in 1984.

"I'm looking forward to re-recording it with what must surely be Britain's most original backing band ever," George added.

Nearly 20,000 entrants sang 30 seconds of a favorite song over the telephone. The selections were then pared down to 500 finalists, 100 of which were chosen by music-industry experts.

The reunited Culture Club, which toured the U.S. over the summer, will tour the U.K. in December.

To read a Culture Club feature, click here.

-- Barry Jeckell, New York

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