Boy George has threatened to sack anyone in his band who refuses to perform his controversial pro-Israel song generated by AI.
The 65-year-old singer caused a stir when he uploaded the track We Will Dance Again, which includes the line: “You say genocide, I say war.”
The fallout around the song led to a major professional split. George parted ways with Tony Pontius, who has run his label BGP for several years, after he refused to be involved with the release.
George has faced heavy criticism over the track, which was inspired by the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel’s Nova Music Festival – an assault carried out by Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organisation by multiple governments and responsible for severe harm and loss of life. George has insisted the song is “pro peace” and said he is “devastated” by the deaths of innocent people in both Israel and Palestine.
The controversy has also affected his theatre commitments. George pulled out of playing King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium just days before his run was due to begin. His manager Paul Kemsley said the decision was made “with the utmost respect” for the production team.
Bandcamp also blocked George from uploading the track on his profile due to its AI policy.
Now, George has warned his Culture Club bandmates will have to perform the song or risk being fired.
In a video update on Instagram this week, he said: “Even now the song is written, there are people in my band who are questioning whether they’ll perform it with me. And those people will be fired.”
He added: “I don’t need gatekeepers, and one of the great things about AI is that it removes all the interference, all the human interference. The lyrics are mine, the melody is mine.”
The Karma Chameleon hitmaker has also threatened to publicly name all the people who have turned against him.
In another video, he said: “At some point I’ll do a list of all the people who have turned their backs on me”.