Boy George said before headlining
Rome's New Year's Eve concert Tuesday night that it was "great"
to be in Rome and that he always loved working.
After an inspection of the venue, the Circus Maximus, the
63-year-old Karma Chameleon and Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
artist stopped by the Campidoglio (Capitol) to greet Rome Mayor
Roberto Gualtieri.
"I'm very excited and this is really how we should dress", he
said, pointing to a statue of Julius Caesar.
"Being in Rome is truly unexpected and incredible and I'm very
happy. It's always something new, it's always stimulating. I had
been away for many years, I had done my last live show here
about 15 years ago even though I had returned a few times as a
DJ. It's a unique emotion, Italy really is Italy" the
Irish-heritage London-born artist told ANSA.
George also willingly talked about his future projects including
a documentary on the history of Culture Club and one on his
life: "I really love working and I never stop. Every now and
then someone says to me: 'aren't you tired?'. And I reply: 'But
you must be tired...'. I'm working on the biopic, but I'm also
studying and writing new music. I write every day, for me it's a
bit like cooking, I have to do it all the time".
And he added: "I'm a prolific singer-songwriter: I've released
65 tracks on Spotify but I don't stop, it's an incredible moment
of great writing".
George then joked: "I haven't slept since Karma Chameleon came
out, I've been too busy...". The protagonists of the New Year's
concert together with Boy George and Culture Club will be Gabry
Ponte, the Pfm Premiata Forneria Marconi, the Orchestraccia and
the Orchestra Popolare La Notte della Taranta.
The live show, Gualtieri noted, has "a stellar cast".
Boy George, who was born George O'Dowd of Irish immigrant
parents in the British capital in 1961, went on to say that he
hadn't been aware of the alleged 'censorship' furore surrounding
rapper Tony Effe until he heard about it and looked it up on the
Internet, after which he said he had walys been in favour of
freedom of expression.
Effe was dropped from the Circus Maximus show due to the
allegedly offensive, violent and sexist lyrics of some of his
songs and several artists subsequently dropped out in solidarity
saying he had been censored.
George said: "I didn't know Tony Effe and when I heard the news
I went on YouTube to look for him.
"He seemed like a nice guy who knows what he's doing".
Tony Effe, who was recently announced as one of the contestants
in next year's Sanremo Song Festival, will instead be on stage
at the Palaeur tonight.
George continued: "You know, art should reflect culture, not
necessarily what you think, I don't think you should sing about
hurting other people, after all I sang 'Do you really want to
hurt me', I said on that occasion what I think, I took a
different position. But in any case I'm not a fan of censorship
because we're all adults and grown up...".
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