Boy George has explained why the artwork for his new single is so similar to one that Kylie Minogue shared last year.
The Culture Club frontman first stirred controversy with the cover earlier this week, when he dropped his new single ‘Religion’ on Monday (February 19).
The track was one of two new songs that Boy George announced in the audiobook for his new memoir Karma last autumn, and upon its release, it was the artwork for the single that turned heads – namely for its close resemblance to that of Minogue’s 2023 album ‘Tension’.
In the artwork, Boy George is seen with a sunset-hued background, and his name and the track’s title are written in the same fonts used on the ‘Padam Padam’ singer’s album artwork.
Following its release, fans were quick to take to social media to comment on the decision, and question whether or not the cover was real or intended as a joke.
I know that every masterpiece has its cheap copy but what the hell is this… pic.twitter.com/mPSh6XZUc4
— Editor-In-Chief of Reality Von Tease (@confideinm3) February 19, 2024
“I know that every masterpiece has its cheap copy but what the hell is this,” one person wrote on X/Twitter, while another shared their surprise that it was in fact the finished cover, originally thinking “it was satire”.
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Now, the ‘Karma Chameleon’ singer has defended the decision to use the cover and explained why he opted for something so similar to that used by Kylie Minogue. “I’m recycling everything. It’s all the rage,” he wrote on social media. “Even fashion is catching on?”
In another tweet, he also wrote that he was an “utter genius” for sharing similar artwork, and later implied that one user frustrated at the similarities was “pathetic.”
I'm recycling everything. It's all the rage. Even fashion is catching on? https://t.co/CRnKM9qTdA
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) February 19, 2024
Or utter genius! https://t.co/C4Tcx6Tg9u
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) February 19, 2024
A word I would use to describe your tweet! https://t.co/TPyWQpVwrF
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) February 20, 2024
The similar artwork to the Australian pop star comes months after rumours began to circulate that there was conflict between the two, due to Boy George allegedly leaking her hit 2023 song ‘Padam Padam’.
However, speaking with The Project last year (via Yahoo), Minogue said there were no hard feelings between them as she was unaware of the alleged leak up until then. She also added that she felt certain it wouldn’t have been done will ill-intent. “I’d like to think it was just pressing the wrong button, or that he was very excited, but naughty George,” she said.
This isn’t the first time that the singer-songwriter has been at the centre of controversy in recent months. In the aforementioned autobiography shared last year, Boy George took aim at both Janet Jackson and Madonna — describing the latter as “too full of herself”.
He was also one of the famous faces who recently signed an open letter, urging organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest to allow Israel to compete in 2024, following petitions to have the state banned from the competition in light of the Israel-Hamas war.