Boy George has stated he will "never know" if sound technicians intentionally "sabotaged" his Frankfurt concert, which he was forced to abandon after only two songs. The incident occurred Saturday during an 80s-themed concert at Waldstadion in Germany.
Responding to a tweet from the German news site The Jewish General, which claimed technicians repeatedly increased his in-ear monitor volume until he stopped performing, Boy George shared his experience. "The truth is I will never know. Lesson learnt. Only work with your own sound people," he wrote.
He described the first song as a "car crash," noting that while some imperfection is expected in an opening song, the issue persisted. "By song two I had asked them to turn down the sound but it just got louder and louder. I had to bow out but I did what I could and that's all that matters," the singer added.
This episode follows recent controversy surrounding his pro-Israel song, "We Will Dance Again." Boy George, whose birth name is George Alan O'Dowd, defended his use of artificial intelligence in creating the track, stating that AI removes "interference" and human gatekeepers. He likened the process to Elton John writing music and Bernie Taupin writing lyrics.
"I don't need gatekeepers and one of the great things about AI is it removes all the interference, all the human interference," he said in a video posted to Instagram. "I wrote that song, the lyrics are mine the melody is mine."
Boy George also revealed that some members of his band have questioned performing the song, and he stated they would be fired if they refused. "Even now that the song is written, there are people in my band who are questioning whether they will perform it with me and those people will be fired," he declared.
The lyrics of "We Will Dance Again," released on July 27, include lines such as "You say Genocide, I say war" and "When you’re attacked, that’s what the army's for." The song references the October 7 attack at the Nova music festival, where Hamas killed 378 people and took 44 hostages. The phrase "we will dance again" has been used by Israelis to express hope following the attack.
Boy George's manager and friend, PK Kemsley, publicly supported the singer, stating his "courage should be respected not attacked." Kemsley, who is Jewish, posted a picture of Boy George in a jacket adorned with a Star of David, pledging his allegiance "For better for worse. Always..."
This is not the first controversy the singer has faced recently. Earlier in August, Boy George withdrew from his role as King Herod in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the London Palladium amid criticism over his support for Israel.