To me, he'll always be the same, sweet gender confused kid he's always been.

Hey, Generation X-er's.  Want to start your day feeling old?  Get out the cake, light the candles and call the fire department.

George Alan O'Dowd aka Boy George is 50 today.

From early 80's Culture Club frontman to heroin/cocaine addict, to community service sanitation worker, to kidnapping, handcuffing and whipping men in his apartment, it's been an interesting half century for The Boy.  Now that he's Middle Age George, will he slow down?  You got to hand it to him.  In my opinion he brought the whole gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, questioning, curious and whatever the fuck else into the mainstream and gave a sweet tenor voice to a heretofore voiceless group of people.   (I will now give a Funeral Guy truism of life.  If you are confused about your sexuality, don't be.  You're gay.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  As any militantly heterosexual man can tell you, there ain't nothing confusing about it.  And, no, a semi-anthropological curiosity about Thai Lady Boys doesn't count toward your gayness quotient.)

I make no secret of my love for the well crafted pop song.  Culture Club had a lot of them and Boy George sang them perfectly.  Happy Birthday, ya' big lug!

Boy George.

Pop Icon and gender bending pioneer. 

George Alan O'Dowd.

Looking like the kind of man who 

would handcuff you in his apartment.