In the summer of 1995, Boy George released his fifth studio album Cheapness and Beauty. Though only a moderate commercial success, the album was an important one in his career because it marked the first time he sang very openly about being gay, despite having come out publicly to Barbara Walters a decade earlier.

The lead single was a cover version of Iggy Pop and David Bowie’s 1977 bop “Funtime.” For the second single, Boy George released “Il Adore.” Originally titled “Stevie,” he wrote the song following the death of his childhood friend, who passed away from an AIDS-related illness.

The song opens with the heartbreaking scene of a mother holding her adult son in her arms as he lay dying in a hospital bed:

“Mother clutches the head of her dying son / Anger and tears, so many things to feel / Sensitive boy, good with his hands / No one mentions the unmentionable, but everybody understands / Here in this cold white room / Tied up to these machines / It’s hard to imagine him as he used to be.”

In 1994, the singer told POZ magazine he began writing “Il Adore” when Stevie was in the hospital.

“It’s really about when Stevie was dying, being in the hospital with his family and his friends–really about the two different sides of Stevie, if you like: How his parents saw him and how we saw him. It was hard to imagine him as he used to be.”

“It was really just my experience of Stevie’s death. I’ve known other people who have died, but I suppose Stevie was someone I knew the longest.”

He went on to explain that, while the song was about the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, it was also about how a person chooses to respond when they know they are dying.

“Behind AIDS I think there’s a lot of guilt,” he said. “I think that with gay people, because we’re persecuted to a certain degree all our lives, we’re made to feel as though we don’t belong. There’s a real loneliness there as well. It’s such a big picture it’s difficult to put into any particular words.”

He continued, “There’s this need to be satiated — particularly with Stevie–because he became very spiritual at the end of his life, to the point where he was like a different person. It was amazing. He went out to swim with dolphins. He did all these things he’d never done before that he’d always wanted to do. It was just amazing to see that transformation.”

The song’s chorus certainly reflects this:

“Laughing screaming tumbling queen / Like the most amazing light show you’ve ever seen / Whirling swirling never blue / How could you go and die, what a lonely thing to do.”

A music video for “Il Adore” was released in 1995 and was directed by John Maybury, who also directed music videos for queer artists like Erasure, Marc Almond, Morrissey, and Sinéad O’Connor. It shows Boy George dressed in all white, in an all-white hospital room, and bathed in blue light as he reflects on his friend’s life.

“Il Adore” was later included in the 2002 jukebox musical Taboo!, which told the story of Boy George’s life and featuring music from his solo career, Culture Club, and other electro-pop acts from the 1980s.

The show premiered in London’s West End in January 2002 before eventually moving to Broadway in 2004 thanks to Rosie O’Donnell, who was so blown away by the show that she agreed to finance the entire New York production.

The song was recorded by Gail Mackinnon for the original West End and Broadway cast recordings and was widely considered one of the standout moments of the show.

Although Taboo! was ultimately not a commercial hit, closing after just 100 performances, it still nabbed four Tony Awards nominations, as well as four Drama Desk Award nominations, winning one. O’Donnell has said she would like to bring the show back to Broadway sometime in the future.

Speaking to POZ magazine in 1994, Boy George said of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which was still raging at the time: “I believe that out there there are a lot of good people and a lot of caring people. One of the positive things about AIDS is that it’s really, really solidified the gay community.”

He continued, “I just think one of the most important things is that we are human beings, we’re not just gay. I try to speak as a human being, whether it’s about gay issues or Black issues or lesbian issues. To me, there’s no difference. And until we realize that, nothing’s going to change.”

Before you go, watch this video of Boy George performing “Il Adore” live on MTV in 1995.

Related*

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated