Boy George admits to using AI for songwriting
Boy George has admitted that he is an avid user of Artificial Intelligence, particularly in his approach to songwriting.
Appearing on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, noting that the “practice has really helped me as a lyricist.”
In particular, he enjoys using AI because “you’re not working with anyone else, you don’t have to worry even for two seconds about what they think.”
He went on candidly, “I’m a top-line writer, so I write top-line melodies. All the people I work with send me tracks, and I’ll just sit with them, and I’ll just play it and play it.”
Speaking of his newfound collaborator, he added, I have fantastic conversations with ChatGPT, and I’ll say oh, that’s crap. That’s not what I would say.”
However, Boy George shared delightedly that “actually, you can train it,” to gear itself toward your desired creative outcome.
Last year, the star used AI to re-record vocals for some of his biggest hits, such as ‘Karma Chameleon’. This is also to circumvent issues regarding who owns the rights to the original recordings of the songs.
The English star sits at the opposite end of a spectrum in the industry to many other musicians, such as Elton John and Paul McCartney, who have spoken out about the dangerous ramifications of the use of the technology across the creative industries.
However, one other musician who has echoed Boy George’s sentiment as of late is Geezer Butler, who admitted to “using an AI singer to bring all the lyrics out.”
In November, Boy George headlined a London charity fundraiser for Jamaica, following Hurricane Melissa, a natural disaster that left 32 dead and many others injured.
He is next set to appear for a run of dates in March in America, starting in Niagara Falls and ending with an impressive six nights in Las Vegas at The Venetian.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.