Boy George has threatened to sack his bandmates if they refuse to play his controversial pro-Israel song ‘We Will Dance Again‘.
‘We Will Dance Again’, divided opinion when it was released last month, particularly for it’s stance which appears to reject descriptions of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide, as well as criticising musicians who have publicly supported Palestine.
George later gave more insight into the track, saying it was inspired by his visit to the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in London and meetings with people affected by the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
Since the song’s release, the Culture Club singer has pulled out of his two-week run at the London Palladium, where he was set to play King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar, and also parted ways with his record label manager after he refused to release the track.
He has also had a public fallout with Bandcamp over the track accusing them of “bowing to the pressure of antisemites” while also criticising their AI policy.
Now, George has warned his Culture Club bandmates that they will have to perform the song or risk being fired.
View this post on Instagram
He said on Instagram: “The truth is if I tried to write ‘We Will Dance Again’ with any musician, they would have got in my way. They would have said: ‘Ooh you can’t say that, that’s too controversial, you can’t say this, you can’t say that’.
“Even now the song is written, there are people in my band who are questioning whether they’ll perform it with me. And those people will be fired.”
He added: “I don’t need gatekeepers, and one of the great things about AI is that it removes all the interference, all the human interference. You see every day on the internet people with opinions. First of all, I wrote that song, the lyrics are mine, the melody is mine.
“It’s a bit like Elton John writing the music and Bernie Taupin writing the lyrics. That’s what I do with Culture Club, that’s what I do with all the people I work with. Because I don’t play an instrument that doesn’t make me lazy or make me uncreative. In fact I think AI has made me more creative.”
His bandmates are yet to respond publicly to George’s comments.
After some backlash to the song, the musician responded to criticism and said that it is meant to be “pro-peace”.
George has also voiced support for Jewish communities on several occasions in recent years. In May, he shared a message of solidarity at an antisemitism march in London.
His latest song has been condemned by Heaven 17 and The Human League co-founder Martyn Ware as an “overtly pro-genocide, anti-Palestinian piece of musical propaganda”. Actor Patrick Clanton, who previously appeared alongside George in the Broadway production of Moulin Rouge!, also said that he was “embarrassed” to have worked with him.
The post Boy George threatens to sack bandmates if they refuse to play his controversial pro-Israel song appeared first on NME.