Bold, outrageous, controversial and a bit of an all-round showman, Boy George, to put it simply, is hard to describe, at least in his entirety. However, it was his soulful voice that put him at the forefront of the Culture Club – an icon of the ’80s. But more recently, it’s his admission to a hair transplant surgery that caught the attention of the media.
In a very Boy George-esque way, the singer admitted to getting the surgery on, of all places, a reality TV show about celebrities. But since he’s made his transplantation surgery public knowledge, there have been reports of not one but multiple surgeries. And many people have also wondered why, despite the surgery, Boy George’s mid-scalp looks so thinned out. In this blog, we’ll get into all the details of Boy George’s hair transplant.
Who Is Boy George?
Born on 14 June 1961, in England, Boy George – or George Alan O’Dowd – is a British singer who is the lead vocalist of the band Culture Club. While Boy George has garnered a lot of fame for his theatrical style, his band’s music, which is described as a conjunction of pop and classical, is also well-known for dominating the music scene in the early 1980s.
The band’s songs, including Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (1982) and Karma Chameleon (1983), are talked about to this day. However, eventually, due to personal problems in George’s life, Culture Club eventually disbanded in 1986. There were several attempts at reunions, including the one in 2018, that was soon followed by legal action by the band’s ex-drummer and George’s former partner, Jon Moss.
Boy George has been pursuing his solo career for decades now, but recently he announced his tour with Country Club and Howard Jones and Berlin. Other than singing, however, George has also been a part of the small screen, including as a host on The Voice and The Big Deal and as a contestant on reality game shows like The New Celebrity Apprentice and I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
Did Boy George Have A Hair Transplant?
Boy George admitted to getting a hair transplant in an episode of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2022. While talking to Jill Scott, he said, “My hair is a transplant.” Boy George also said he was bald, and when asked where he had the surgery, he replied, “From a transplant shop.”
“My hair is a transplant” might make you think that it’s not his real hair. But the way a hair transplant works is that it removes some of the hair from the back of your head and places it in the front (via small incisions). So, in the end, you’ll have your natural hair (unless it’s biofibre), only redistributed.
As far as his inspiration behind getting the surgery was concerned, George named none other than Wayne Rooney himself. “I saw Wayne Rooney’s hair, and I thought, I can actually get my hair done,” George told his other campmate, Seann Walsh.
That’s not all, however. In 2023, the Mirror reported that Boy George had not one but three hair transplants between 2015 and 2018. He had two of his surgeries in Ireland and the last one in the States, LA, no less.
Multiple sessions of hair transplants aren’t unheard of, especially if the patient needs a large number of grafts. Generally, the patients are advised to wait for 6-12 months after their next session, which can explain the 3-year period during which Boy George had a hair transplant.
Boy George Hair Transplant Before And After
Boy George is hardly ever seen without his hats, so it’s quite hard to tell you how his hair looks at the time of writing. From what was last seen in I’m a Celebrity, his hairline seemed to have been positioned lower than before.
While the front looked dense enough, there was a visibly thinned-out bald spot near the crown area of the scalp. Here’s a look at the hairline of Boy George’s before hair transplant:
What Type Of Hair Transplant Did Boy George Have?
Boy George didn’t really go into the details of the type of hair transplant he had. However, it’s likely that he had a Follicular Unit Extraction or FUE surgery since it’s the more popular technique for this surgery.
In FUE, individual hair follicles are extracted from the back of the scalp. These are then placed into the bald spots through small incisions. In contrast to FUE is the Follicular Unit Transplant or the FUT technique, which involves cutting out a piece of skin from the scalp. This makes the recovery from the surgery relatively more difficult, and it also leaves a more prominent linear scar at the back. For these reasons, FUE is preferred.
How Many Grafts Of Hair Transplantation Did Boy George Have?
It’s hard to estimate the number of grafts Boy George would’ve needed for his transplants, however, considering he’s had three of them, the number is probably high. According to a 2017 study published in the Indian Dermatology Online Journal, a maximum of 6,000 grafts can be extracted from the donor area at its best density.
A hair transplant graft calculator can be used for an estimation of the number of grafts you might need. But keep in mind that multiple factors can affect the final number (such as the strength of the donor area, hair types, etc.), so only your surgeon can best guide you on it.
What Were The Results Of Boy George’s Hair Transplant?
Boy George has achieved an overall good hair density along his hairline and top of the scalp, although his crown area looks a bit sparse. Crown thinning can be attributed to several reasons, such as insufficient donor hair, negligence in aftercare, the nature of the crown area, and even an optical illusion.
Given that Boy George had 3 hair transplants, it doesn’t seem as if the number of grafts in the donor area was the problem. People usually have subsequent sessions of hair transplants to improve the overall density of their hair.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that you only have a limited donor supply. Once a hair graft is extracted from the back of the scalp, new hair won’t grow in its place. So, your surgeon has to be careful about extracting the grafts in a way that the back of your head isn’t left with bald patches, either.
In Boy George’s case, it’s possible that his hair loss was so extensive that he just didn’t have enough grafts to cover all the areas adequately. In such cases, patients may also express a preference to have the front areas covered as they might be more bothered by them than the back of the head.
Negligence in aftercare can also affect the overall results of the surgery. One advice that surgeons usually give their patients is not to cover their heads (for a couple of weeks or so) with things such as caps or even hats. Of course, we don’t know if this is what affected Boy George’s hair transplant in any way. Wearing hats, however, might affect the grafts and the overall density.
Other than that, the nature of the crown area can also have an impact on the final outcome. The skin of the scalp is thicker in the crown area, reducing blood flow there. It’s for this reason that crown hair transplant results can take around 18 months to show. But if the grafts don’t get sufficient nutrition, they might also not survive, lowering the overall density. Massaging and PRP injections might be recommended by your doctor in this case.
Furthermore, a thinned-out crown area can also be explained by optical illusion due to the hair whorl there (of course, this isn’t always the case – you could be balding). The hair is projected outwards in the circle, which may make the crown area look less dense. The effect can be compounded if you have silver hair. Because of the way light moves through it, the scalp might become visible, making it look like you’re thinning even when you’re not.
Conclusion
Has Boy George had a hair transplant? TL;DR – yes! And reportedly, he has had three hair transplants in total. Overall, the results of his surgery seem good enough, although the relatively thin crown area has made some people question the success of his surgery.
Boy George, as per reports, had his first two hair transplants in Ireland, where the surgery can cost around €10,000 (around £8,600). The third one was in Los Angeles, where too hair transplants can be in the range of $10,000-$20,000. Since this can be quite pricey, you can consider getting a hair transplant in Turkey, where the average cost is £1,500-£2,000 due to economic differences.
Although, if you’re experiencing hair loss, first and foremost, you should get in touch with a medical professional for a proper diagnosis. They’ll prepare a suitable treatment plan for you according to the underlying cause of your hair loss.
