When cheers erupted at a packed Tel Aviv stadium for Boy George, it was not only a sign of the 65-year-old singer’s enduring fame. It was the sound of national delight at an international pop star willing to perform in an increasingly isolated Israel.
A smattering of Israeli flags dotted the crowd as the flamboyant Culture Club frontman took the stage in a sequinned jacket for Wednesday’s sold-out performance with a simple greeting of “Shalom!”
The British singer is one of the few international artists to have defied calls for a cultural boycott of Israel that have intensified over its military offensive in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.