Boy George attacks Bandcamp for pulling his pro-Israel song

Bandcamp removed Boy George's pro-Israel song "We Will Dance Again" from the platform, and the singer responded with an obscenity aimed at the company on Instagram, NME reported on August 4. Bandcamp told NME the track was pulled for violating its policy against music substantially created by artificial intelligence, not for its political content; George had confirmed he used AI to help generate the track around its release.

The next day, George pushed back further on X, saying Bandcamp had bowed to pressure from people he called antisemites and that its AI policy was applied inconsistently. "It has absolutely no way of telling whether something is AI," he wrote, arguing that AI-assisted music remains widespread on the platform.

The song divided listeners when it came out last month for appearing to reject descriptions of Israel's campaign in Gaza as genocide. George has said it was inspired by a visit to the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in London and meetings with families affected by the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, and that he intended the song as pro-peace rather than anti-Palestinian.

The fallout has already cost George two professional ties: he pulled out of a two-week run as King Herod in the London Palladium's "Jesus Christ Superstar," and parted ways with his record label manager after the manager refused to release the track. Heaven 17 and Human League co-founder Martyn Ware condemned the song, and actor Patrick Clanton, a former castmate of George's in "Moulin Rouge!," said he was embarrassed to have worked with him.

The dispute has kept escalating: George later said he would sack bandmates who refuse to perform the song, filed alongside the rest of our pop coverage.