Boy George ditches drugs, finds nature

Boy George appreciates trees now he no longer takes drugs.

The Culture Club frontman has been clean for three years and says he doesn't miss illegal substances because it means he gets to see life through a different perspective.

He said: "I woke up one morning and the blinds were open, and I realised I hadn't seen a tree in about three years and got quite emotional! It's like I had a pair of dark glasses on and hadn't seen things properly for a while. I don't think I was happy with what I had before. I felt something was missing, someone had more than me or was more successful."

Although he is a DJ and is part of the club scene, George is no longer tempted to take drugs and people know not to offer him anything.

The 49-year-old musician told Britain's OK! magazine: "You have to make a conscious decision not to do them. Luckily, there's lots of publicity about me being clean so people know it's not a good idea to offer me stuff!"

George - who has experimented with heroin, cocaine and other substances during his life - quit drugs at the end of 2007.

The former Culture Club frontman - who imprisoned a male escort at his east London apartment in April 2007, and was found guilty of the offence in December 2008 and sentenced to jail time - confessed he took illegal substances almost every day for five years until he got clean.

He previously said: "I spent five years in this chemical cloud. Getting clean at the end of 2007 was a very big thing. I was using half my brain, half my personality on drugs.

"One day I took a little and then I was on four grams a day. Up until six months ago, I had a really bad problem.

"Everything that's gone wrong in my life has been because of drugs. When I gave up before, I thought I was losing something. I was 'giving up' drugs. Now I know I'm gaining half my mind back."