Former bandmates slam Boy George

Culture Club's Karma Chameleon was a big hit in the 1980s

The drummer of the 80s pop band Culture Club has responded to comments their former singer Boy George, 45, made about the group's new frontman.

Jon Moss, 49, told the press agency Associated Press: "We've never said anything about George, because George has always been George."

Last month, George called Sam Butcher, who was recruited to replace him in the band, "terrible" and "dreadful".

Moss said: "This has gone too far." George's spokesman has yet to comment.

Moss, bassist Mikey Craig and keyboard player Phil Pickett have reformed for a forthcoming tour, Culture Club Reborn, next month.

This guy's being rude about me all the time. I've lived with it for years and I've just had enough Jon Moss, Culture Club drummer

The decision was made to recruit a new singer after Boy George, real name George O'Dowd, decided not to return for the tour.

The band are also angry that George accepted a classic songwriting award for Karma Chameleon at the Q Music Awards on Monday.

"We should have been there," said Craig. "George wasn't the sole writer of the song. We wrote collectively.

Boy George picked up a Q songwriting award on Monday

"At the end of the day, Culture Club was very much ours as well as George's. He was the visual impact that everyone got, but there was a hell of a lot behind it," he added.

Moss accused George of being "rude" to him for years, following the collapse of a romantic relationship between the pair at the height of the band's success in the 1980s.

Romantic relationship

In George's autobiography, Take It Like A Man, he claims Moss was "ashamed" of the relationship - a claim Moss, who is now married with children, denies.

"I'm not ashamed of anything," Moss told AP. "My parents, all my friends knew. There's no problem there."

"He's like a nightmare ex-wife. This guy's being rude about me all the time. I've lived with it for years and I've just had enough," he said.

Culture Club's 12-date UK tour starts in Manchester on 7 December.