Essay/Thinkpiece: Jon Moss Was Unfairly Dismissed From Culture Club
by C.K. (The Chameleon)
If you've been a regular visitor to my site, or know me personally, then you know I've been a fan of Culture Club and Boy George for about 25 years at this point. George is my personal hero -- he showed me that it's okay to be different, that it's okay to stand out, that you can face the darkest moments of your life and still come through them with grace and humility -- and a wicked sense of humour. When it comes to the lawsuit between Culture Club's former drummer -- and George's ex-boyfriend -- Jon Moss, I used to be firmly on George's side. However, the more I learned about the situation, the more my perspective began to shift. I'm using this little essay/thinkpiece/ramble to explain why my perspective shifted, and tell the full story of Jon Moss, Culture Club, and what happens when the wrong people get too close to something beautiful. Please note that this is not me telling the fans to pick a side, nor does this mean I hate George -- I could never hate him. This is just me looking at things with my analytic autistic/ADHD brain.
For those of you that don't know about Culture Club and are new, let me give a brief overview of the band. They formed in the early-1980s out of the New Romantic scene. The original lineup consisted of Boy George (lead vocals), Mikey Craig (bassist), Jon Moss (drummer), and John Suede (guitars), and they were originally called In Praise of Lemmings. Eventually, John Suede left the band -- either because he wasn't very good at guitar, or because he wasn't getting on with George, depends on who you ask -- and the Roy Hay, a guitarist and hairdresser from Essex joined, and we got the lineup that we know and love. They changed their name briefly to Sex Gang Children, which... I'm glad they changed it. Eventually, after realizing that they were, in fact, a bunch of different cultures together (George being Irish, Mikey being Jamaican and Ethiopian, Jon being Jewish, and Roy being Anglo-Saxon), they ended up renamed Culture Club. They ended up with many hits early on in their career (1982/1983 was a whirlwind for them), and eventually broke up in 1986 due to George and Jon's relationship ending, and George's drug addiction worsening.
Culture Club has always -- in its various forms -- been a four person group; not a solo act with backing musicians as they seem to be nowadays. Even when they tried (and failed) to replace George in the 2000s, it was still four people doing thier thing as equals. They've always been groundbreaking, challenging norms originally during a time when if you were anything but cis, straight, and white, you were side-eyed or worse. You were considered a radical. People often equate Culture Club with George specifically because of his beautiful androgynous looks, but the band were all equals. George had the look and the voice. Roy had a look all his own with his pretty blond hair, and his talents as a guitarist and keyboardist stood out. Mikey -- the sole Black member of the band -- stood out with his handsome looks and talent on the bass guitar, not to mention his sweet, sunshiney smile. Then last, but not least, we have Jon on the drums. Jon was (and is) handsome. He had this brooding bad boy vibe that was irresistible, and he would beat those drums like they owed him money. Each member -- each piece -- was absolutely essential to the sound and foundation of the band.
Even their manager at the time, Tony Gordon, is an important piece of the puzzle. By all accounts, he seemed to genuinely care about the guys, and treated them like family. He treated them as equals. Tony, like Jon, was Jewish. I recall George speaking in one of his books (I cannot remember which, sorry) that Tony and Jon would fast together on Jewish holidays that required it, and they would sometimes pray together too. The foundation of equality that Tony had with the boys and the respect as well is important to remember for what comes later.
Jon's departure from Culture Club was a shock to me. He filed a lawsuit against his bandmates, asking for backpay, and saying he was excluded and isolated from the band. And as you begin to read on, I think you -- like me -- will realize... that's exactly what happened.
If we're to understand the drama as of late, we need to dive into Jon's backstory. Jonathan Aubrey Moss was born September 11, 1957 in Walthamstow, London. He was adopted at six months old from -- if I recall correctly -- Clapham Jewish Boys Home, by Lionel and Loretta Moss (note, some sources say his mum's name was Rosetta, not Loretta. I haven't been able to confirm which is correct). Before Culture Club, Jon was a drummer for various punk bands, such as The Damned and The Clash. He was also briefly the drummer for Adam and The Ants. He had a rather sought-after reputation in music before ever joining Culture Club -- he was in demand. He easily captured hearts, being handsome, charming, funny as all hell, all while looking like the leather-jacket wearing, brooding punk stereotype your mum warned you to stay away from. And by all accounts, Jon loves meeting the fans, and seemingly always has. He's always kind towards them.
He worked in his father's clothing store, which I can't recall the name of, but was a clothing store for Orthodox Jewish men, so it's not a stretch to assume the Moss family themselves were Orthodox, as I've never heard of non-Orthodox Jews running a clothing store for the Orthodox, nor have I ever heard of Orthodox Jews going to a clothing store that is ran by non-Orthodox as well, so again, I think it's safe to assume Jon grew up Orthodox Jewish, and as I mentioned when speaking about the late Tony Gordon, the two of them bonded over a shared faith.
Culture Club era aside, Jon got married in the 1990s to a woman named Barbara Savage -- a woman who according to many fans looks a lot like George. Together they had three kids: Clyde, Julia (aka Gigi), and Leon. Jon and Barbara divorced in 2010, but seemingly have remained friends, as Gigi has posted vids and pics of them together at her shows through the years, and also at birthday parties. Most divorced couples don't stay friends unless one of them -- or both -- are genuinely kind souls, so in my opinion, it says a lot about who Jon is as a person.
Post Culture Club 2010s-2020s, Jon lives in Hampstead and plays with a band called Ridiculous, which features his buddy, Basti Wocker, on vocals, Peter Noone (yes, that Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits) on guitars, and Erran Baron Cohen (brother of Sacha Baron Cohen) on guitar as well, if I recall correctly. They play small gigs here and there.
Jon is a complicated, flawed, kind, messy, lovable human being... and keep that in mind in later parts. Jon is human. He's made mistakes, but that doesn't make him irredeemable.
Sources debate about when George and Jon first met. Some sources say they met in 1978. Some say 1980/1981. Even the length of their relationship has caused debate. Some say they were together eight years (the most prevalent take) and then others say only four years. Regardless of if they were together eight years or four, whether they met in 1978 or 1980/1981, they were a legitimate couple, and the relationship was not "just an experiment" for Jon as some fans have cruelly said. If it was merely an experiment, it would have lasted a year, two years at most. Four to eight years? That's long-haul material. Not to mention, Jon gifted George a Hasidic hat for his birthday one year. Hasidic hats aren't just a hat. They're culturally and religiously significant. The fact Jon gave one to George as a birthday gift is saying "Hey, this is a part of who I am, and I love you so much that I want to share this part of me with you." No one does that to someone who is a fling or an experiment.
Some sources over the years have said that George may have been contemplating converting to Judaism for Jon. I'm not sure how accurate that is, so take it with a grain of salt, of course, but... does that sound like a fling? No. No, it doesn't.
However... we need to address the dark side. Jon was abusive. George was too. They both have admitted it over the years, there was mutual abuse. Granted, it does sound like Jon did it more. According to George's autobiography, Take It Like a Man, Jon abused him with a hammer after George ran his car through the garage. Another incident -- which you'll have to forgive me, I can't remember if this was covered in one of George's books, or if this was listed on a site back in the day -- but apparently, Jon, after being hit with a flowerpot, poured vodka on George and chased him with a lighter. Another time, he hauled off and punched George in the mouth for whining. George too used to hit Jon. Neither side's abuse can be minimized or excused, however, it doesn't mean that either George or Jon are bad people who can't be redeemed. Again... it just means they're human, and have made mistakes.
I've looked at Jon's side of that mess, and really... it seems to me that he was a scared, 20-something year old closeted Orthodox man. In Orthodox Judaism, being gay is considered one of, if not THE "gravest sin of all". Jon was under a lot of pressure to be straight, to 'not let his community/faith down'. Also, it was the 1980s, and as I said earlier... if you weren't cis, straight, and white, well, it wasn't a good time for you. This doesn't excuse any of what he did, but it sheds some light on it.
Over the years, Jon has went from saying that he and George never dated, to saying they dated but he never hurt him, to nowadays saying they dated, he hurt him, and he regrets it. It's heavily inferenced in a lot of interviews, and possibly the Culture Club documentary from 2025 (which has not as of today been released here in the USA, so I'm speaking from observations of other fans who have seen it) that Jon has probably been to therapy over it all. Especially when fans are saying that in this documentary, he admits it was a real love, a genuine relationship, and he still has feelings for him.
It also appears that Jon still wears the bracelet George bought for him many years ago. Could be a different bracelet, but it looks much too similar ot me to be a different bracelet. What do you think?:
His and George's relationship is one of music's most complicated and heartbreaking love stories, and I really feel it should be understood in its full complexity, and looked at with nuance, instead of being reduced to good guy/bad guy narratives like the fans seem to love so much.
Now let's get into the thick of it... everything changed when George's manager, PK, entered the picture. Paul Kemsley -- PK -- was originally just George's manager. I can't remember when he became his manager, honestly. I think PK took over as Culture Club's manager around 2014/2015, which, in my opinion, is a mistake.
PK and his wife, Dorit, are known to people who are fans of the reality show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Dorit is one of George's best friends. However, it's widely known that PK and Dorit are rather shady, and have mismanaged the money of their clients along with other various... not-so-good dealings. It's also interesting to me that these people, known for being shady, have such access to George on a personal and private level. By all accounts, it looks like they've systematically positioned themselves as George's entire world; his professional life gets controlled by PK, while his personal life gets influenced by Dorit. And it's also a very interesting contrast where Tony Gordon treated everyone in the band equally, PK slowly started centralizing everything around George.
When PK came in, he changed the name of the band from Culture Club to 'Boy George & Culture Club' which shifts the band's dynamic from a democracy where all four members are equal to being George as a solo act with Mikey, Roy, and Jon (well, before shit hit the fan) as accessories. In recent performances, Mikey and Roy seem like they're having a good time on stage, but when it comes to being off-stage, they don't always look happy about things right now. And then there's Jon's departure from the band...
To understand Jon's departure from the band (which is NOT as neat and tidy as everyone claims it is), we need to back up to 2011. Jon got into a horrible car accident, which from all accounts, seems like it was pretty serious, possibly even near-fatal. I vaguely remember reading about it on the 100% Boy forums and also the Cyber Chameleon forums back in the day. Jon ended up having to have spinal fusion surgery, which if you don't know what that is, it's a surgery in which two or more vertabrae in the spine are permanently joined together using bone grafts, screws, and rods. It's a rather painful surgery, and in Jon's case, was most likely done to heal a spine fracture, which is an awful injury to have. As time goes on, as spine fracture, plus that surgery, while it helps in the short term, you end up with chronic pain, and lingering problems.
So when George stated a few days ago:
"Jon didn't want to tour and we did so it was never going go work. I love touring. This current tour is beautiful. Full of joy. Jon brought dark clouds!"
What he doesn't realize -- or refuses to realize, or even refuses to acknowledge publicly -- is that it's not that Jon doesn't want to tour. It's most likely that his back cannot handle doing big tours with long travel. That sort of surgery -- which it's been 14 years since -- makes sitting for long periods of time horrible. Jon would be in a lot of pain travelling like that.
Also, let's back up to when Jon's departure from Culture Club happened. Jon was told by PK to take a break for a while, and that they would let him know when to come back. That never happened. PK eventually told Jon that George no longer wanted him in the band -- and then turned around and told George that "Jon doesn't want to tour/be in the band anymore". (Shady, much?)
It's incredibly cruel that PK played them both against each other. But also even before that... there's the plexiglass situation. George admitted in a radio interview around 2020/2021 that he "forced" Jon to sit behind a plexiglass divider because the drums were drowning out his singing, which oddly enough was never an issue before.
I originally thought Jon was behind the plexiglass for protection, as this was when antisemitism was starting to rise, and I thought maybe someone threatened him. But that's not the case.
However, if it was about the drums drowning out George's singing... then how come the new drummer isn't behind a plexiglass divider? That's... telling, and very sad. It's also incredibly sad to me that George makes that "Jon brought dark clouds!" comment right as their US tour kicks off, knowing that Jon would have done the tour if he was still in the band and his back wasn't so messed up.
Part of me wonders if that is even at all how George really feels, or if the post was fueled by PK and his manipulation, because it's becoming increasingly hard to tell what's George's true feelings, or what's PK's manipulative vision.
And now here is where we are in 2026, specifically the day I am writing this, February 24th. Culture Club has just embarked on a US tour. They've performed in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia, and have several other stops before beginning a residency in Las Vegas. Given what I said about Mikey and Roy not always looking happy to be there... is this really even Culture Club anymore? (Answer: No. No, it's not. It's 3 out of 4 Club now.)
Jon has an upcoming gig with Ridiculous, sometime in May. He does shows with them close to home -- much more manageable for his back. He still wears that bracelet George bought him (if that is indeed the bracelet -- again, it does look like it), still apparently in love with George, and living his life with dignity and humour, despite everythign in his past. He's grown so much as a person, and he's no longer that angry young man scared of who he was.
To wrap things up, I'll say it simply. No Jon = no Culture Club. Four talented musicians came together in the early-1980s and created something beautiful. You can't take one of them away and say it's the same. Reunions really only work if all original members of the band are there. It's a sad situation to see Jon removed from photos (which, yes, I know that was part of the lawsuit settlement, but... it should not be like that). Which, leads me to another question... why couldn't PK make accommodations for Jon? Have him drum for UK shows that he could get to without making his back act up, and bring in a travelling drummer for all other shows/tours? It's not unreasonable. It feels like Jon was targeted and forced out, if you ask me.
No Jon Moss? No Culture Club.