Boy George Releases AI-Assisted 'Karma Chameleon' Single on June 15

" The single serves as the flagship release for Artist Included, a music and technology company co-founded by Paul Kemsley and Jeremy Rosen. Robert Earl is chairman of the board. Artist Included's main technology partner, Syntiant, trained its tools on previous demos and vocal recordings kept by original producer Steve Levine.

The technology supports Boy George's new vocal performance while preserving the tone and emotion of the 1983 master. The track was released in partnership with BMG Rights Management. "Karma Chameleon" originally appeared as the second single from Culture Club's album Colour by Numbers.

The song spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and six weeks at No. K. singles chart. It has earned more than 900 million streams on Spotify. Boy George, who turned 65 in 2026, described the original song's commercial trajectory in personal terms.

"It has been like a child I lost control of," he said. He also compared earlier studio technology to current AI tools. "You could argue that the drum machine was a form of AI," Boy George stated. Paul Kemsley cited a Virgin Voyages licensing deal for the original recording that paid a $4 million fee.

Approximately $2 million went to the owners of the master recording, while Boy George received only an appearance fee. Kemsley said the new model aims to return long-term value to creators. "Used responsibly, AI can become one of the most powerful creative tools the music industry has ever seen," he stated.

Robert Earl described the company's purpose. "We are bringing the artists back into the party," he said. The release is presented as the first test of Artist Included's approach for artists whose original recording contracts have expired.