Boy George: 'Winehouse has inspired me'

Boy George has revealed that Amy Winehouse was the inspiration for him to start singing again.

The veteran popstar, who has just started his first tour in ten years, said that the soul singer made him cry and brought back memories of himself in the '80s.

He told the Daily Telegraph: "I love Amy Winehouse. My favourite thing was seeing her going into Shoreditch police station [in connection to a bribery plot] because that's where I was nicked. It's obviously the popstar cop shop.

"She really inspired me to sing again. For me, the measure of a great singer is whether they make me cry.

"I love George Michael's voice but he never made me cry. Amy makes it sound effortless, but she's not faking it. It comes down to a complete package, feeling it, doing it, living it."

Talking about the singer's style, he added: "She looks as if she should be in Hairspray. The pencil skirt, the beehive, always slightly dizzy. She reminds me of myself in the early days of Culture Club."