A Boy George impersonator has said he owes the success of his career to Liverpool's "welcoming" LGBTQ+ community.
Liam Halewood, originally from Allerton, has been singing since he was 18 and has performed across lots of social clubs in the North West. The 36-year-old entertains crowds whilst pretending to be the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club or the likes of chatty man Alan Carr.
However, prior to this, the 2015 X-Factor contestant “enticed” customers into some of the city’s most-loved Pride Quarter bars.
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The TV star, who has appeared on Bodyfixers and Judge Rinder, told the ECHO: “My first gigs was me standing on the door and enticing customers to come into the venues. I went from Cumberland Street to the Superstar Boudiur on Stanley Street and that’s where my career flourished. To be completely honest, I wouldn’t be anywhere in life or in my career if it wasn’t for Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ scene. I had some really great influences from the community who really made me hone my talent and boost my confidence.”
Liam fell into the performance art after The Masquerade, Cumberland Street, was short of a drag queen one weekend. He was taken upstairs by the two other performers and transformed into his alter ego - who would later become known and loved by the community as Miss Liberty.
The former St John Almond student added: “I used to hide behind my drag persona quite a lot, thinking I wasn’t good enough as myself. So I’ve used these characters to build myself up along the way. When I’ve got my wig and make-up on or my Boy George hat on, I’ve learnt to take a bit of each of them and put them into myself as Liam."
Liam claims other LGBTQ+ scenes haven’t been as “welcoming” - not to him personally, but more so to do with Boy George, a figure who splits opinion amongst the queer community. The impersonator was booked for a Pride event but was later cancelled as the event organisers’ needed to “protect themselves”. Despite the controversies surrounding Boy George, Liam still defends his career.
He said: “Let’s face us, us as gay men, wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for people like Boy George. He really took the responsibility upon himself to let it be known that you can be gay and flamboyant in the pop industry and still make it and be successful. I think we can all learn something from Boy George and what I learned from him is that I can stand on stage and be my ultimate self.
“I know who Boy George is and I’m very certain and proud that I can go through life impersonating such a brilliant artist of his time and still to this day. My opinion is that he went in, did his time, come out. He’s been nothing but great to me.”
After pretending to be others for such a long time - and racking up £20,000 worth of debt to change his looks with botox, lip fillers and hair transplants - the scouser is now ready to show the world who Liam is as a performer.
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