Boy George is finally ready for a Culture Club reunion.

The 'Karma Chameleon' hitmakers are set to reunite to record a new album in January 2014 - after a 15-year absence from music - and the band's frontman says he is excited to get back together with his bandmates, Jon Moss, Roy Hay and Mikey Craig, after years of discussing a comeback.

He said: ''I talked a few years ago about a Culture Club reunion ... they wanted me to do it for years but it wasn't right and obviously for five or ten years I was going through other things.

''Jon was surprised when I told him I wanted the reunion to happen at last. But I wanted to do this album for myself first.''

George - who has previously battled drug and alcohol abuse - has just released his latest solo album, 'This Is What I Do', and he says the ''darker'' times in his life provide the most inspiration for his songs.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ''It's easier if you write things at darker stages in your life. When you're happy you can think, 'What do I write about?' ''