Singer Boy George has said he believes Adam Lambert's willingness to be open about his sexuality is the result of a gay “daisy chain.”

For years the androgynous Boy George refused to talk about his sexuality. He announced he was gay in his 1996 memoir Take It Like A Man, in which he confessed his love for Culture Club drummer Jon Moss.

Boy George, who is experiencing a renaissance, recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn't regret staying in the closet during the height of his career in the 80s.

“I think you do things in your own time,” he said. “My family knew I was gay when I was 15, long before I got famous. But it's a very different thing coming out to your family and coming out to the universe. That's a big step.”

And he went on to suggest that Lambert is standing on the shoulders of performers that came before him, including Boy George.

“Maybe without me, there wouldn't be Adam Lambert. Without Bowie, there wouldn't be me. Without Quentin Crisp, there wouldn't have been Bowie. So everything is part of a big daisy chain. A lot of people come up to me all the time and say thank you for helping me be who I am. So my thing wasn't about sexuality. It was about anyone who felt different; anyone who felt out of place. Being gay was one part of it.”

Boy George added that Lambert has “a great voice and an incredible range” and “the glam thing … gives him an edge.”