Karma Chameleon - Cover Versions and Other Uses

Cover Versions and Other Uses

• In 1998 Izam, star of the Japanese visual kei band Shazna, covered "Karma Chameleon" among other Boy George songs on the album IZAM presents the Best of Boy George & Culture Club.
• In 1999, the song was re-recorded by Boy George at Abbey Road Studios, London, for the homeless charity 'Message Home' as part of a fundraising and awareness campaign by BT, with the help of 100 competition winners providing backing vocals. Winners were selected from 18,000 entries in the 'Kiosk Karaoke' competition, which involved wannabe singers singing down the phone in BT call boxes, some of whom were then selected for auditions nationwide and finally whittled down to the last 100. The version was never commercially released and only the 100 competition winners hold copies of the pressed 1-track picture CD, the cover of which contains all of the names of those featured in the recording.
• In the 2003 episode of Jimmy Neutron, Beach Party Mummy, Sheen Estevez used the phrase "karma karma chameleon," to try and open a secret door.
• In 2004, Westlife covered the song live.
• In the 2006 American film Scary Movie 4, the first phrase of the chorus is played on the first appearance of the "TriPod".
• In 2007, Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song on their video game Alvin and the Chipmunks.
• In a 2009 episode of Psych, two characters are asked if they know what karma is. One responds that he does because they are karma chameleons, and the other character adds that they come and go; effectively quoting the first two lines of the chorus.
• In 2010, The Lost Fingers covered the song on their album Gypsy Kameleon.
• The song has been performed live on occasion by Pete Doherty (including a version from a home video).