Billy Ocean

Leslie Sebastian Charles MBE born 21 January 1950 known professionally as Billy Ocean is a British singer and songwriter Between 1976 and 1988 he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally After releasing several recordings under other stage names he achieved breakthrough success with the 1976 single Love Really Hurts Without You It was the second single released under the stage name Billy Ocean and peaked at no 2 in the UK and no 3 in Australia Later that year he achieved two additional top 20 singles in the UK In 1977 his single Red Light Spells Danger also peaked at no 2 After a period of limited chart success he released the single Caribbean Queen No More Love on the Run in 1984 In the UK the song peaked at no 6 In the US it entered the Billboard Hot 100 at no 85 but peaked at no 1 10 weeks later Ocean won the 1985 Grammy Award for Best Male RB Vocal Performance for the song It also charted in Australia Canada Ireland New Zealand South Africa and across Europe under three different titles Across the next three years Ocean accumulated a series of international hit singles Released in 1985 When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Going peaked at no 1 in the UK and no 2 in the US the following year In the same year he achieved an American no 1 with the single Therell Be Sad Songs To Make You Cry In 1988 his single Get Outta My Dreams Get into My Car reached no 1 in the US and no 3 in the UK In recognition of his success and influence Ocean has received a number of awards In 2002 he was presented with an honorary doctorate of music by the University of Westminster In 2010 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MOBO Awards The following year he became a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Ocean was born on 21 January 1950 in Fyzabad Trinidad and Tobago to Hainsley Charles a Grenadian musician and his wife Violet He moved to Romford Essex England when he was ten years old shortly before Trinidad and Tobago became independent in 1962 He was exposed to music at an early age During his teenage years he sang regularly in London nightclub while also working as a tailor in Londons Savile Row He was discovered by his first manager John Morphew who recorded a double Aside single at Pye Studios in London with a full orchestra However the balladsinging style of Ocean was going out of fashion and Morphew was unable to get any major label to release it It remains unreleased Oceans father who had countersigned the management contract as Ocean was underage asked Morphew to release him from the recording contract which he did without penalty In 1969 he joined a local band the Shades of Midnight playing in the Shoreditch area of London He recorded Nashville Rain his first single backed with Sun in the Morning in 1971 for Spark Records under the name Les Charles and for two years fronted a studio band called Scorched Earth with whom he released On the Run backed with Lets Put Our Emotions in Motion in 1974 Source Article Billy Ocean from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30