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Billy Ocean Biography |
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Billy Ocean (born Leslie Sebastian Charles on 21 January, 1950 in Fyzabad, Trinidad), is a United Kingdom based popular music performer, who had a string of rhythm and blues tinged international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. /b> clubs. He released his first single in 1972 on Spark Records as Les Charles. By 1976 in music he had adopted the name Billy Ocean and recorded his debut album, Billy Ocean, with the first single, "Love Really Hurts Without You," charting at number 2 in the United Kingdom and number 22 in the United States More hits followed, including as “L.O.D. (Love On Delivery)”. He also wrote songs for other artists such as LaToya Jackson. In 1982 he hit the U.S. Rhythm and Blues Chart with “Nights (Feel Like Getting Down).” Ocean's period of greatest success began with Suddenly in 1984 in music and its main single "Caribbean Queen". The song's title and lyrics were changed for different regions, such that the song is also known as "African Queen" or "European Queen". The album's title track also became a hit. His 1986 album Love Zone also sold very well. It included the hit singles "When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going" (the theme from the motion picture The Jewel of the Nile, this was a number one hit in the UK and a number two in the US); and "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" (a US number one, although it performed less well in the UK). Ocean's next album, Tear Down These Walls (1988) featured another US number one single, "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car". His later albums, such as Time to Move On, L.I.F.E. and Showdown, failed to spawn hits, but his 1989 Greatest Hits collection has been a steady seller over the years. In fact, Billy Ocean's last studio album for Jive was Time to Move On, which he recorded in Chicago with R&B star R. Kelly. It turned out, that R. Kelly had been a long-time admirer of the way Ocean was able to mix the more emotive soul style with a crossover pop vibe. It is evident that the two got on well as writers in the studio. In 2002, the University of Westminster awarded Ocean an honorary doctorate of music. He continues to tour and record in Europe, working out of his sprawling country estate in Shenfield, Essex. Trivia Discography Albums Singles and Hot 100 history 
Courtesy of: http://www.wikipedia.org/ |
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