Billy Ocean

Born Leslie Sebastian Charles in Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago, and settled as a child in Romford in east London, Billy Ocean developed a repertoire at the crossroads of R&B, soul, pop and Caribbean reggae inflections. After beginnings on the London scene in the late 1960s, notably in local groups and clubs where he sang while working as a tailor, Billy Ocean recorded his first tracks in the early 1970s before breaking through with "Love Really Hurts Without You" in 1976 and then "Red Light Spells Danger" in 1977. His discography from this first period includes Billy Ocean (1976), City Limit (1980), Nights (Feel Like Getting Down) (1981) and Inner Feelings (1982). The mid-1980s marked a second turning point with Suddenly (1984), propelled by "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)", followed by Love Zone (1986) and Tear Down These Walls (1988), where his supple, warm voice sits in a pop-soul style with carefully constructed choruses, nourished by R&B grooves and more synthetic arrangements. Billy Ocean took part in Live Aid in 1985, also sang on Scott Walker's Climate of Hunter in 1984, and continued his career with Time to Move On (1993), Because I Love You (2009), Here You Are (2013) and One World (2020), while remaining active on stage.