<TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Billy Ocean (born Leslie Sebastian Charles, 21 January 1950, Fyzabad, Trinidad) is a UK-based popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues-tinged international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">He was born in Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago to Grenadian parents, and moved to England with his family at the age of eight. In his teenage years, he sang regularly in London clubs. He released his first single in 1972 on Spark Records as Les Charles.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">By 1975 he adopted the name Billy Ocean, taking the surname from the &apos;Ocean Estate&apos; where he lived in East London. It was this same year that he recorded his debut album, Billy Ocean, with the first single, &quot;Love Really Hurts Without You,&quot; charting at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and number 22 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. More hits followed, including as &quot;L.O.D. (Love On Delivery)&quot;. He also wrote songs for other artists such as LaToya Jackson. In 1981 he hit the U.S. Rhythm and Blues chart with “Nights (Feel Like Getting Down).”</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Ocean&apos;s period of greatest success began with Suddenly in 1984 and its main single &quot;Caribbean Queen&quot;. The song&apos;s title and lyrics were changed for different regions, such that the song is also known as &quot;African Queen&quot; or &quot;European Queen&quot;. The album&apos;s title track also became a hit and the song &quot;Loverboy&quot; from the album was the background music for the very first scene of the popular UK TV series &quot;Casualty&quot; in 1986. His 1986 album Love Zone also sold very well. It included the hit singles &quot;When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going&quot; (the theme from the film The Jewel of the Nile, this was a number one hit in the UK and a number two in the U.S.; and &quot;There&apos;ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)&quot; (a U.S. number one, and also a major UK hit).</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Ocean&apos;s next album, Tear Down These Walls (1988) featured another number one single, &quot;Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car&quot;.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">His later albums, such as Time to Move On, Love is For Ever (also known as L.I.F.E.) and Showdown, failed to spawn hits, but his 1989 Greatest Hits collection has been a steady seller over the years.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Ocean&apos;s last studio album for Jive was Time to Move On, which he recorded in Chicago with R&amp;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.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">In 2002, the University of Westminster awarded Ocean an honorary doctorate of music. He continues to tour and record in Europe. He lives in Berkshire with his wife of 27 years Judy and three children Cherie, Antony and Rachel.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Billy is now a patron for Tech Music Schools in London, made up of Drumtech, Vocaltech and Guitar-X. He regularly visits to hold clinics and seminars for the students.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT>