Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-songwriter of the early to mid-1980s. After scoring his first four UK top 20 singles including two No. 2 hits in 1976 and 1977, seven years passed before he accumulated a series of transatlantic successes, including three US number ones. His 1985 hit "

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" is a popular witticism in American English. The phrase is an example of antimetabole. The origin of the phrase has been attributed to various sources. It appears to come from American football ...

" reached in the UK and in the US. In 1985, Ocean won the

Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...

for his worldwide hit "

Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" is a 1984 song by Trinidadian-British singer Billy Ocean. Co-written and produced by Keith Diamond, it climbed to number one on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and the ''Billboard'' Black Sin ...

" and in 1987 was nominated for the

Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

for Best British Male Artist. His 1988 hit " Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" reached in the US and in the UK. His 1986 hit " There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" also reached No. 1 in the US. In 2002, the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Aug ...

, London, awarded Ocean an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

of music. In 2010, Ocean was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...

. On 29 July 2011, Ocean became a Companion of the

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a performing arts higher education institution in Liverpool, founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996. LIPA offers 11 full-time BA (Hons) degrees in a range ...

, presented to him by

Sir Paul McCartney ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

. He is a member of the

Rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control o ...

movement.

Early life and stardom

Ocean was born on 21 January 1950 in Fyzabad,

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, to Hainsley Charles, a Grenadian musician, and his wife Violet. He moved to

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

, England, when he was ten years old, just 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

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

while also working as a tailor in London's

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

. He was discovered by his first manager, John Morphew, who recorded a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single at

Pye Studios Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhoo ...

in London with a full orchestra. However, the ballad singing style of Ocean was going out of fashion and Morphew was unable to get any major label to release it. It remains unreleased. Ocean's father — who had countersigned the management contract as Ocean was underage — asked Morphew to release him from the

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

, which he did without penalty. In 1969, he joined a local band, the Shades of Midnight, playing in the

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an imp ...

area of London. He recorded his first single, "Nashville Rain", backed with "Sun in the Morning" in 1971 for Spark Records as Les Charles, and for two years fronted a studio band called Scorched Earth, with whom he released "On the Run" backed with "Let's Put Our Emotions in Motion" in 1974. In an interview with Myfanwy Warhurst on

ABC Radio Melbourne ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria sim ...

, Ocean stated that the story of him having taken his stage name from the local "Ocean Estate",

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appli ...

in London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, where he was living at the time, was in fact not correct. According to the interview, the name was derived from a local football team that was in his home town in Trinidad and Tobago, who called themselves "Oceans 11". In 1976, he recorded his debut studio album, ''Billy Ocean'', with its first single release, " Love Really Hurts Without You", charting at No. 2 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and No. 22 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He enjoyed club success from the songs "Are You Ready" and "Stay the Night" from the album ''City Limit'' — both of which were later covered by

La Toya Jackson La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956) is an American singer and television personality. The fifth child and middle daughter of the Jackson family, Jackson first gained recognition on the family's variety television series, ''The Jacksons'', ...

. More successes ensued, including "L.O.D. (Love on Delivery)". He also wrote and composed songs for other artists. In 1981, he scored the

US R&B The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

with "Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)."

International success

Between 1976 and 1982, Ocean released four studio albums (''Billy Ocean'', ''City Limit'', ''Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)'' and ''Inner Feelings'') through his record label

GTO GTO may refer to: Entertainment * ''Great Teacher Onizuka'', a manga, anime, live-action series, and film * GameTable Online, a game portal Music bands * GTO (band), an Australian band * The GTOs, an American girl group * Giraffe Tongue Orche ...

, none of which scored success on any musical charts, aside from his biggest single up to that point, 1976's " Love Really Hurts Without You", which was a top 40 and a top 10 hit in both the UK (No. 2) and the US (No. 22). As

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

acquired GTO Records in 1978, Ocean was shifted to Jive from Epic, in which he received a second breakthrough in his career in the early 1980s. Late 1984 saw the release of his fifth studio album '' Suddenly'' and its main single, "

" becoming successes on the charts. "Caribbean Queen" became Ocean's first number one single on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

Hot Black Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

charts in late 1984, and the album debuted in the top ten, peaking at No. 9 on both the US ''Billboard'' 200 and the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

simultaneously in the US and UK. ''Suddenly'' reached

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

in the UK, and was certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA). He also recorded with Scott Walker in 1984, singing harmony vocals on "

Track Three "Track Three" (informal title: "Delayed") is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker in 1983. This was Walker's eighth solo single in the UK and was released in March 1984 to promote his 'comeb ...

" from Walker's eleventh studio album '' Climate of Hunter''. “Caribbean Queen” scored Ocean two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nominations, and won the

at the

1985 Grammy Awards The 27th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1985, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live in the United States by CBS. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1984. Award winners Record of the ...

. Ocean was later presented his award by

Jeffrey Daniel Jeffrey Glen Daniel (born August 24, 1955 ) is an American dancer, singer-songwriter and choreographer, most notable for being a founding member of the R&B vocal group Shalamar. In Nigeria, he is best known as a former ''Idol'' series judge ...

of vocal group

Shalamar Shalamar () is an American R&B and soul music vocal group active since the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Shalamar's classic line-up on the SOLAR label consisted of Howard Hewett, Jody Watley, and Jeffrey Daniel, together with dancer ...

on ''620 Soul Train'', a UK incarnation of the American music dance show ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series ...

''. The album's

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

also became a success, peaking at No. 4 in both the US and the UK and the song "

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly " Turn Me Loose" and " Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still heard on many classic rock and classic hits ...

", while also being a No. 2 US success in 1985 was also featured in the first scene of the popular UK

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

TV series '' Casualty'', in 1986. Ocean appeared at

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

in 1985, singing "Caribbean Queen" and "Loverboy", from

JFK Stadium John F. Kennedy Stadium, formerly Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Sesquicentennial Stadium. was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia that stood from 1926 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was on the east side of the far southern end of ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. His sixth studio album ''

Love Zone ''Love Zone'' is the sixth studio album by British R&B singer and songwriter Billy Ocean, released in April 1986 through Jive Records. Three singles were released from the album including Ocean's second US No. 1 hit "There'll Be Sad Songs (To M ...

'' (1986) also sold well. It included the successful singles "

", the theme from the film '' The Jewel of the Nile'' (1985); this was a No. 1 success in the UK and a No. 2 in the United States; and " There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" (a US No. 1, and also a major UK success). Also included were the title track and "Love Is Forever", which were No. 10 and No. 16 US successes for Ocean, respectively. It also earned Ocean a second nomination for

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B ...

at the

1987 Grammy Awards The 29th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1987, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Paul Simon won Album of the Year for ''Graceland'', and Burt Bacha ...

. In February 1986, Ocean's

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) sy ...

for "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" was banned by the BBC, owing to such non- union members as the American actors

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...

Kathleen Turner Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and two Tony Awards. Turner became widely ...

and

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

, all three of whom were cast members of ''

Romancing the Stone ''Romancing the Stone'' is a 1984 action-adventure romantic comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas and produced by Michael Douglas, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The f ...

'' (1984) and ''The Jewel of the Nile'' (1985), miming to the backing vocals. At the 1987

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, Ocean was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male. Ocean's next studio album, ''

Tear Down These Walls ''Tear Down These Walls'' is the seventh studio album by British recording artist Billy Ocean, released in February 1988 by Jive Records and Arista Records as the follow-up to Ocean's critically and commercially successful 1986 album ''Love Zo ...

'' (1988), featured another No. 1 single, " Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car", while the album was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

Later career

Ocean's eighth studio album '' Time to Move On'' (1993) failed to produce any major successes, but his 1989 ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' collection has been a steady seller over the years, and his 1997 compilation album ''L.I.F.E. – Love Is for Ever'' made No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. Ocean's last studio album for

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, ...

was ''Time to Move On'', which he recorded in Chicago with R&B star R. Kelly. In 2002, the

in London awarded Ocean an

of music. The awards ceremony took place in the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhib ...

, in London. He continues to tour and record in Europe. Ocean is now a patron for

Tech Music School The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, now styled as the BIMM Institute, is a group of eight independent colleges which specialise in the provision of creative education in Brighton, Bristol, London, Dublin, Manchester, Berlin, Birmi ...

s in London, made up of Drumtech, Vocaltech, Guitar-X and Keyboardtech. He regularly visits to hold clinics and seminars for the students. In 2004, "Caribbean Queen" was re-released as a digital single for its 20th anniversary, shooting up to No. 25 on the ''Billboard'' digital singles chart and garnering radio play across the United States and UK. A remix of the single by will.i.am was released in 2005. In February and March 2008 he toured Australia and the Far East. His ninth studio album ''Because I Love You'' was released on 2 February 2009. In April 2010, an 18-track

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

was released in the UK by

titled ''The Very Best of Billy Ocean'' to tie in with a 30-date

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

of the UK and Ireland. Featuring Ocean's biggest hits, the album debuted in the

at No. 17. Cmglee Cambridge Billy Ocean

In October 2007, Ocean commenced his first UK

in more than 15 years. On 20 October 2010, Ocean was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the

in London. On 29 July 2011, Ocean became a Companion of the

. His title was presented by former

Beatle The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. In 2012, Ocean made a cameo appearance in the British comedy movie '' Keith Lemon: The Film'' as

Lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

's father. In January 2016, Ocean appeared on ''

The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' to perform some of his classic hits as part of a promo tour for his new album. Ocean toured the UK during March and April 2017. Ocean recorded a new studio album in mid-2019 at Eve Studios in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is withi ...

, working again with producer Barry Eastmond as co-writer. The album, ''One World'', was to be released on 17 April 2020. After a delay, it was later released 4 September 2020.

Personal life

Ocean has lived in

Sunningdale Sunningdale is a large village with a retail area and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England. It has a railway station on the (London) Waterloo to Reading ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

, England, with his wife Judy, since 1978. They have three children. His son played rugby sevens at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

for

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

. Ocean decided to become

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

after the loss of his mother in 1989, who died from

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

Honours

Ocean was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to music.

Awards and nominations

ASCAP Pop Music Awards

!Ref. , - , rowspan=3, 1986 , rowspan=1, "

Caribbean Queen "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" is a 1984 song by Trinidadian-British singer Billy Ocean. Co-written and produced by Keith Diamond, it climbed to number one on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and the ''Billboard'' Black Sin ...

" , rowspan=7, Most Performed Songs , , rowspan=3, , - , "

" , , - , " Suddenly" , , - , rowspan=2, 1987 , " There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" , , rowspan=2, , - , "

" , , - , 1988 , " Love Is Forever" , , , - , 1989 , " Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" , ,

''Billboard'' Music Awards

!Ref. , - , rowspan=6,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, rowspan=3, Himself , Top R&B Singles Artist , , rowspan=6, , - , Top R&B Album Artist , , - , Top Adult Contemporary Artist , , - , '' Suddenly'' , Top R&B Album , , - , rowspan=2, " Suddenly" , Top R&B Song , , - , Top Adult Contemporary Single , , - , rowspan=18,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

, rowspan=9, Himself , Top Artist , , rowspan=18, , - , Top R&B Artist , , - , Top R&B Singles Artist , , - , Top R&B Album Artist , , - , Top ''Billboard 200'' Artist , , - , Top Billboard 200 Artist – Male , , - , Top Hot 100 Artist , , - , Top Hot 100 Artist – Male , , - , Top Adult Contemporary Artist , , - , ''

'' , Top R&B Album , , - , rowspan=3, " There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" , Top Hot 100 Song , , - , Top R&B Song , , - , Top Adult Contemporary Single , , - , rowspan=3, " When the Going Gets Tough" , Top Hot 100 Song , , - , Top R&B Song , , - , Top Adult Contemporary Single , , - , rowspan=2, "

" , Top R&B Song , , - , Top Adult Contemporary Single ,

Grammy Awards

Billy Ocean has been nominated three times for a

, with one win. , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "

" ,

, , - , Best R&B Song (shared with Keith Diamond) , , - , ,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, ''

'' ,

Ivor Novello Awards

, - , 1985 , "

" , rowspan=2, International Hit of the Year , , - , rowspan=2, 1989 , rowspan=2, " Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" , , - , Most Performed Work , , - , 2018 , Himself , International Achievement ,

Pollstar Concert Industry Awards

!Ref. , - , 1985 , Himself , Comeback of the Year , ,

Soul Train Music Awards

, - , 1987 Soul Train Music Awards, 1987 , ''

'' , Album of the Year – Male ,

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Billy Ocean'' (1976) *''City Limit'' (1980) *''Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)'' (1981) *''Inner Feelings'' (1982) *'' Suddenly'' (1984) *''

'' (1986) *''

'' (1988) *'' Time to Move On'' (1993) *''Because I Love You'' (2009) *''Here You Are'' (2013) *''One World'' (2020)

References

External links

*
Billy Ocean official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ocean, Billy 1950 births Living people English soul singers English dance musicians English male singer-songwriters 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers Grammy Award winners 20th-century Black British male singers Epic Records artists Jive Records artists Trinidad and Tobago people of Grenadian descent English Rastafarians People from Siparia region People from Romford People from Sunningdale Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom English people of Grenadian descent Members of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century Black British male singers