By NAN ET Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 4, 2020: Caribbean-born, British singer Billy Ocean has released “One World,” his first album in a decade today.
Ocean’s new album is a mix of soul, reggae, R&B and pop. He co-wrote 19 songs last summer and settled on 12, going into the mix three times to get the balance right between slow tunes and uptempo ones.
The new album is produced by Barry Eastmond, who first teamed up with him as keyboardist on “Caribbean Queen.” He hopes to hit stages in 2021 highlighting “One World” to a world that needs to heal in more ways than one.
“The Lord has given me an outlet and that outlet is music,” Ocean said. “It’s not always easy. Sometimes it’s a struggle. But after the struggle and you come up with something that’s good, it’s so rewarding.”
To be the first to hear it pre-order now: https://smarturl.it/BO_OneWorld
Born Leslie Sebastian Charles, in Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago to Hainsley Charles, a Grenadian musician and his wife Violet, he moved to Romford, London, England, when he was ten years old in 1960. During his teenage years, he sang regularly in London clubs, while also working as a tailor in London’s Savile Row. He was discovered by his first manager, John Morphew, who recorded a double A-side single at Pye Studios 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. Ocean’s father – who had countersigned the management contract as Ocean was underage – asked Morphew to release him from 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 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 1976, he recorded his first album, Billy Ocean, with its first single release, “Love Really Hurts Without You”, charting at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart 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. 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 chart with “Nights (Feel Like Getting Down).”
In 2002, the University of Westminster, London, awarded Ocean an honorary doctorate of music. In 2010, Ocean was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the MOBO Awards. On 29 July 2011, Ocean became a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, presented to him by Sir Paul McCartney. He is a member of the Rastafari movement.
