Billy Ocean MBE
Ocean at the State Theatre, Sydney, Australia 2012
Background information
Born	Leslie Sebastian Charles (1950-01-21) 21 January 1950 (age 75) Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago, British West Indies
Origin	Romford, East London, England
Genres	R&B pop soul reggae
Occupations	Singer songwriter
Years active	1969–present
Labels	GTO Epic Jive Metronome TLO Aqua Music Spark Sony Music
Spouse	Judy Charles
Website	billyocean.com

Leslie Sebastian Charles MBE (born 21 January 1950), known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-born British singer and songwriter. Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally.

He achieved breakthrough success with the 1976 single "Love Really Hurts Without You". His second single was released under the stage name Billy Ocean, and peaked at no. 2 in the UK and no. 3 in Australia. In 1977, his single "Red Light Spells Danger" also peaked at no. 2. He released the single "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" in 1984. In the UK, the song peaked at no. 6. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 85 but peaked at no. 1 ten weeks later. Ocean won the 1985 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the song. It also charted in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and across Europe under three different titles. In 1985, "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" peaked at no. 1 in the UK and no. 2 in the U.S. the following year. In the same year, he achieved an American no. 1 with the single "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)". In 1988, his single "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" reached no. 1 in the U.S. and no. 3 in the UK.

Ocean was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to music.