Billy Ocean Billy Ocean Billy Ocean (born Leslie Sebastian Charles; 21 January 1950) is a Trinidadian-English 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 successes, 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" reached number one in the UK and number two in the US. In 1985, Ocean won the Grammy Award for
Billy Ocean able to mix the more emotive soul style with a crossover popular style. In 2002, the University of Westminster in London awarded Ocean an honorary doctorate of music. The awards ceremony took place in the Barbican Centre, in London. He continues to tour and record in Europe. Ocean is now a patron for Tech Music Schools 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