Artist Info

About Billy Ocean:

Billy Ocean is the biggest black recording star Britain has ever produced, one who has sold over 30
million records in his lifetime to date. He has collected a pile of Gold and Platinum records across the world and hit the number one spot worldwide in the pop charts including the USA, Australia, Germany, Holland, and the UK. Billy has achieved extraordinary success as both an artist and a songwriter. Born in Trinidad, Billy settled in London’s East End when just seven years old. The calypso crazy kid soon got turned on to soul singers like Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, as well as pop groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, leading him to spend much of his study time in the music room. Billy got his first break when he signed to GTO records, for whom his second single was the Motown-ish Love Really Hurts Without You, which reached No. 2 in the UK charts and No. 12 in the US. Two top twenty singles followed; Love on Delivery and Stop Me, then Red Light Spells Danger became a smash in both the UK and the US. Billy changed record labels and his move to Jive Records provided instant success, with the million selling American number one single Caribbean Queen (for which Billy won a Grammy for best R&B Vocal), followed by Loverboy, and Suddenly, which became the first of Billy’s killer ballads. The Album from which these singles came from spent a year in the US Charts selling double platinum (triple in Canada). Billy also performed on the American half of Live Aid, making 1985 a truly incredible year for him.

1986 wasn’t bad either, opening with When the Going gets Tough (the tough gets going), the theme song to the Michael Douglas/Kathleen Turner/Danny Devito movie Jewel of the Nile. Billy then launched the Love Zone album, which went straight to No. 2 in the UK charts, staying in the top 40 for six months. In the US, there was a No. 1 single with There’ll be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry). More Hits were to follow with the now classic Get Outta My Dreams; Get Into My Car, giving Billy yet another US No. 1 hit. Billy proved himself to be one of the most hardworking artists on the live stage, touring the world to ever-growing enthusiastic audiences. After huge worldwide successes and years of touring, Billy decided to take a break to spend some well- earned time at home with his family. In 2007, Billy decided to get back out to perform his hits again, this time with his daughter Cherie on backing vocals, with live dates in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and the Caribbean. The tour was a great success and culminated in his getting the bug once more for writing and recording.

2008 saw Billy back in the studio for the first time in 15 years, recording his new album ‘Because I Love
You’ which was released in 2009. In 2010 Billy went back on the road again with his band in the UK, Europe and the US with the release of ‘The Very Best of Billy Ocean’, which entered the UK album chartsat number 17 and sold 72,000 copies in 4weeks. In 2012 he went back into the studio with his old buddy Barry Eastmond to record tracks that became the album “Here You Are” which was released in 2016 entering the charts at No 4- His highest chart position since 1988.
2017 saw the “Here You Are” album released in the USA. The year was another fantastic one for him; playing shows in Dubai, USA, Canada, Spain, Mozambique, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Germany and even Luxembourg. In 2018 Billy played a sell out The Royal Albert, which he felt was a real landmark. Throughout 2018 and 2019 Billy continued to play shows around the world, and also finished his latest album, ‘One World’, out now.

About The Pointer Sisters:

The Pointer Sisters have enjoyed a long and successful career in the music industry. They began their formal vocal training in their father’s church, The Church of God in West Oakland, California. They went on to achieve world-wide fame and have secured a place in pop music history. In 2017, Billboard listed them as one of the Top 5 female groups of all time.

Their 1973 debut album quickly earned them mainstream success and they landed all over radio, television and the Billboard charts. In 1975, the quartet won their first Grammy Award for a country-western tune, “Fairytale”, written by Anita and Bonnie Pointer. As a result, the sisters became the first black female group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. The “King”, himself, Elvis Presley recorded their song on his last studio album. The group hit the big screen in 1976 in the film Car Wash, starring Richard Pryor. That same year, they recorded their fourth and final album as a quartet.

When the sisters became a trio, consisting of Anita, June and Ruth, they decided to record a rock n’ roll album. The trio’s debut single, Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire”, went to #2 on the pop charts and began a string of chart success. The song “He’s So Shy” became an anthem for the women’s movement and the single “Slow Hand” was a sultry, sexy song with some radio stations at the time refusing to play it. Nevertheless, the song reached #2 on the charts and remains a favorite.

The title of their 1983 album summed up exactly what the trio was about to do: Break Out. Upon its release, critics called the new album “The Pointer Sisters at their sassiest, brassiest, up-tempo best.”  When Ruth took the lead for “Automatic”, her deeper-than-deep vocals practically leapt off the vinyl, and helped the single go all the way to #5. With the advent of 24-hour-a-day music on television, The Pointer Sisters became one of the first black acts to have their videos played in heavy rotation on MTV. “Jump (for my love)” raced to #3 on the pop charts and “I’m So Excited” hit the Top 10! To date, the song has been played over 2.5 million times on radio. “Neutron Dance” featuring gospel-spiked shouts rose to #6 on the charts and was included in the hit film, “Beverly Hills Cop”. The success of the album earned the sisters two Grammy Awards and two American Music Awards. Break Out was certified triple-platinum, making it the biggest selling album of The Pointer Sisters’ career. Their next album achieved platinum success and produced the hit single “Dare Me” and another American Music Award. Before the decade was over, the sisters starred in their own TV special on NBC.

Over the years, the group has received many awards and accolades, including a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They’ve recorded sixteen albums, plus a cast album to highlight their 46 week tour of the musical Ain’t Misbehavin’. They were honored to take part in the recording of “We Are The World”.

In recent years, the group has performed with some of the greatest symphony orchestras in the world, including San Francisco, Jacksonville, Atlanta’s Symphony Orchestra and the renowned Boston Pops. Ruth Pointer continues to perform the music of The Pointer Sisters all over the globe with her daughter and granddaughter.