Billy Ocean (born Leslie Sebastian Charles; 21 January 1950) is a 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.
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.