Hi Billy, you’ll be bringing your ‘Here you are- the Best of tour’ to Gateshead in April. As your most recent album ‘Here you are’ focuses both on the songs that have influenced you and the songs that have become your greatest hits what can we expect from the show?
I always play as many of the hits live as I can. When you are lucky enough to have had quite a few hits you must accept that the fans want to hear them and I like playing them. I will also be doing a few songs off the Here you are album, but as the album reached No 4 in the charts, the fans know them as well as the older ones.
We’ve been to see you a few times and we’ve noticed that you seem to really enjoy being on stage and performing live. Is playing live your favourite part of being a musician?
I really enjoy playing live. When I am on the stage hearing the crowd sing along to the songs it’s a great feeling. When I give out to the audience and they give back it makes a fantastic night where we can all forget about our troubles and for a couple of hours have fun. I like to make it a party vibe.
We’ve also noticed also that you tend to bring your tours to the North East of England. What do you enjoy the most about the ‘up north’ crowd?
It’s just a great crowd, I must say the North East must be the loudest crowd out there.
Finally, what does the immediate future bring for you and can we look forward to some new material in 2017?
I have full year touring the world , But I am making time to write new songs for an album to released in 2018
Great stuff, thanks Billy. We can’t wait to hear your new material when it’s ready.
Enjoy Gateshead.
Billy will be playing the Sage Gateshead on Friday 7th April
His album ‘Here you are: the Best of Billy Ocean’ is available now through Sony.