London – Trinidad-born Billy Ocean has been presented with the lifetime achievement trophy at the MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards held in Liverpool.
The awards were first handed out in 1996 to showcase British urban music at a time when it was largely overlooked in the mainstream.
Ocean’s career was at its height during the 1970s and 1980s when he set the charts alight with hits like Caribbean Queen, Love Really Hurts Without You and When the Going Gets Tough.
Caribbean Queen won Ocean the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 1985 Grammy Awards.
Born Leslie Sebastian Charles, he’s lived in the UK since the young age of eight.
This year, many of Britain’s biggest pop stars were among the winners and performers, and organisers were keen to stress how far Mobo acts and the event itself have come.
British pop heart-throbs JLS and hip-hop MC Tinie Tempah shared the major spoils at the awards in Liverpool, winning two prizes each.
JLS won best album and were named best British act, as well as inducing the loudest screams from fans at the Echo Arena.
Tempah, whose debut album recently topped the British charts, won best newcomer and best video for his single Frisky. (BBC)
