William Morris Nicholls Jr (born 15 February 1949) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and musical director. He was born into a musical family, his father Billy Nicholls (Sr.) being a double bassist and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

singer, performing with such bands as The Oscar Rabin Romany Band (Hammersmith Palais), Alan Green with his boys, the RAF band

The Squadronaires The Squadronaires is a Royal Air Force band which began and performed in Britain during and after World War II. The official title of the band was 'The Royal Air Force Dance Orchestra', but it was always known by the more popular title "The S ...

and later performed on radio with Will Hay with Royal Command Performances. Nicholls first gained fame in the 1960s while still a teenager with his ''

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the 11th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on th ...

''-influenced album, '' Would You Believe'', originally released on

Immediate Records Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder, and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene. History Immediate Records was started in 1965. Signed ...

. Nicholls' compositions have been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

by many artists. His first success came in 1977 when

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

covered "

I Can't Stop Loving You (Though I Try) "I Can't Stop Loving You (Though I Try)" is a song written by singer-songwriter Billy Nicholls, William Nicholls and first recorded by his short-lived project, White Horse – a collaboration between himself, Kenny Altman, and Jon Lind – and f ...

"; it rose to No. 7 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Nicholls wrote several of the tracks for the film '' McVicar'' (starring

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...

) including " Without Your Love", which was a success in the United States.

The Babys The Babys are a British rock group best known for their songs " Isn't It Time" and " Every Time I Think of You". Both songs were composed by Jack Conrad and Ray Kennedy, and each reached No. 13 on the U.S. '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 8 on ...

covered "White Lightning" on their

Head First Head First or Headfirst may refer to: Music * ''Head First'' (The Babys album) (1979) * ''Head First'' (Badfinger album) (recorded 1974, released 2000) * ''Head First'' (Goldfrapp album) (2010), or its title track * ''Head First'' (Uriah Hee ...

album in 1978. An American

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

group, the Outlaws, recorded "I Can't Stop Loving You" on their 1980 release ''Ghost Riders''. More recently,

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

also recorded "I Can't Stop Loving You" in 2002 and it proved successful as a U.S. single, appearing on several of his albums; Collins included it in his last world tour. A longtime acquaintance and occasional collaborator with

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

, Nicholls was involved in the Deep End concerts in Brixton and Cannes. He toured with

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

in 1989 and 1996–1997, serving as backup singer and music director; he also provided backing vocals for the band's version of "

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (sometimes written "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)") is a song originally recorded by English musician Elton John. John composed it with his long-time songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. It was r ...

", which appeared on the tribute album '' Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin''. He has contributed backing vocals for many friends and artists over the years, including uncredited backing vocals on

The Nice The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band. The group was formed in 1967 by Emerson, Lee Jack ...

's 1967 debut single " The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack". In 2003, Nicholls received an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

award for "I Can't Stop Loving You".

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

recorded the song in 2006 on his fifth studio album, ''

Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing ''Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing'' (stylized as Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing) is the fifth studio album by Australian country music singer Keith Urban. It is his fourth album release in the United States, and his fifth for Capitol Na ...

''. In 2009 a promotional copy of Would You Believe was sold on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

for £7,312. Nicholls set up Southwest Records in 1998 and has so far released nine albums featuring his own work. He is the father of musician

Morgan Nicholls Morgan Daniel Nicholls (born 18 March 1971) is an English musician, member of English pop band Senseless Things and best known for performing with Muse, Gorillaz, The Streets and Lily Allen. He has released one solo album under the mononym Morg ...

, singer songwriter Amy Nicholls, and film director Will Nicholls.

Discography

Solo

References

External links

*
Billy Nicholls on Soundcloud
*
Billy Nicholls Yahoo! Group mailing list where Billy's career and his music are discussed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, Billy 1949 births Living people 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers English male singer-songwriters English rock singers English pop singers Singers from London People from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham People from Chipping Barnet People from Finchley Followers of Meher Baba The Who members