Billy Joe Crawford (born May 16, 1982) is a Filipino-American recording artist, singersongwriter, actor and TV host.

Crawford has lived in New York City, USA, and in Paris for five years and for one year in London. He also lived in Los Angeles in 2007. In 2008, he went to Manila to host Pinoy Dream Academy berture. He was also the host of Miss Earth 2008. Crawford ismultilingual; his first language is Tagalog, his second is English and he is conversational in French. He is currently a talent of ABS-CBN, a Philippine television network, and was seen in Pilipinas Got Talent as one of the two main hosts together with Luis Manzano.
Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Albums o 2.1 Billy Crawford (1999) o o o o o o 2.1.1 "Trackin" (2001)

2.2 Ride (2001) 2.3 Big City (2004) 2.4 Big City Tour Live (2005) 2.5 It's Time (2007) 2.6 Groove (2009) 2.7 Sky is the Limit (2013)

3 Music & TV career 4 Personal life 5 Discography o o o 5.1 Albums 5.2 EPs 5.3 Singles

6 Awards 7 Filmography 8 References 9 External links

Early life[edit]

William Ledesma Crawford was born in Manila, Philippines, to a Filipina mother named Mayette Ledesma and an American father named Jack Crawford. He has two half-brothers. Crawford was discovered at an early age of 3 years, singing at a bowling alley that his mother visited often. He became a series regular on an afternoon GMA Networktelevision show called That's Entertainment under the name Billy Joe. He attended the International Christian Academy in the Philippines until his departure for the US when he was 11 and balanced both his professional acting and academic repertory obligations. He acted in a few movies before he moved to the United States where he started a music career, performing mostly in the United Kingdom and France, as well as in Asia. His pre-career started in Dallas, Texas, USA, where he lived and performed his singing and then moved to New York City. During this time, he legally changed his name to Billy Crawford. He first went to Professional Children's School and then to Professional Performing Arts School in New York City with many other famous professional children, such as Lee Thompson Young, Mandy Moore and Nina Sky. In 1996, he danced with Michael Jacksononstage when he was 14 years old as one of Michael's back-up dancers at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards.

Albums[edit]
Billy Crawford (1999)[edit]
Main article: Billy Crawford (album) He recorded his first album called Billy Crawford (which included hits such as "Urgently In Love" and "Mary Lopez") when he was 15-years-old. It went straight into the charts in the Philippines and Europe. "Trackin" (2001)[edit] Crawford was a success as a singer in France with the first single from his album Ride called "Trackin'". In 2001, it put Crawford at the top of the French charts. "Trackin'" has sold 750,000 copies and was certified platinum; it reached a #1 position on sales charts and was #1 in the club charts. The song also made #1 in the Netherlands, #2 in Belgium, #3 in Switzerland and #20 in Germany. It had a great success in Germany and became #1 on the radio and club chart. His second single "When You Think About Me", was also a huge success, and many other successes followed.

Ride (2001)[edit]
Main article: Ride (Billy Crawford album) By April 2002, Crawford was back on the scene with his second album, Ride. This was certified gold in France (making 100,000 copies) within just a few weeks and gold in Switzerland. The album went on to achieve platinum status in the French market (making 300,000 copies) and a total of 600,000 copies has been sold to date. As for singles, following the success of the second track, "When You Think About Me" (over 250,000 copies sold in France), Crawford returned in September 2002 with a third single from theRide album, "You Didn't Expect That", which went directly into the Top 5 and

was certified gold in December, having sold more than 250,000 copies in just a few weeks. After this grand success, he returned in 2003 with two versions of a previously unreleased track: the English version of "Someone Like You" and a special Franco-English version for France, "Me Passer de Toi", which stayed in the singles charts for some weeks.

Big City (2004)[edit]

Main article: Big City (Billy Crawford album)
"3 Wishes" (2005)

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The supposed third single for Big City.

"Steamy Nights" (2005)

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The second single for Big City.

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The album Big City was produced by some of the best producers in the American music industry such as Kovas (Ghettobeat Production), J Que (from "The Clutch"), Tricky Stewart and Laney Stewart (RedZone Entertainment), The CornaBoyz, Pale Face, Desmond Child and Stargate. He left his old company, V2 records, wanting to expand his career into something bigger.

Big City Tour Live (2005)[edit]

Main article: Big City Tour Live (Billy Crawford album)

Big City Tour Live is the live release DVD album from Crawford. The DVD was released in France in 2005. It was directed by Michel Jankielewicz, produced by Yves El-Baze and distributed by UMG (2005) (worldwide) (DVD). The budget of this album was 150,000 (estimated).

It's Time (2007)[edit]

Main article: It's Time (Billy Crawford album) It's Time is the fourth studio album by Billy Crawford. The album was released in year 2007 with its first single Like That.

Groove (2009)[edit]
Main article: Groove (Billy Crawford album) Groove is the fifth studio album by Billy Crawford. The recent CD is a re-working of classic hits from the 70s to the 80s.

Sky is the Limit (2013)[edit]

Sky is the Limit is the first EP (and sixth release) by Billy Crawford. It features five new tracks as well as one remix and one instrumental. It was released through the independent label Jackpot Records.

Music & TV career[edit]

Crawford had major chart success in France and other parts of Europe, but did not repeat this success in the United Kingdom and the United States, although his single "You Didn't Expect That" did make the lower reaches of the UK Top 40, peaking at number 35. He also contributed a remix of the Pokmon anime theme song for Pokmon: The First Movie. Crawford also appeared at a popular Filipino American event called "Fiesta Filipina" in 2001 held in San Francisco, California, and American people have become more aware of his name. Crawford's album Big City was released in 2004 in France and Asia only. The single "Bright Lights" was unable to break into the any Top 10 charts. The second single "Steamy Nights" produced by KOVAS - Ghetto Beat, fared better making Top 40, and was featured on 7 compilations across Europe and was the first single in Germany. Crawford's music video for "Steamy Nights" was shot in Los Angeles, California, and was produced with the same people who worked on the Destiny's Child single "Lose My Breath". Actress Jenna Dewan, who was one of the main characters in the popular 2006 film Step Up, was featured as Crawford's dance partner. Another song from the album, "Candy Store" was leaked from the album and received airplay on London radio. Thought to be a duet with Ginuwine, it is featured on the Big Cityalbum. After doing the first ever online reality show "The MSN Dance Show", his third single from the album, "3 Wishes," was canceled by his label. Crawford felt it was time for something new and decided not to re-sign his contract with V2 records. He is writing and producing songs for other artists.

In 2006, Crawford began recording a new album which was expected to be released in 2007. In 2006, he toured during the summer with the L5 in France and in November he was scheduled to return to his home country to shoot a film. In 2007, he returned to the Philippines for a new dance reality show M.O.V.E for GMA Network. The show searched for six back-up dancers for his Araneta Coliseum concert. After the successful concert, he returned to the United States to work on projects and fulfill several commitments. In 2008, upon his return to the Philippines, Crawford decided to sign with ABS-CBN as an exclusive artist instead of returning to GMA. He became a regular on the Sunday variety show ASAP and later hosted the 2nd season of "Pinoy Dream Academy", a reality search that involves the skill of singing. In 2009, Billy returned to acting via Your Song Presents with his partner and fellow singer Nikki Gil. He also released his fifth studio album Groove in the Philippines as well as worldwide digital services later that year. He also hosted a former talent show, Showtime. In 2010, he also hosted Pilipinas Got Talent with his fellow co-host Luis Manzano and both of them won as Best Talent Search Program Hosts in the recent 24th PMPC Star Awards for TV. Since 2012, Billy has been hosting with Vhong Navarro and other It's Showtime hosts in a weekday variety comedy show It's Showtime. In 2013, he released his first EP, Sky is the Limit on the independent label Jackpot Records. This was his first music released since 2009. On April 4, 2014, he renewed his contract with Universal Records. He is set to release a new album later on the year.[1]

Personal life[edit]
Crawford did not receive significant media attention until after the Big City Tour 2005, mostly being mentioned in a few magazines for his break-up with Lorie (French singer and later Dancing with the Stars 3 celebrity contestant.), and began a new relationship with Marie Courchinoux (also known as Maryss from Paris). They got married but divorced after 5 years. Billy was in a relationship with Filipino singer-actress Nikki Gil, they met while doing the second season of Pinoy Dream Academy in 2008 which they are both hosting at that time. The couple then decided to end their almost five year relationship in July 2013.[2] Amidst his blooming career in the international music scene, most especially in Europe, he decided to reside in the Philippines. His stay in the Philippines for his Move TV show gave Billy friendly connections with many other Filipino actors and singers such as Gary Valenciano, as well as with many other famous actors and singers. Crawford completed in 2008 his studio engineering course at New York University in New York, United States, and he will plan on getting the diploma.[3]

He broke up with Nikki Gil late 2013 and is now flirting with newbie Coleen Garcia on the noontime show, Showtime on ABS-CBN. <http://www.pep.ph/news/41636/nikki-gil-reveals-third-party-causedbreakup-with-billy-crawford-there-were-always-a-lot-of-warnings-but-i-chose-to-ignore-them>

Discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
Peak chart positions Year Album details
BEL FRA GER
[4] [5] [6]

Certifications
NL
[7]

SWI
[8]

Billy Crawford 1999

Released: June 15, 1999 Label: V2

Ride 2002

Released: July 8, 2002 Label: V2

22

73

53

17

FRA: Platinum[9] SWI: Gold[10]

Big City 2005

Released: April 12, 2005 Label: Universal

32

12

84

PHI: Gold[11]

It's Time 2007

Released: September 24, 2007 Label: MCA

Groove[C] 2009

Released: May 1, 2009 Label: Universal

PHI: Gold[12]

"" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

EPs[edit]

Peak chart positions Year Album details

BEL FRA GER
[4] [5] [6]

Certifications
NL
[7]

SWI
[8]

Sky is the Limit 2013

Released: May 21, 2013 Label: Jackpot Records

"" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

Singles[edit]
Peak chart positions Year Title
AUT BEL FRA GER
[13] [4] [5] [14]

Album
NL
[7]

NZ
[15]

SWE SWI
[16] [8]

UK
[17]

1998 "Urgently in Love"

64

90

12

28

48

"Supernatural" 1999 "Mary Lopez"

Billy Crawford

15

2001

"When You're in Love with Someone"[A]

"Trackin'" 2002 "When You Think About Me"[B]

55

23

33

32

Ride

21

14

48

16

24

"You Didn't Expect That"

13

82

56

23

35

2003

"Me passer de toi (Someone Like You)"

36

11

28

2004 "Bright Lights"

12

46

Big City

2005 "Steamy Nights"

42

"It's Time" 2007 "Like That"

It's Time

"Steal Away"[C] 2009 "Human Nature"[C]

Groove

2010

"You've Got a Friend" (featuring Nikki

Gil)
[C]

"" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

Notes

A^ Song was released in the United States in 2001, and internationally in 2003. B^ Song was originally recorded by Filipino-American singing group One Vo1ce. C^ Album and songs were released only in the Philippines, and therefore, did not chart.

Awards[edit]

2002: NRJ Music Awards - Best Newcomer of the Year

Billy was awarded for 2002 NRJ Music Awards for "Best Newcomer of the Year" at France.

2003: NRJ Music Awards - International Male Artist of the Year

Billy Crawford was given "International Male Artist of the Year" at the NRJ Music Awards 2003 in Cannes, France, on January 18, 2003. He beat Robbie Williams to win the award.

2007: Eastwood Walk of Fame - Billy Crawford

On January 15, 2007 he was given a star plaque at the Eastwood Walk of Fame in Philippines and was the first inductee that year.

Nov. 25, 2007: Famas (Philippines) March 26, 2008 : 3rd MYX Music Awards (Philippines) November 13, 2010: 24th PMPC Star Awards for TV Philippines - Best Talent Program Host Winner (with Luis Manzano) for Pilipinas Got Talent.

Filmography[edit]
Movies

Year

Film

Role

Notes

Sandakot na Bala 1988 Lost Command David

Pardina at ang mga Duwende

Bambi

Pahiram ng Isang Umaga 1989 Bote, Dyaryo, Garapa

Chad

Credited as Billy Joe Crawford

Everlasting Love

Kasalanan ang Buhayin Ka 1990 Dine Dinero

1991

Eh Kasi Bata

Daryll

2005

Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist

Cheche

2012

Moron 5 and the Crying Lady

Issac Estrada

2013

Momzillas (Billy Crawford's 1st Star Cinema Movie)

Elwood

Television

Year

Title

Role

Notes

19861994 That's Entertainment

Himself

19861992 Lovingly Yours, Helen

Guesting

19891993 Coney Reyes on Camera

Guesting

2004 present

ASAP

Himself

2008

Pinoy Dream Academy

Himself

Host

2009

Maalaala Mo Kaya

Toto

Episode "Kalendaryo"

Your Song

Buboy/Brian

Episode "If Your Not The

Flores

One"

Pilipinas Got Talent

Himself

Host

2010

Wowowee

Himself

Guest co-host

Panahon Ko 'To!: Ang Game Show ng Buhay Himself Ko

Host

2011

Pilipinas Got Talent (season 2)

Himself

Host

2011 present

It's Showtime (formerly Showtime)

Himself

Host

2011

Star Power

Himself

Judge

2012

Pilipinas Got Talent (season 3)

Himself

Host

2013

Pilipinas Got Talent (season 4)

Himself

Host

In 2007, Billy received an offer to do a dance film called "Back Down". He was also supposed to read for a film with Whoopi Goldberg. But these Hollywood productions were pushed back.[18] Billy's life story has also been shown on the Philippine television drama show Maalaala Mo Kaya.[19]

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Buan-Deveza, Reyma. "Kapamilya star Billy Crawford renews contract with Universal Records". 7 April 2014. ABS-CBN Twitter Page. Retrieved 15 April 2014. 2. Jump up^ http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/07/25/13/billy-crawford-nikki-gil-break 3. Jump up^ "Billy Crawford on KC Concepcion: "I said nothing derogatory about her."". Philippine Entertainment Portal. September 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-02. 4. ^ Jump up to: 5. ^ Jump up to: 6. ^ Jump up to:
a b c a b c a b

"Belgian Ultratop Charts > Chart History". ultratop.be Retrieved 2010-0616 "French Charts > Chart History". lescharts.com Retrieved 2010-06-16

"German Longplay Charts > Chart History". musicline.de Retrieved 2010-06-17

7. ^ Jump up to: 8. ^ Jump up to:

a b c a b c

"Dutch Charts > Chart History". dutchcharts.nl Retrieved 2010-06-16 "Swiss Music Charts > Chart History". hitparade.ch Retrieved 2010-06-16

9. Jump up^ "French Certifications > Certifications list". chartsinfrance.net Retrieved 2010-06-18 10. Jump up^ "Swiss Certifications 2002 > Certifications list". hitparade.ch Retrieved 2010-06-17 11. Jump up^ "Big City is Billy Crawford's first Gold album in the Philippines". pep.ph Retrieved 2010-06-18 12. Jump up^ "Groove album reaches Gold record in the Philippines". philstar.com Retrieved 201006-18 13. Jump up^ "Austrian Charts > Chart History". austriancharts.at Retrieved 2010-06-16 14. Jump up^ "German Singles Charts > Chart History". musicline.de Retrieved 2010-06-16 15. Jump up^ "RIANZ Charts > Chart History". charts.org.nz Retrieved 2010-06-16 16. Jump up^ "Swedish Charts > Chart history". swedishcharts.com Retrieved 2010-06-16 17. Jump up^ "UK Chart Stats > Chart History". chartstats.com Retrieved 2010-06-16 18. Jump up^ "A marked man". Inquirer.net. October 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 19. Jump up^ "MMK: Billy's life". ABS-CBN. December 8, 2004. Retrieved 2007-09-20.

External links[edit]

Official website Billy Crawford at the Internet Movie Database Billy Crawford Official Myspace