Billy Ocean has revealed that he quit his music career for almost two decades because of his mother's death from cancer in 1989.
"I'm glad I took that break, I'm glad I did it when I did it, it was a good time for me to do that. It gave me the chance, most importantly of all, to spend some time with my kids," the 69-year-old star said in an interview with Starts at 60.
"After my mum passed away I sort of looked at my life, where I was going, I had a number one hits here but something wasn't right," he said. "I wasn't home often enough and my kids were growing up, and life was sort of slipping away from me," said the singer of hit songs such as 'Caribbean Queen' and 'Suddenly'.
It was then that he thought of the need to take a break.
He said it took him about 17 years before starting again. "By then my kids had grown up and one day I thought, 'What do I do now, let's get out and play some music'," said the Trinidadian-English recording artist.
Ocean is playing a handful of U.S. shows this year, including two at Walt Disney World in Orlando in June.
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