William Morris "Billy" Nicholls Jr into a musical family. His father: Billy Nicholls played double bass and sang in Big Bands like The Squadronairs. Billy's career as singer, songwriter, record producer and musical director, first gained fame in the 1960s while still a teenager with his Pet Sounds-influenced album, Would You Believe, originally released on Immediate Records. Nicholls' compositions have been covered by many artists; his first success came in 1977 when Leo Sayer covered "I Can't Stop Loving You"; it rose to No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart. Nicholls wrote several of the tracks for the film, McVicar, starring Roger Daltrey, including "Without Your Love" which was a success in the United States. An American southern rock group, Outlaws recorded "I Can't Stop Loving You" on their 1980 release, Ghost Riders. More recently, Phil Collins also recorded "I Can't Stop Loving You" and it proved to be a success as a U.S. single, appearing on several of his albums, and was performed on his last world tour. [More at Wikipedia]

February 15th, 1949 in White City (Age 75)