Billy Joe Crawford is a Philippine-born musician and actor. He was born on May 16, 1982 in Manila, Philippines and was discovered at an early age, singing at a bowling alley. He would become a series regular on an afternoon television show called That's Entertainment under the name of Billy Joe.
He acted in a few movies, moved to the United States as a teenager, and started a music career, performing mostly in the United Kingdom and France, as well as in Asia. During this time he legally changed his name to Billy Crawford, giving him a more western surname.
He previously dated Mandy Moore for about 3 months when he was 15 and she was 14. He currently resides in New York City.He had major chart success in France and other parts of Continental Europe, but did not repeat this success in the United Kingdom or 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 Pokémon anime theme for the first movie in the series.Billy's latest 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", fared better making Top 40, and was featured on 7 compilations across Europe and was the first single in Germany. 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 City album. After doing the first ever online reality show "the MSN Dance Show", his third single from Big City "3 Wishes" got cancelled by his label.
Billy felt it was time for something new and decided not to re-sign his contract with V2 records.Crawford did not receive significant media attention after the Big City Tour 2005, mostly being mentioned in a few magazines for his break-up with Lorie, and new relationship with Maryss, a dancer he met when she auditioned for the Big City tour.
In 2006, Billy began recording a new album which was expected to be released in 2007. In 2006, he toured over the summer with the L5 in France and in November he was scheduled to return to his home country to shoot a film.
He most recently appeared in Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist.
