Billy Crawford replays the sound of the 2000s while participating in the “I Gotta Feeling” tour

Every day, a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Thursday October 3, 2024: Filipino-American dancer, actor and singer Billy Crawford. This fall, he is participating in the “I Gotta Feeling” tour which takes us back to the music of the 2000s.

Billy Crawford is a Filipino-American actor, dancer, singer and television presenter. It was at the age of three that he was spotted before arriving in the United States at the age of 12, where three years later he became one of Michael Jackson’s dancers. It was at that moment that music entered his life and above all the desire to go on stage and put on a show. He will experience enormous success in France with the titles Trackin’, When You Think About Me or even without you. Today he is on stage as part of the tour I Gotta Feelingalongside Worlds Apart, Alizée and Helmut Fritz.

franceinfo: The stage, as far back as we can go in your life, ultimately seems to have always existed in this journey.

Billy Crawford: Yes, actually this tour is magnificent because it’s only people or artists from the year 2000 and that’s the time when my career began in France. It’s great.

How was this vocation born, this love of music?

I’m actually a big fan of the Jackson Five and Elvis Presley because of my dad and I couldn’t stop singing and dancing.

“One day, I saw Michael Jackson on television and I said to myself: when I grow up, I want to be him! He’s my favorite artist.”

Billy Crawford

at franceinfo

When I was three years old, my mother, who was a professional bowler, competed. I was encouraging him by singing and dancing and there was a person who came closer. After the tournament, she asked him how old I was because she wanted me to star in a commercial. There you go, that’s how it started. When I was four, I started a TV show that ran for eight years and I’ve been in a lot of movies and counting! It doesn’t stop, I’ve been working for almost 37, 38 years.

There is this first part of life in the Philippines. What do you keep from it?

All ! Because it all started in the Philippines. I started working very early and grew up well in the Philippines. I left there, I was 12 years old and ultimately I specifically grew up with this “Entertainment” of singing and dancing in the United States. That’s why, from the age of 12 until my arrival in France in 2002, all professional things really started in the USA.

Your first album came out when you were 16, Billy Crawford and doesn’t work at all. And the second will arrive very quickly, Trackin’. A huge revolution especially in France. How did you experience it?

The real story is that because the first album didn’t work, the record company terminated my contract. And then one day, there was someone from the record company, who didn’t know that I no longer had a contract and who played Trackin’ on the radio. And he said: “This is Michael Jackson’s new single, it’s called Trackin’ and he played it eight times a day on the radio. People who called saying: “But it’s not Michael, it doesn’t look like it!“

“The success of Trackin’ was an accident.”

Billy Crawford

at franceinfo

Trackin’ did very well and stayed in the charts for almost 40 weeks, it was magnificent. After Trackin’ it started, there was When You Think About Me, You Didn’t Expect That, without you which initially didn’t work, but then it did. I released a new album after that.

We’re talking about Michael Jackson who was the one who made you want to dance, to become an artist. At 14, you are going to become one of these dancers. How did you experience this moment?

I said to my mother: “well, after that, I can die, that’s okay“. Michael is one of my great inspirations and also for my whole family because during difficult times, I listened to Michael. That’s why I don’t care what happened in his life, frankly, I I fell in love with his professionalism and his work. It’s weird.

I Gotta Feeling is an opportunity for those of this generation and the new ones to hear sounds and see personalities who represent an entire era. Does it mean anything to you to be part of this sound?

To leave with this tour, it opens all the doors for us because it’s not every day that we can listen to Amine, Organiz, Alizée or even Assia. It’s weird because they’re different styles of music, but the concert is very nostalgic. Promised.