Billy Simpson is an Indonesian singer-songwriter, musician, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the winner of the first season of The Voice Indonesia.
Early life
Simpson was born in Jakarta on 17 July 1987 to parents who have neither the interest nor background in music that throughout his childhood years, his exposure to music was thus relatively limited. In fact, the closest exposure to music that he had as a child was obtained from watching Disney movies. Being encouraged by his sister, Simpson's first ‘official’ encounter with music occurred as he began playing bass at a church at the age of 13. A few years later, he moved to Melbourne, Australia to pursue his collegiate studies. There he started to discover his love of singing through his involvement in various musical events organized by Indonesian students. Apart from his participation in musicals, Simpson also acted in Kado Kendo, a student-initiated movie filmed in Melbourne, Australia in 2007.
Career
Early years
After completing his studies in Business and Economics in Melbourne, Simpson returned to Indonesia. He was then asked to join and become one of the lead-vocalists of a band called VoZ for an album called Putus Cinta before the members dispersed and went on their separate ways. He then carried on with his own music career, performing at weddings and a variety of events. Aside from those, Simpson wrote his own music, produce them in his own home-based music studio and create videos based on them. He also ran his home studio as a production house, regularly creating music for other singers, bands and corporations.
''The Voice Indonesia''
In February 2013, Simpson passed the Blind-Audition of The Voice Indonesia which is aired in Indosiar TV. Singing the song One by U2 gave him a 4-chair-turn and he picked Giring Ganesha from the band Nidji as his coach. In the Battle Rounds, Simpson performed "I Won’t Give Up" by Jason Mraz, competing against Andreas Galih. After seeing the duet performance of both singers onstage, coach Giring finally chose Billy to carry on to the next round of the competition: the Top 24 LIVE show. At the TOP 24, Simpson presented his own ‘twist’ of "Beautiful", a song originally performed by Cherrybelle, and managed to get to the next stage of the competition. Fans from all over Indonesia started to follow Simpson and call themselves "Billyvers" Today, Billy Simpson is the first winner of the show.
Discography
Album
2013: "Lukisanku" now available on iTunes.
2013: "Christmas with Billy Simpson"
Lukisanku: Track listing
"Lukisanku" is the winning album from the winning of The Voice Indonesia produced by Universal Music Group.
Singles
2010: "The Best Is What I Will Get"
2013: "Jembatan Pengharapan" "Sabarlah"
2014: "Janjimu Itu"
2014: "Storyline"
2016: "Envy You"
2017: "Sendiri"
2018: "I Need Love feat Rayi “RAN”"
2018: "Be My Wife"
2018: "Connected to You"
2019: "Mimpi Jadi Nyata" feat Angel Hoseani
Filmography
2007: Kado Kendo -
Advertisements & Endorsements
Bose Line-Array Product Launch and Press Conference at Harris Hotel, Jakarta on 26 February 2014
HTC One
Chevrolet Spin
Other Media Appearances
LIVE Recording Concert Jakarta Tabernacle Choir feat. Billy Simpson 25 September 2014 - Grace
Music Run Press Conference 4 September 2014 by Billy Simpson
Liputan6 - Simulasi PNS 19 August 2014 opening by Billy Simpson
Kuala Lumpur Lake Garden Festival 17 August 2014 - Tribute to victims of MH 17
TOP 50 CLEO Indonesia Bachelor 2014
Up Close and Personal with Billy Simpson at @America Pacific Place 11 July 2014
Liputan 6 LIVE EVENT QUICK COUNT PEMILU PILPRES 9 Juli 2014
Exclusive LIVE interview with Merry Mariana on Sonora FM 20 June 2014
Indonesia Morning Show on NET TV 12 June 2014
MostFM Interview Medan 30 May 2014
Press Conference launching of Janjimu Itu Video Clip at Grand Indonesia 8 May 2014
HardRock FM Bandung Anniversary Celebration with Billy Simpson 26 April 2014
NEW Famili 100 with Tukul ep 154 on Indosiar 22 April 2014
Paskah LIVE from Fatican on Indosiar with Billy Simpson 20 April 2014
MediaCorp Interview with Manja Magazine and Ria FM Singapore 31 March 2014
Sarah Sechan Show on NET TV 28 March 2014
Meet and Greet with Billyvers sponsored by Bakmi GM 4 March 2014
World Wide Trending Topic in Twitter during the finals of The Voice Indonesia
Personal life
After returning from Australia, Simpson joined Jakarta Praise Community Church. A few years later, he started recording LIVE with JPCC Worship - :id:True Worshippers|True Worshippers as a singer and songwriter. Also, he became the frontman of True Worshipper Youth. Simpson is active on Social Media and could be found on Flickr, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. for updates. Simpson's website is: www.billysimpsonmusic.com. On 3 October this year, Billy Simpson is the worship leader on a Live JPCC Concert at the KDCA Kota Kinabalu. On 24 November 2018, he was married to Sally Santoso.