William Ellis "Billy" Kinsley (born 28 November 1946, Anfield, Liverpool) is an English musician with The Merseybeats until 1966 (although he temporarily left the band both to form the Kinsleys) The group disbanded in January 1966 to resurface as a duo called The Merseys. They recorded The McCoys' song "Sorrow" (also covered by David Bowie on his 1973 cover album, Pin Ups) with the band before embarking on a solo career, where he recorded "Bye Bye Baby". This song is not to be confused with a Four Seasons track of a similar title, but rather a typical Merseybeat tune. Followed by the singles: "Annabella", and "You Make My Day". Kinsley also undertook session work, which most notably included working for Apple Records (alongside George Harrison on at least one song for Jackie Lomax). He also worked on the popular Top of the Pops record series, which contained anonymous cover versions of recent and current hit singles. During this time he worked with fellow musician friend, Jimmy Campbell, and formed the band Rockin' Horse. They recorded one album and toured England and Europe as the backing band for Chuck Berry.
Kinsley later formed Liverpool Express in the mid-1970s, and again experienced chart success with "You Are My Love", mentioned by Paul McCartney as one of his favourite love songs, plus "Every Man Must Have A Dream", "Dreamin", "Hold Tight", and "Smile". They toured the UK and Europe supporting Rod Stewart, released more singles, and found popularity in South America (they were the first band to play large stadiums in Brazil). They had quite a few hit singles all over South America, and three of their singles ("You Are My Love", "Dreamin'", and "Every Man Must Have A Dream") reached No. 1 in the charts. In 1978, they played at the Royal Gala Performance at the request of Prince Charles, at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. The following year, after three albums and more single releases, they had no further chart success.