Phil Phillips

John Philip Baptiste (March 14, 1926 – March 14, 2020), He performed with his brothers in a gospel group called the Gateway Quartet and worked as a bellhop before he recorded "Sea of Love" in 1959.

The song was arranged and produced by Eddie Shuler for neighbor George Khoury's Khoury Records. After three months of work on the arrangement, building up the vocal group and trying out different musicians, the song was ready for release. Baptiste changed his name to Phil Phillips, and dubbed his backing vocalists the Twilights. After a Baton Rouge disc jockey played the song repeatedly, Nonetheless, Phillips was paid only $6,800 as an artist, and received no further royalties for the song or its recording.

Phillips did not release an album to capitalize on his success, due to the unfavorable terms of his deal. "Because I decided to fight for what was rightfully and legally mine, a full album that I recorded was never released. I'm not being paid, nor have I ever been paid, as an artist for 'Sea of Love'. I never received justice and to this day have not received justice."

Phillips later worked as a radio DJ. He married and had seven children.

In October 2007, Phillips was honored for his contributions to Louisiana music with induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

One of his last live performances was in April 2005 at the Jazz Fest in New Orleans, Louisiana, a few months before Hurricane Katrina. He died on March 14, 2020, his 94th birthday.