Bill Sharpe was born in Bishop's Stortford and educated at Bishop's Stortford College. From there he studied music at Birmingham University where he gained an honours degree.
He worked for the BBC as a studio manager for six years and then in the early 1980s was a founding member of the group Shakatak.[1] In the mid-1980s he recorded several hit records and albums with Gary Numan under the name of Sharpe and Numan. His first solo album in 1985 included the hit song "Change your Mind".
In 1997 he recorded his second solo album State of the Heart in Los Angeles co-produced by Don Grusin. This featured many artists including Jeffrey Osborne and Gerald Albright. He continued to work with Don Grusin on a joint project called Geography released in 2007. A second collaboration is under way and will be released in the near future. Sharpe continues to tour and record with Shakatak.