Quote:Tampa Bay’s own Bertie Higgins: Where Is he now?
Looked and sounded like he had it all going on, had his shit together..
.......not quite. LOL!
These guys however...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNZVzIfJlY4
By: Maxine Nelson| Aug 14, 2015
https://www.axs.com/tampa-bay-s-own-bertie-hi...-now-63692
Eventually Higgins would become what is known as a "one hit wonder." On a VH1 cable TV special “Key Largo” was listed at #75 of their 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s. As a result of his instant stardom with a significant debut hit single, he saw his personal life take its toll. His marriage ended in divorce. He was drinking heavily around this time.
Higgins made harassing and threatening phone calls to the mother of his ex-wife's boyfriend, which landed him in jail overnight. In 1995 he crashed his Chrysler New Yorker into a car carrying two teenagers. Also, Higgins tried to ram into a sheriff's cruiser. The incident involving the teenagers ended with his conviction of DUI where Higgins spent four months in jail.
In 2001 he began his way back to making a comeback. It started with the album Island Bound. He did this as a sort of legacy for his children. Thankfully Higgins has put behind his troubles behind him. That same year he also put together his band called The Band of Pirates. Since then they have toured locally in the Tampa Bay area and internationally.
His son Julian is an aspiring filmmaker ad has directed three feature films. Higgins' other son, Damian, who goes by the moniker "DJ Diesel Boy" is one of the top junglist DJs who's performed in London, Hong Kong, Cape Town, and New York. Bertie now manages his own fan club called The Boneheads.
Always staying close to home, he’s also involved in many Tampa Bay and state of Florida charities and rescue organizations. Now in 2015 Higgins is still one of China’s most requested entertainers from the U.S. He was there recently at Beijing’s International Film Festival as a music performer.
He had the honor to walk the red carpet with Arnold “I’ll be back” Schwarzenegger. There are only two artists who have successfully captured the “trop rock” (tropical) music genre. One of them being Jimmy Buffet and the other is Bertie Higgins.
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