While studying at the Belfast College of Art he joined Billy McFarland's Showband.
[1] In a tribute to Brown following his death, Freshmen founder-member, Maurice Henry, described his late friend's pivotal role in the band: You could say Billy was The Freshmen and without his talent and innovative musical skills we would certainly not have achieved as much, either as a showband or in our recordings.
[2]Brown left The Freshmen in the mid 1970s to pursue other musical projects, albeit with limited success.
Following the breakup of The Freshmen, Brown had a minor solo hit in 1980 with his own song, "Look What Jerry Lee Did To Me".
Billy Brown died of a heart attack on 6 June 1999, at his home in Johnstown, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland.