40 Facts About Billy Thorpe

William Richard Thorpe AM was an English-born Australian singer-songwriter, and record producer.

Billy Thorpe relocated to America from 1976 to 1996; after moving, he released the space opera Children of the Sun, which peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard Pop Album chart in 1979.

Billy Thorpe worked with ex-Aztec Tony Barber to form a soft toy company in 1987 and co-wrote stories for The Puggle Tales and Tales from the Lost Forests.

Billy Thorpe worked as a producer and composed music scores for TV series including War of the Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Columbo, Eight Is Enough and Hard Time on Planet Earth.

Billy Thorpe was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1991.

Billy Thorpe died of a heart attack in February 2007 and was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June for his contribution to music as a musician, songwriter and producer.

Unlike multiple other Australian artists, Billy Thorpe gained musical fame internationally in countries such as Canada and the United States.

Billy Thorpe's cult following, particularly after the aforementioned sci-fi themed album Children of the Sun came out, notably involved dramatic live performances outside of Australia such as with laser light shows playing inside multiple planetariums.

In 2009, Billy Thorpe was announced as one of the Q150 Icons selected for historical commemoration by the government of Queensland, his influence being recognized during the Q150 celebrations.

Billy Thorpe was born in Manchester, England, in 1946, to Bill and Mabel Thorpe.

Billy Thorpe emigrated with his parents to Australia in 1955, arriving in Melbourne and then settling in Brisbane, Queensland.

Billy Thorpe performed as a ten-year-old under the pseudonym Little Rock Allen.

Six months later, after he was heard singing and playing guitar by a television producer at the back of his parents' Brisbane store, Billy Thorpe made regular musical appearances on Queensland television, brandishing his trademark stock whip.

Billy Thorpe toured regional venues with Reg Lindsay in 1961, and national venues with Johnny O'Keefe and with Col Joye.

In 1963, Billy Thorpe moved to Sydney and auditioned for a regular gig at Surf City, a popular beat music venue in the city's Kings Cross area.

Billy Thorpe's backing band was an accomplished Sydney surf instrumental group called The Aztecs, comprising Colin Baigent, Val Jones, future Bee Gees guitarist Vince Melouney, and John "Bluey" Watson.

Billy Thorpe undertook a brief solo career, he released "Dream Baby", in October 1967 but it had no chart success.

Billy Thorpe had recorded no new material for over two years, but he emerged after a spell of bankruptcy in 1969, with "Good Mornin' Little School Girl", a Willie Dixon cover, as a single in March 1970.

In 1972, the band played two pivotal gigs, first was the Sunbury Pop Festival in January, which featured the debut of Billy Thorpe's self-penned anthem, "Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy".

Billy Thorpe now had a ponytail, T-shirt, full beard, played guitar and encouraged the Sunbury crowd to "Suck more piss".

From December 1976, Billy Thorpe continued his musical career in the US.

Billy Thorpe released three more studio albums while living in the US, with 21st Century Man peaking on the Billboard Pop Album chart top 200.

Billy Thorpe had started an electronics consulting company which did work for The Walt Disney Company, Mattel and Universal Studios.

Barber and Billy Thorpe had formed a soft toy company in 1987, Sunshine Friends, and released children's songs on cassettes and video.

In 1989 Barber and Billy Thorpe co-wrote three more stories for The Puggle Tales series: Double trouble, Flying's easy and Marco and the book of wisdom.

Billy Thorpe had written all ten of the tracks, including one co-written with Burnette, and another with Bramlett's father Delaney.

The Zoo toured Australia during 1991 and while in the country Billy Thorpe was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on 25 March alongside Glenn Shorrock, Don Burrows and Peter Dawson.

Billy Thorpe returned to touring with another set of Aztecs in 1993 and released a boxed set in 1994, Lock Up Your Mothers, which peaked at No 15 on the ARIA Charts.

Billy Thorpe followed with an Australian TV appearance on This Is Your Life.

On 14 November 1998, with the Aztecs, Billy Thorpe appeared at the Mushroom 25 Concert, singing "Most People I Know" and "Ooh Poo Pah Doo"; ex-Aztec Lobby Loyde joined them on-stage on guitar.

At the Gimme Ted benefit concert on 9 March 2001 Billy Thorpe performed five songs including a duet with INXS.

Concerts included Billy Thorpe performing with the 'original' Aztecs line-up in one set and the 'Sunbury' Aztecs in a second.

Billy Thorpe recorded material for a new album, Tangier, with the Symphonique Orchestra du Maroc in Casablanca, Morocco during September to November 2006 and was working on the album when he died in Sydney in February 2007.

In December 2006, Billy Thorpe had recorded an acoustic live performance which was released posthumously in April 2007 on Liberation Records as Solo: The Last Recordings, which peaked at No 19 on the ARIA albums chart.

Billy Thorpe remained in the emergency ward in a serious condition and went into cardiac arrest around half an hour later; hospital staff unsuccessfully attempted to resuscitate him.

Billy Thorpe's family was by his side when he died at 60 years of age.

Billy Thorpe is survived by his wife Lynn, and daughters Rusty and Lauren.

Billy Thorpe's manager Michael Chugg said the death was a "terrible tragedy", as Thorpe had just finished recording a new album Tangier and was very happy after a recent acoustic tour.

Billy Thorpe was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia on 11 June 2007, with the citation, "For service to the entertainment industry as a musician, songwriter, producer, and as a contributor to the preservation and collection of contemporary Australian music".

In December 2020, Billy Thorpe was listed at number 31 in Rolling Stone Australias "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue.