Billy Thorpe was born in Manchester, England and, like Olivia, left for Australia when he was a child. He started performing on Australian TV from the age of 10. Later he put together the band The Aztecs and they had many top ten hits in Australia throughout the 60s and early 70s.
In 1976 Billy moved to Los
Angeles to try his luck there. Having met Olivia in the 60s this is
where they became close friends. Olivia talked of “the
Australian mafia” living in LA at this time and Billy was included in
this. There he
co-wrote the beautiful ballad “Emotional Tangle” with John Farrar for
Olivia’s 1985 Soul
Kiss album.
Billy
recalled the laughs they had together at parties at John and Pat
Farrar’s LA house. Olivia and Billy remembered such a party where they
both took part in a sing along battle of
Australians Vs
the Americans. They performed traditional Australian songs and the
Americans performed tunes from American musicals. Unfortunately, it
seems the Americans won because the Australians had to resort to
singing Waltzing Matilda several times!
Billy had solo success in LA recording albums there but did not forget his roots returning frequently to Australia to tour. By 1986 he had set up a production and recording facility in LA and began writing and scoring music for Disney, Paramount, Universal and Lorimar TV shows such as War of the Worlds, Star Trek and Colombo. In the 90s Billy returned to Australia and continued to tour and record there.
In
2002 Billy recorded the duet “Bad About You” with Olivia for her “2” duet album.
He also appeared on her TV special “A Night With Olivia Newton-John”
where they performed the duet live. Olivia was thrilled to record with
Billy and for him to take the time to guest on her TV special.
The compliment was returned with Billy describing Olivia as a “Wonderful girl, she has not changed a day
in her personality since I met her in the 60s. What you see is what you
get with Olivia.”
In October 2002 he inducted Olivia into the ARIA Hall Of Fame with an extremely touching introduction from memory. "This beautiful, multi-talented, courageous and strong woman has done it all. And always with dignity, style and class whilst showing compassion and love to her fellow human beings." Olivia was extremely touched by his tribute. Billy's lovely, heartfelt introduction revealed as much about himself as it did about Olivia!
Billy died Feb 28 2007, aged 60, from a sudden heart attack. Just before his untimely death he’d been touring and recording a new album. Billy came across as a lovely man, always ready with a smile and joke. A man in love with life. Billy is survived by his wife Lynne and daughters Rusty and Lauren. Our condolences go out to his family, Olivia and his many friends.
Related websites:
Billy
Thorpe fan site
Billy
Thorpe official website
A Night
With Olivia Newton-John
ARIA Awards
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