Billy Thorpe
Australian singer-songwriter-musician Billy Thorpe was a star in his homeland from the time he was ten years old with the launch of his television career. By his teens, Thorpe was front man of Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs. One of the major Australian bands of the ’60s and early ’70s, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs topped charts with “Blue Day,” “Poison Ivy,” “Over the Rainbow,” “Sick and Tired,” “Baby, Hold Me Close,” “Mashed Potato,” and “Most People I Know Think That I’m Crazy” showcasing his powerful vocals. Evolving from a beat band to hard rockers, the Aztecs headlined festivals and were known as one of the loudest acts of the time. Trans-Atlantic success proved elusive until Thorpe relocated to Los Angeles and teamed with producer-songwriter Spencer Proffer to create 1979’s Children of the Sun, a concept album about benevolent aliens visiting a post-Apocalyptic earth to offer the surviving humans a second chance. The album and its title track reached the U.S. Top 40, with “Children of the Sun” becoming a staple of FM rock radio through the decades. Billy Thorpe later teamed with Mick Fleetwood as part of Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo. Thorpe passed in 2007 but remains acclaimed as a significant figure in Australian music. In December 2020, Thorpe was listed at number 31 in Rolling Stone Australia‘s “50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time” issue.