Billy Thorpe

Introduction

Lynn Thorpe

This book is in honour of my husband of thirty-six years, father of our two gorgeous daughters, Rusty and Lauren, and the legendary Australian rocker, Billy Thorpe.

After Billy's untimely death on 28 February 2007, our lives were changed forever and the grief was overwhelming. Three years on and still trying to come to terms with it all, I've compiled a tribute to Billy and his extraordinary career, along with a more personal look at his life and all too brief time with us.

Bill and Mabel Thorpe's brave decision to emigrate to Australia in the early 1950s set in motion an unimaginable career path for their only child, William Richard Thorpe. His career trajectory is well docu­mented and spanned five decades, from the ten-year-old child star in Brisbane to his death at age sixty in Sydney, still making music and entertaining his fans. In fact, Billy was in the process of plan­ning a one-man stage show to celebrate his fiftieth anniversary in the business.

Billy was also completing his musical opus Tangier, which he'd tirelessly worked on since our life-changing trip to Morocco for my surprise fiftieth birthday party in May 2000. Plans were underway to complete this fabulous work in a palace in Morocco with the Moroccan Symphony Orchestra.

Finally, in 2010, with the help of Michael Chugg and Amanda Pelman (with producer Daniel Denholm), Tangier was completed and released for the world to hear. It is a beautiful masterpiece, in my humble opinion.

From my small-town upbringing in Portsea, Victoria, to meeting Billy in Melbourne when I was just twenty-one (Billy was only twenty-one), it's been a wild and unforgettable ride in the rock'n'roll world. Billy loved me and his girls with a passion, and never failed to tell us so. Nothing will ever be the same, as anyone who has lost someone so near and dear will tell you. We just get on with it the best we can, and this book is part of the getting on with it.

Billy insisted that he didn't want a biography - far too boring. He much preferred the entertaining style of his two bestselling books. A hard act to follow! A lot of Billy's previously unpublished words and lyrics are included here, along with family photos, career archives and recollections and reflections from friends and colleagues.

I felt compelled to put together this tribute to my darling Billy for all those who loved him. Thanks to all of you, and to the very special people who rallied to help us (especially me) through the incredibly dark years since his passing. And thank you to all of Billy's devoted fans, who were with him all the way.

Billy's boundless energy and enthusi­asm lives on in his words and music so, as Billy himself would always say, keep rockin'.