Billy Thorpe (born 29 March 1946, Manchester, England – died 28 February 2007, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) was an English-born Australian pop/rock singer-songwriter, producer and guitarist. His family emigrated to Australia in 1955. In 1963, he joined The Aztecs as the lead vocalist and the group was renamed as Billy Thorpe And The Aztecs. In 1965, the original members quit and Thorpe reformed the band with new musicians. During the next decade there were multiple incarnations of the band. In late 1976, Thorpe moved to the United States to pursue his musical career, returning to Australia in the mid-1990's.