About Bill Thorup

‘The boy knows when to hit it and he sees into the heart of the matter.’ 

Ed Clark, Life Magazine

Born: December 17th, 1952, New Richmond, Wisconsin

Bill Thorup’s photographs have been published by the Lebanon Democrat, the Nashville Banner, The Tennessee State Museum, The Grand Ole Opry, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, People, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Time, Rolling Stone, Guitar Player, and Esquire. 

Bill’s impeccable sense of timing, quiet demeanor, and friendly presence has given him access behind the scenes of every venue, every event, and every dressing room in Nashville, TN. Most famously, Bill Thorup was Johnny Cash’s personal photographer.

His legacy stands as one of Nashville’s legendary photojournalists, one of the last commercial photographers in Music City to continue to shoot only film. 

Bill lives with his wife in Madison, TN and enjoys mowing grass at a local golf course. It ‘gets him out of the house.’