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Roy Orbison is admired for his poetic song-writing abilities and incredible four octave vocal range that created some of the best melodic ballads in the mid 1960s. “The Big O” formed a different sound combining country, pop, and rock & roll influencing future talented musicians Bruce Springsteen, Chris Isaak, The Mavericks, and many others. Elvis Presley referred to him as “the greatest singer in the world” while Barry Gibb of the BeeGees labeled him the “Voice of God”. The late Orbison will always be remembered and recognized as one of the greatest pioneers of Continued...

rock & roll.

Roy Kelton Orbison was born April 23, 1936 in Vernon, Texas. His family made two moves, the first to Fort Worth in 1943 and the second to small oil town Wink in 1946. He formed his first band in 1949 at the age of 13. The Wink Westerners appeared weekly on KERB radio in Kermit, Texas and later experienced some success with 30 minute local television shows on KMID and KOSA. Roy continued to pursue his education at Odessa Junior College studying history and English, until Johnny Cash made an appearance on the bands’ show and advised them to request a contract with his producer Sam Phillips of Sun Records.

Orbison made his way to Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee and experienced his first commercial success in 1956 with his song “Ooby Dooby”. However, his first hit was his only song to make an impression on the charts. He proceeded with songwriting and was eventually referred to Fred Foster of Monument Records. He began to develop his signature sound writing his own songs. Uptown was his debut album with Monument which gained some recognition with his hit “Only the Lonely”. His next single, “Running Scared”, peaked at number one in the US making him an international rock & roll sensation.

Between 1960 and 1965, he generated 15 top 40 hits. In 1963 he headlined a European tour with the Beatles encouraging them to break into the US market. In 1964, the smash hit “Oh, Pretty Woman” peaked at number one on the Billboard charts eventually selling more than seven million copies and later becoming the signature song for the 1990 film Pretty Woman. He toured with The Beach Boys later that year, and also with The Rolling Stones in 1965. Tragedy occured for the next few years with the sudden death of his wife Claudette in a motorcycle accident in 1966, as well as a house fire two years later killing two of his three sons. In 1969, he married his second wife Barbara. In 1973 he signed to Mercury Records as his contract with MGM ended. He released a few hits successful in Europe and Australia, however his American popularity was at a standstill, reviving only in the 1980s.

In 1986, David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet featured Roy’s “In Dreams” causing a sudden resurgence in the Orbison sound. Along with T Bone Burnett as producer, he compiled an entire album introducing re-recordings of his ultimate hits. In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 1988, Orbison (“Lefty”) joined Bob Dylan (“Lucky”), George Harrison (“Nelson”), Tom Petty (“Charlie T. Jr.”), and Jeff Lynne (“Otis”) forming the Traveling Wilburys. He later released a new solo album, Mystery Girl, which proved to be his greatest work in 20 years. On December 6, 1988, Roy Orbison died of a fatal heart attack at the age of 52.