He was a singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer, nicknamed
"The Big O" and often wearing trademark dark glasses, born Roy Kelton
Orbison in Vernon, Texas, with the family relocating to Forth Worth, Texas,
around 1942.He was given his
first guitar when he was six years old, even though he had apparently asked
for a harmonica, but this would be a start of a lifelong career in music
and he performed his first song "You Are My Sunshine".He and his brother were sent back
to live with their grandmother in Vernon during a polio epidemic and while
there he wrote his first song in 1944 called "A Vow to Love". In 1946 they moved once again to
Wink and it was here that he formed The Wink Westerners, which was his
first band, when he was thirteen years old.He was already writing his own songs by this time and soon
he and the band were performing weekly at a radio station in Kermit, Texas.After his high school graduation in
1954 he went on to attend the North Texas State College followed by taking
studies in English and history at Washington State University. The Wink Westerners progressed from
their weekly performances at KERB radio to land two other weekly half hour shows
at KOSA and KMID and were also becoming known through local television
appearances.Two of their radio
guest musicians were Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, who he would be pivotal
in their success when he suggested they approach Sam Phillips with a view
to getting a recording contract. This didn't happen overnight, but they did managed to land
a contract after being heard and changed their name to The Teen Kings. Roy left college behind him in 1956
and saw success that same year with his single "Ooby Dooby" which had been
composed by some of his student friends.His own songwriting was also getting noticed and the
song "Claudette", who was his first wife from 1957 and later killed in a
motorcycle accident in 1966, became a success when it was recorded by The
Everly Brothers and put on the B-Side of their No. 1 "All I Have To Do is
Dream".For all his
songwriting and various song releases at Sun, he wasnt seeing the success he
had hoped for and so left to join Acuff-Rose Music where he concentrated on
writing.This led to him being
taken on by RCA and then Monument Records awarded him a contract after a
referral from Chet Atkins. He
joined up with Joe Melson in songwriting collaboration and this would
result in the beginning of a huge rise in his career.He released the song "Uptown" which
became a minor hit and then followed it up with the famed "Only the Lonely"
which topped the UK charts and hit No. 2 in the US and would become one of
the songs that everyone associates with him.He would later have many other hit records including "Crying",
"In Dreams", "Oh, Pretty Woman", "Running Scared" and "You Got It".In his earlier hits he was often
heard with his touring and backing group The Candymen, some of who co-wrote
with him.This band included
the singer Bobby Goldsboro and Buddy Buie, who would later form the Atlanta
Rhythm Section with various other members of the band. By 1963 his fame had spread far and
wide and he was the headliner on a tour of Europe with The Beatles, who he
remained friends with for the rest of his life.He was one of the people who urged them to appear in
America, unfortunately unable to manage their tour due to his workload, and
John Lennon and Paul McCartney have both cited him as an inspiration to
them.In 1964 he teamed up with
his new writing collaborator, Bill Dees, and for the next two years he was
busy touring again, first with The Beach Boys in the United States and then
The Rolling Stones in Australia.During those years his success in the UK was as much as it was in
the US and on several years he was voted "Best Male Vocalist". Also in 1965 he signed to MGM and
starred in their movie The Fastest Guitar Alive but this would not assist
him in further success and 1967 would see his last chart hit in the US,
although his popularity was still high in other countries throughout the
world, often with his album releases. 1968 was a year that saw much tragedy
for him as a fire at his home while he was on a tour of England resulted in
the death of the eldest two of his three sons.The same year was when he met his second wife in England
and they married in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1969, setting up home close to
the one that had just been destroyed and having two sons together.Despite his lack of success in the
1970s as a singer, although still internationally touring, his greatest
success as a writer came when Linda Ronstadt recorded the 1977 Grammy
winning version of "Blue Bayou" with sales in excess of seven million.That same year he had a heart
attack at just 41 years of age and open-heart surgery followed on.This seemed to open up a whole new
period of success for him and he even recorded a disco album called Laminar
Flow which include "Hound Dog Man" which was his own tribute to one of
his admirers, Elvis Presley, who had dubbed him "the greatest singer in the
world" in 1976. The 1980s came
around and he duetted with Emmylou Harris on "That Lovin' You Feeling Again"
which went on to get a 1981 Grammy Award.He and his family moved to Malibu, Caifornia, in 1985
and his popularity was re-surfacing with his songs being included in films
such Blue Velvet and Insignificant. In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame with the speech given by Bruce Springsteen and the year following his
death he was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Also in 1987 he recorded his
previous hit "Crying" as a
duet with k.d. lang and once again he was the recipient of another Grammy
Award.The following year he
had his own TV special called Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White
Night, where he was joined by many stars who took on the role of supporting
artists.Also in 1988 he
joined up with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty to become
a member of The Travelling Wilburys who made an immediate impact on both
sides of the Atlantic and at the same time recorded and co-produced his
final solo album Mystery Girl which included the co-written track "She's
a Mystery to Me" by Bono and The Edge from U2.He worked with countless people in the music business as
a songwriter or singer/musician throughout the course of his career and
some of these include David Briggs, Jackson Browne, Sonny Burgess, Elvis
Costello, Glen Hardin, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Rick Nelson, Carl
Perkins, Bonnie Raitt, Tommy Roe, J.D. Souther, Ringo Starr, Conway Twitty,
Mike Utley, Tom Waits, Jennifer Warnes and Faron Young.The albums he appeared on are far
too many to mention the all, but some of them include his own At the
Rock House, Big O, Exciting Sounds, Hank Williams the Roy Orbison Way, Many
Moods of Roy Orbison, Milestones, Orbison Way, Orbiting with Roy Orbison, Special
Delivery and There is Only One as well as Last Mango in Paris
by Jimmy Buffett, Duets by Emmylou Harris, Classic by Jerry Lee
Lewis and Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty.He gave his final live performance at Highland Heights,
Ohio, at the beginning of December in 1988 and after going to Nashville on
the 4th he spent the time relaxing and going on a shopping trip
on the 6th and spending time with his mother.That night he collapsed and died from
a massive heart attack at just 52 years old.He left behind him a powerful music legacy that
influenced many of the major pop artists over the last four decades and
three years after his death he was awarded the 1991 Grammy Award for "Best
Male Pop Vocal Performance". The year after that Jeff Lynne produced an album of his
studio sessions called King of Hearts and a decade after his passing
he was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.2006 his memory was still being
kept alive with the release of the book Straight From Our Hearts which is
made up of tributes and short-stories by fans. The second volume and CD The
Essential Roy Orbison were released in 2008 to mark the 20th
anniversary of his death.
