American singer and rock and roll songwriter with an original style and stunning tenor voice that earned him the name “The Caruso of Rock.” His major titles include “Only The Lonely,” 1960, “Cryin,” 1961,”Blue Bayou,” 1963 and “Pretty Woman,” 1964. He won an Emmy in 1987 for his duet with Emmylou Harris, “That Loving You Feeling Again.” He was best known as the master of the epic rock ballad. After the first brush of popularity, he was never seen without his signature dark glasses and black clothing.
Orbison grew up in the oilfields in Wink, Texas and made his first public performance at age eight in a local radio station. He formed his first singing group as a teen with a band called the “Wink Westerners,” followed by another band known as “The Teen Kings Trio.” He had his first break with a record producer in Clovis, New Mexico where the “The Teen Kings Trio” recorded a single that was released locally.
Moving to Memphis, Orbison recorded a single for the Sun label in 1956, but despite his ability as a singer he spent the next four years focusing on songwriting, mainly for other artists. It was Elvis Presley’s recording of “Only The Lonely” in 1960 that first put Orbison’s name in the spotlight. With an astonishing 15 top hits in the early ’60s written and performed by Orbison himself, he was one of the most respected figures in pre-Beatles rock, and his thrilling voice against the background of his thrumming guitar conveyed a different message than other rock performers of the time. His songs with themes of loneliness, heartbreak and anxiety featured such range, depth and intensity that critics lent the unusual accolades of “chilling” and “haunting” to his one-of-a-kind rock-and-roll style.
The only American vocalist to survive the British Invasion, Orbison toured England regularly where his singles often soared to No.1 for weeks at a time. He toured continuously from 1962.
He suffered terrible personal tragedy when his wife Claudette was killed in a motorcycle accident June 1966, and then two of his kids died when his Nashville home burned down in September 1968. After marrying German-born Barbara in 1969, the couple had two children and Orbison kept a low profile as a family man in the U.S. during the early ’70s, yet never lost his British fans.
In the late ’70’s his work shone forth again with Linda Ronstadt’s recording of “Blue Bayou,” followed by increased touring. The re-recording of his 1963 hit “In Dreams” became the focal point of the 1986 film “Blue Velvet. One year later he became a member of the landmark band “The Traveling Willburys,” performing alongside veteran talents Tom Petty, George Harrison and Bob Dylan. With his music enjoying a renaissance, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
In 1978, he had triple-bypass surgery. A decade later, on 6 December 1988, he collapsed at his mom’s house in Hendersonville, Tennessee and died at 11:54 PM of a massive heart attack. By the time of his death, Roy Orbison had become an international rock hero.
Link to Wikipedia biography