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Roy Orbison, Rock Icon Remembered on his Birthday
He would have been 69 years old on Saturday, April 23
 April
23, 2005 - Out of the tiny oil town of Wink, in West Texas, he became a
worldwide superstar, topping the charts around the planet for four
decades. He toured with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys,
Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Eagles and Patsy Cline, and made a
tremendous impact on every single soul that heard his sound. Elvis
Presley called Roy "The Greatest singer in the world."
Roy Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas on April
23rd, 1936. He got his first guitar for his 6th birthday, had his own
radio show at the age of 8. At the age of 13 he formed his first band,
the Wink Westerners, and they became local heroes. By 18 he had his own
television show and one of his guests was Johnny Cash, who pointed him
to Sun Records, the home to Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins
and Johnny Cash.
From there he went to Monument Records in Nashville
and a tremendous string of hits followed. First came "Uptown," followed
by "Only The Lonely," "Blue Angel," "Running Scared," "Crying," "Dream
Baby," "In Dreams," "It's Over," and one of the most popular songs of
all time, "Oh, Pretty Woman."
In January of 1987, he was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame. Later that year, he recorded the archetypal Black
& White Night, the Coconut Grove performance featuring artists Bruce
Springsteen, Elvis Costello, James Burton, and Bonnie Raitt, to name a
few. During that year, Roy was recording two albums at the same time,
one with the Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1, and his solo effort, Mystery
girl. In December of 1988 Roy passed away and he had two # 1 songs on
the charts at that time, "Handle With Care" with the Wilburys and his
own, "You Got It."
Orbison had just finished recording what was to be
his last album, Mystery Gril, when he went to visit his mother in
December of 1988. On December 6, he spent time shopping for model
airplane parts and flying them, but during the afternoon he complained
of chest pains. Roy collapsed at his mothers house right before
midnight. He was dead at 52.
Posthumously released in 1989, Mystery Girl became
the biggest selling album of his career.
Roy Orbison received multiple Grammy awards and was
inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989.
In one of his last interviews he was asked how he
wanted to be remembered, and he just replied: "I would just like to be
remembered." To hear what he said in his own words
Click Here. (Real Media required)
We celebrate Roy Orbison's 69th birthday on April
23rd.
For more information on Roy Orbison go to
www.royorbison.com.
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