Roy Orbison

Also known as Roy Kelton Orbison, The Big O, Lefty Wilbury, Roy K. Orbison

American musician

AI overview

Roy Orbison was an American musician who became one of the most influential rock and roll performers of the 1950s and 1960s. He matters because of his distinctive vocal style and songwriting contributions that helped shape the development of rock music and continue to influence artists today.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works: 18

Top works

Oh Pretty Woman - Songs in the Style of Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison - the Best of the Soul of Rock and Roll
Roy Orbison - Black and White Night
Roy Orbison - A Black and White Night
Oh, Pretty Woman

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Vernon, Texas, USA

Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male performers projected strength. He performed…

Known for

Roy Orbison at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2023
Roy Orbison Forever — Self (archive footage)2022
McCartney 3, 2, 1 — Self (archive footage)2021
Roy Orbison: Love Hurts — Himself (archive footage)2017
Roy Orbison: Black and White Night 30 — Self2017
Roy Orbison: One of the Lonely Ones — Himself (archive footage)2015
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Rock 'n' Roll at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2015
Roy Orbison: Mystery Girl - Unraveled — Self (archive footage)2014
Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne & ELO — Self (archive footage)2012
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live - Light My Fire — Himself2009

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: United States
Active from: 1936
Active to: 1988

adult standardsblue-eyed soulclassic rockcountrycountry popfolk rock

Discography

Member of

Official site Discogs Stream

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 2,049,514
Total plays: 26,707,179

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

RoB 2: a revised tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials
· 2019 · cited 23,882x
The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project
· 1996 · cited 18,867x
Accurate normalization of real-time quantitative RT-PCR data by geometric averaging of multiple internal control genes
· 2002 · cited 15,922x
The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.
· 1995 · cited 14,538x
2021 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure
· 2021 · cited 11,617x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“There goes my baby,There goes my heart.They're gone forever,So far apart.But only the lonelyKnow whyI cry.Only the lonely.”
“I was alright for awhile;I could smile for awhile.But I saw you last night,You held my hand so tight,As you stopped to say, "Hello".Oh, you wished me well,You couldn't tellThat I'd been crying over you.Crying over you.When you said, "So long"Left me standing all alone,Alone and crying, crying.Crying, crying.”
“Just runnin' scared each place we go,So afraid that he might show.Yeah, runnin' scared, what would I doIf he came back and wanted you?”
“A candy-colored clown they call the sandmanTiptoes to my room every nightJust to sprinkle stardust and to whisper"Go to sleep. Everything is all right."I close my eyes, then I drift away.Into the magic night, I softly sayA silent prayer like dreamers do.Then I fall asleep to dreams, my dreams of you.”
“Saving nickels, saving dimes,Working 'till the sun don't shine,Looking forward to happier timesOn Blue Bayou.I'm going back some day,Come what may, to Blue Bayou.Where you sleep all dayAnd the catfish play, on Blue Bayou.”
“Tender nights before they flySend falling stars that seem to cry.Your baby doesn't want you anymore,It's over.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Official website

Roy Orbison – The Official Website of The Soul of Rock and Roll

royorbison.com →

Link to the official site · 7,793 chars · not written by Vinony

Wikidata facts

Official website: www.royorbison.com
Image: Roy Orbinson ontving gouden plaat voor Pretty Woman in Singel concertzaal, Roy, Bestanddeelnr 917-5752.jpg
Number of children: 5

Show 8 more facts

Commons category: Roy Orbison
date of birth: 1936-04-23
date of death: 1988-12-06
nickname: the Big O
start of work period: 1954-00-00
name in native language: Roy K. Orbison
social media followers: 907000
end of work period: 1988-00-00

Sources (8)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Article

Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male performers projected strength. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses.

Born in Texas, Orbison began singing in a country-and-western band as a teenager. He was signed by Sam Phillips of Sun Records in 1956 after being urged by Johnny Cash. Elvis Presley was leaving Sun and Phillips was looking to replace him. His first Sun recording, "Ooby Dooby", was musically akin of Presley's early Sun recordings. He had moderate success at Sun, but enjoyed his greatest success with Monument Records. From 1960 to 1966, 22 of Orbison's singles reached the Billboard top 40. He wrote or co-wrote almost all of his own top-10 hits, including "Only the Lonely" (1960), "Running Scared" (1961), "Crying" (1961), "In Dreams" (1963), "Oh, Pretty Woman" (1964), "I Drove All Night" (1987), "She's a Mystery to Me" (1988), "You Got It" (1988), and "California Blue" (1988).