Rock
United States
Roy Orbison
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About Roy Orbison
Hometown
Vernon, TX, United States
Born
April 23, 1936
Genre
Rock
Between his panoramic vocal delivery and operatic build-upsânot to mention those signature dark glassesâRoy Orbison still cuts a singular figure in the rock ânâ roll landscape. Born in Vernon, Texas in 1936, he devoted himself to playing and singing country music from a young age, forming rockabilly bands as a teen before ending up at Sun Records. From there, he migrated to Nashville, eventually finding his long-sought niche with 1960âs âOnly the Lonely,â an aching reverie elevated by melodramatic strings, backing vocals, and Orbisonâs haunting licks of falsetto. âRunning Scaredâ and âCryingâ followed suit, offering a darker, more adult alternative to the quaint teen-idol ballads of the day. Quivering with feeling, his voice made delicate leaps close to the microphone while escalating to resounding emotional payoffs. That romantic intensity earned Orbison his biggest hit with 1964âs âOh, Pretty Woman,â which balances its instantly familiar hook and snappy drumbeat with more idiosyncratic touches like his coy aside of âmercyâ and the parting swath of ominous vocal echo. The previous yearâs âIn Dreamsâ revelled in similarly unusual choices, eschewing popâs favored verse/chorus structure entirely. Orbisonâs commercial appeal slipped in the late â60s and â70s, before covers of his songs (or songs he popularized) by Nazareth, Linda Ronstadt, Don McLean, and even Van Halen recast him as eternally cool, while his outsized passion made him a pop-culture touchstone in Blue Velvet and continues to inspire persona-driven retro fetishists like Lana Del Rey and Orville Peck. By the late â80s he was collaborating with Glenn Danzig and k.d. lang, and founding the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. Sadly, he died in late 1988 of a heart attack at age 52, though his posthumous album Mystery Girlâand its ubiquitous anthem âYou Got Itââgave him the proper comeback heâd been chasing for decades.
Musical InfluencesRoy Orbison's musical influences include Hank Williams, Don Gibson, Bob Wills and more.
Influenced by Roy OrbisonRoy Orbison has influenced the music of The Beatles, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt and more.
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