Roy Orbison
About this star
- Category: Recording
- Unveiled: 29 Jan 2010
- Star rank: 984
- Address:
1774 Vine St - Position: 4 tiles from the curb, facing north
Biography
Gibson ES-335
Source: Wikipedia
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer-songwriter and musician, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly / country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis. His greatest success came with Monument Records in the early to mid 1960s when 22 of his songs placed on the US Billboard Top Forty, including “Only the Lonely”, “Crying”, “In Dreams”, and “Oh, Pretty Woman”. His career stagnated through the 1970s, but several covers of his songs and the use of one in a film by David Lynch revived his career in the 1980s. In 1988, he joined the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne and also released a new solo album. He died of a heart attack in December that year, at the zenith of his resurgence. His life was marred with tragedy, including the death of his first wife and two of his children in separate accidents.
Fact file
- Birth name: Roy Kelton Orbison
- Born: April 23, 1936 Vernon, Texas, U.S.
- Died: December 6, 1988 (aged 52) Hendersonville, Tennessee, U.S.
- Genres: Rockabilly, pop
- Occupations: Musician, singer-songwriter
- Instruments: Guitar, vocals
- Years active: 1954–1988
- Labels: Sun, Monument, MGM, London, Mercury, Asylum, PolyGram, Virgin
- Associated acts: Traveling Wilburys, Teen Kings, The Wink Westerners, Class of ’55
- Website: http://www.royorbison.com/
Read more about Roy Orbison at Wikipedia or at the Internet Movie Database
Vine St, east side, between Hollywood and Yucca
Nearby you will also find Rory Calhoun, Bonnie Raitt, Clarence Brown, Garth Brooks, Joan Crawford, Beverly Bayne, Bruce Humberstone, Joe Penner, John Lennon, George Harrison, and many others.