Roy Kelton Orbison

 Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988)

He was best known for his trademark sunglasses, distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country and western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis. His greatest success came with Monument Records between 1960 and 1964, when 22 of his songs placed on the Billboard Top 40, including "Only the Lonely", "Crying", and "Oh, Pretty Woman". His career stagnated through the 1970s, but several covers of his songs and the use of "In Dreams" in David Lynch's film Blue Velvet (1986) revived his career. The song was "Only the Lonely"; Orbison had earlier tried to pitch it to Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers but were turned down. Instead, the song was recorded at RCA's Nashville. The single shot to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number 1 in the UK and Australia. He told Rolling Stone in 1988: "I liked the sound of [my voice]. I liked making it sing, making the voice ring, and I just kept doing it. And I think that somewhere between the time of "Ooby Dooby" and "Only the Lonely", it kind of turned into a good voice.

Orbison also made the chart with songs such as "Running Scared", "The Crowd", "Leah", "In Dreams", "Blue Bayou" and "Workin' For the Man". After leaving his thick eyeglasses on an airplane in 1962 or 1963, Orbison was forced to wear his prescription Wayfarer sunglasses on stage and found that he preferred them. His biographers suggest that although he had a good sense of humor and was never morose, Orbison was very shy and suffered from severe stage fright; wearing sunglasses helped him hide somewhat from the attention. Tragically, near the height of his success, Orbison's first wife Claudette died in a motorcycle accident. This was followed two years later by the death of his two sons in a house fire.

Orbison recorded in the 1970s, but his albums performed so poorly that he began to doubt his talents. However, over the years his songs began to reach a new audience, and his career was revived in the 1980's. In 1988, he joined the supergroup Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne and also released a new solo album. His career appeared to be at a new peak, when Orbison died suddenly from a heart attack at age 52. He is buried in Westwood Memorial Park, but the grave is unmarked.