Editing Roy Orbison (section)

{{short description|American singer-songwriter (1936–1988)}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Roy Orbison
| image              = Roy Orbison (1965).jpg
| caption            = Orbison in 1965
| birth_name         = Roy Kelton Orbison
| birth_date         = April 23, 1936
| birth_place        = [[Vernon, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1988|12|6|1936|4|23}}
| death_place        = [[Hendersonville, Tennessee]], U.S.
| occupation         = {{Flatlist|
*Singer-songwriter
*musician}}
| spouse             = {{Plainlist|
*{{Marriage|Claudette Frady|1957|November 1964|reason=div.}}
*{{Marriage|<!--Claudette Frady-->|October 1965|June 6, 1966|reason=died}}
*{{marriage|[[Barbara Orbison|Barbara Jakobs]]|March 25, 1969}}
}}
| children           = 5, including [[Alex Orbison|Alex]]
| module             = {{Infobox musical artist
| embed         = yes
| genre         = {{hlist|[[Rock music|Rock]]|[[pop music|pop]]|[[Country music|country]]|[[rock and roll]]|[[rockabilly]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roy-orbison-mn0000852007 | title=Roy Orbison Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More | website=[[AllMusic]] }}</ref>}}
| instruments    = {{flatlist|
*Vocals
*guitar
}}
| discography    = [[Roy Orbison discography]]
| label          = {{flatlist|
*[[Sun Records|Sun]]
*[[RCA Victor]]
*[[Monument Records|Monument]]
*[[London Records|London]]
*[[MGM Records|MGM]]
*[[Mercury Records|Mercury]]/[[PolyGram]]
*[[Asylum Records|Asylum]]
*[[Virgin Records|Virgin]]
}}
| years_active   = 1953–1988
| past_member_of = {{hlist|Teen Kings|[[Traveling Wilburys]]}}
| website        = {{URL|royorbison.com}}
}}
}}
'''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. He was nicknamed "The [[Enrico Caruso|Caruso]] of Rock" and "The Big&nbsp;O." Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll 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 music|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]] was leaving Sun and Phillips was looking to replace him. His first Sun recording, "[[Dick Penner#Ooby Dooby|Ooby Dooby]]", was a direct musical sound-a-like of Elvis's early Sun recordings. He had some 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 {{Nowrap|co-wrote}} almost all of his own top-10 hits, including "[[Only the Lonely]]" (1960), "[[Running Scared (Roy Orbison song)|Running Scared]]" (1961), "[[Crying (Roy Orbison song)|Crying]]" (1961), "[[In Dreams (Roy Orbison song)|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).

After the mid-1960s, Orbison suffered a number of personal tragedies, and his career faltered. He experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 1980s, following the success of several cover versions of his songs. In 1988, he {{Nowrap|co-founded}} the [[Traveling Wilburys]] supergroup with [[George Harrison]], [[Bob Dylan]], [[Tom Petty]], and [[Jeff Lynne]]. Orbison died of a heart attack that December at age 52. One month later, his song "[[You Got It]]" (1989) was released as a solo single, becoming his first hit to reach the top 10 in both the US and UK in nearly 25 years.

Orbison's honors include inductions into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] and [[Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 1987, the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 1989, and the [[Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum]] in 2014. He received a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] and five other Grammy Awards. ''[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]]'' placed him at number 37 on its list of the "Greatest Artists of All Time" and number 13 on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In 2002, ''Billboard'' magazine listed him at number 74 on its list of the Top 600 recording artists.
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