About the artist
Roy Orbison, born in 1936 and known as «The Big O», was an American singer-songwriter whose distinctive operatic tenor and emotionally intense ballads made him one of the defining voices of American popular music. Rising to fame in the late 1950s, he became one of the biggest recording artists of the 1960s, scoring 22 US top 40 hits and helping redefine what a rock and roll vocalist could sound like, moving beyond the genre's usual boundaries into dramatic, orchestral pop.
His best-known songs, including «Oh, Pretty Woman», «Crying», «In Dreams» and «You Got It», showcased his soaring vocal range and a knack for melancholic, cinematic songwriting, often built around unconventional song structures that broke from standard pop formulas. After his initial run of hits, Orbison went through roughly two decades with little commercial success, though his influence remained widely felt among fellow musicians.
His career saw a dramatic late-career revival in the 1980s when he joined the Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup alongside Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and George Harrison. Buoyed by that success, he recorded the comeback album Mystery Girl, but died in December 1988 before its release, never witnessing the full extent of his renewed popularity. Orbison remains celebrated as one of rock and roll's great vocal stylists and songwriters.
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Discography
Black & White Night 30
2017
The Ultimate Collection
2016
MGM B-Sides & Singles
2015
One of the Lonely Ones
2015
Mystery Girl Deluxe
2014
Dream Baby
2013
The Monument Singles Collection (1960-1964)
2011
Sing Elvis Presley And Others!
2009
Purely...
2008
The Very Best Of Roy Orbison (2006 Sony)
2006
the essential Roy Orbison (Disc 2)
2006
The essential Roy Orbison (Disc 1)
2006
King of Hearts
1992
Rare Recordings
1992
I Drove All Night (Single)
1991
Pretty Woman
1990
A Black & White Night Live
1989
Mystery Girl
1989
The Singles Collection: 1965-1973
1989
Beautiful Dreamer
1988
In Dreams: The Greatest Hits
1987
Only the Lonely
1987
Laminar Flow
1979
Regeneration
1976
I’m Still in Love with You
1975
Milestones
1973
The All-Time Greatest Hits Of Roy Orbison
1972
Memphis
1972
Roy Orbison Sings
1972
Hank Williams the Roy Orbison Way
1970
The Big O
1970
Roy Orbison and Faron Young sing Elvis Presley
Roy Orbison and Faron Young sing Elvis Presley and Others
The platinum collection Disk2
Roy Orbison - regeneration
The Soul of Rock and Roll (disc 1)
The Soul of Rock and Roll (disc 3)
Orbiting With Roy Orbison and Bristow Hopper
Roy Orbison’s Many Moods
1969
The Original Sound
1969
Cry Softly Lonely One
1967
The Fastest Guitar Alive
1967
Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson
1967
The Classic Roy Orbison
1966
The Orbison Way
1966
Orbisongs
1965
There Is Only One Roy Orbison
1965
Early Orbison
1964
More of Roy Orbison’s Greatest Hits
1964
In Dreams
1963
Roy Orbison’s Greatest Hits
1962
Crying
1962
Roy Orbison at the Rock House
1961
Lonely and Blue
1961