Roy Orbison

Roy is buried at Westwood Memorial Park, located in Los Angeles, California.

Roy Orbison married his first wife, Claudette Frady, in 1957, and they had three children together.

Roy formed his first band when he was 13, "The Wink Westerners." Together, they would play for local radio stations and schools.

Roy Orbison wrote his first song in 1945, entitled "A Vow of Love."

Roy's first manager was Norman Petty, who would later become Buddy Holly's manager.

Roy toured with The Eagles on their "Hotel California" tour in the early 1980's.

Johnny Cash met Roy while he was with the Wink Westerners and was the first to suggest to him to get a recording contract.

Roy's first meeting with The Beatles was somewhat accidental; he went to a concert hall where he was to be playing with them and bumped into McCartney and Lennon outside. He didn't recognize either of them but Paul and John automatically let him know who they were.

Roy Orbison and k.d. lang both won a Grammy for their 1987 duet "Crying".

Jennifer Connelly and Jason Priestley were featured in Roy Orbison's posthumously-released music video for "I Drove All Night".

In his classic song, "Oh, Pretty Woman," there is a point where Roy says "mercy." Although he has an impressive and wide vocal range, he had some difficulty reaching certain notes of the song, and really said that to express the difficulty he was having.

Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees once referred to Roy Orbison as the "Voice of God".

Roy toured with The Beatles in 1963, where he became good friends with John Lennon and George Harrison. In 1964, he toured with The Beach Boys, and with The Rolling Stones in 1965.

Roy Orbison's signature sunglasses started early in his career. Roy accidentally left his regular glasses in an airplane and was to perform in a matter of minutes. He was unable to wear contact lenses and the only other glasses he had were a pair of prescription sunglasses he had gotten. Ever since then, he wore those sunglasses onstage.

Roy Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Two years later, he was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music/ Songwriters Hall of Fame.

His biggest-selling record was Mystery Girl, which wasn't released until after his death in 1989.

Roy Orbison and Emmylou Harris both won a Grammy for their 1980 collaboration on "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again".

A much more controversial version of Roy's "I Drove All Night" was covered by Cyndi Lauper for her third album, A Night to Remember. The song was also covered by Celine Dion for her album, One Heart.

While performing a live concert in Las Vegas in 1976, Elvis Presley once called Roy Orbison "the greatest singer in the world".

The idea for the Spiderman villain, Dr. Octopus, was inspired by Roy Orbison, with the vision disorders and the thick glasses.

According to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, The Beatles's song, "Please Please Me" was inspired by Roy's "Only the Lonely". J.D. Souther 's "You're Only Lonely" was written as a tribute to Roy Orbison's "Only the Lonely". JD was the musical director and background singer on the hugely successful Black & White concert.

"Oh, Pretty Woman" was covered by Van Halen for their album Diver Down.

Roy Orbison lost his first wife Claudette in a motorcycle accident on June 6, 1966 in Gallantin, TN.

Roy originally wrote "Only the Lonely" for Elvis Presley to record, however, Elvis declined. After The Everly Brothers chose not to record it, Roy decided to record the song himself.

Roy's son Roy Kelton Orbison Jr lives in Sweden.

Children: Roy Dewayne Orbison (1958 - Sept 15 1968), Anthony King Orbison (1962 - Sept 15 1968), and Wesley Orbison (born 1965) by first wife Claudette. Roy Kelton Orbison Jr. (born Oct 18 1970) and Alex Orbison (born 1975) by second wife Barbara.

Roy had a vocal range of 3.5 octaves.

Roy was 5 feet 11 inches tall.

May 1st was declared "Roy Orbison Day" in Nashville, TN, by Mayor Bill Purcell.

Roy entered and won a contest on the KVWC radio station in Vernon, TX in 1945 and this led to his own radio show singing the same songs every Saturday.

The first song Roy learned to play was "You Are My Sunshine."

Roy asked for a harmonica for his sixth birthday, but his father gave him a guitar, which became his preferred instrument for life.

Roy's 70th birthday was honored with a joint resolution (House Joint Resolution #1454) by the Tennnessee House Of Representatives, Senate, and State Governor Phil Bredesen. (June 12, 2006)

Roy's brother Sam said that he was "saddened by the sordid treatment Elvis Presley was given after his death".

Roy recorded many of his 1950s hits with the famous guitarist Hank Garland.

Roy's "Pretty Woman" single sold more copies in its first ten days of release than any 45rpm up to that time, eventually selling 7 million copies.

Roy was voted #37 in Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Artists list.

Roy was signed in 1966 by MGM Studios to star in and write songs for the western-musical motion picture The Fastest Guitar Alive. Songs from the soundtrack included "The Fastest Guitar Alive", "Rollin' On ," "Whirlwind," "Pistolero", "Medicine Man," "River," and "Good Time Party."

Roy was the posthumous winner of the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Roy was very close to actor Martin Sheen.

Roy toured with The Eagles in 1980.

Roy joined 'The Traveling Wilburys' group with fellow musicians Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne in 1988.

Roy toured with The Rolling Stones in Australia in 1965.

Roy toured with The Beach Boys in the U.S. in 1964.

Roy's songs, "Only the Lonely," "Crying," and "Pretty Woman" are represented in the Grammy Hall Of Fame.

Roy initially rejected the use of his song "In Dreams" in the 1986 David Lynch film Blue Velvet, but Lynch found a way to legally use the song. Roy didn't know about this until he watched the movie with a friend at a theater and contacted Lynch. He then did a music video for the song for Lynch and the video used many scenes from the film. Lynch later used a solo Spanish-word version of "Crying" in Mulholland Drive (2001).

Roy was a champion radio-controlled model airplane builder and flier.

Roy's neighbor in Hendersonville, Tennessee was Johnny Cash.